The European Descent Lutheran Association for Racial Justice (formerly European American Lutheran Association) is one of six ethnic associations in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I know, it seems strange, for white folks to think of themselves as ethnic.
Perhaps you remember the days of German, Swedish and Norwegian associations – now that’s ethnic. Finish, Slovak, Lithuanian. And of course, Polish, Italian, Irish. But white isn’t ethnic, is it?
Good question! That question and others will be explored in this site. Hopefully, in our journey together, we will live into a reality in which peoples (and persons) are peers of one another – where skin pigment, country of origin, or accent of speech doesn’t decide who’s in charge and what should matter. Such things should come about because they merit it and everyone contributes to the outcome as God enables them.
The EDLARJ came into being at the invitation of the other ethnic associations so that all peoples could be represented equally at the Table of Color. If you’re white European in heritage, we want you to join us. And we want to be in dialogue with the rest of you. Why?
We need to learn from each other what being white has come to mean for our advantage in life, and we will benefit from hearing from others what their experience has meant living in a “white world.”
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