Last Week's U.S. City Leaders Call

The U.S. City Leaders Zoom on April 1st focused on the issue of racism in America through the lens of anti-Asian sentiment. Noted author, pastor and professor Rev. Dr. Soong-Chan Rah led our discussion on division vs. unity, model minorities vs. self determination, the pet vs. threat matrix, truth possessed vs. truth pursued, and much more. “Our identity as an Asian-American community is rooted in our identity in God – the way God has created us in his image,” he said. “It should not be determined by another ethnic group or racial group that says – this is how we view you.” There’s a shifting narrative in American society where we’ve seen more than 4,000 hate crimes or violent actions against Asian Americans in the past 12 months, he noted. The challenge is to bring global perspectives together for a more complete picture as we pursue truth in our communities.

Chuck Armstrong of LEAD.NYC followed up with encouragement for church and city leaders to hold sacred the image of God that we find in each other. “[We should] listen and understand before we diagnose, as well as build a foundation of repentance,” he said.

You can watch the zoom in its entirety here and find more from Prof Rah at www.profrah.com