Priorities, Power, and Pilgrimage: Beyond Comfortable, toward the Beloved Community

Abstract

The hope for racial reconciliation among participants in the Missing Voices Project can be categorized as implicit as racial reconciliation is not an oft-used term among participants. The importance of racial reconciliation among participants is often inferred, implied, and understood but may not be stated as an explicit goal by adults or youth. This tendency might be the result of a level of discomfort talking about racism or a lack of theological language pertaining to racial reconciliation. Put simply, priorities are a matter of importance and our actions or silence about things that matter reflect our priorities. For example, regarding the importance of inclusivity, one participant remarked, “Jesus would want us to do it despite discomfort, and despite the barriers, and despite all the extra work.” However, inclusivity is not the same as racial reconciliation, nor is access and acceptance the same as acknowledgment of racism, addressing injustice, and actions toward healing and building community. Racial reconciliation is a prioritized prerogative linked to a person’s social location, material reality, primary identities, theological imperatives, and perspectives regarding what matters most in particular contexts. Hence, racial reconciliation can matter less in areas plagued with poverty and hardship where surviving to next week is more important. Racial reconciliation may also be deemed secondary to other prerogatives in communities where the “other” is simply not present or fewer in numbers due to histories of racial and income segregation. To illustrate, one young person in the Missing Voices Project shared, “My church is on 210. It’s in the nice, like, white neighborhoods that are, that don’t have to deal with a lot ... I also see ... that we separate ourselves from the problem but, like,