Have you ever sat on a train in a train station and suddenly had the feeling that your train was moving, only to discover it was the train next to you that was moving? This temporary sensation stems from motion occurring without a fixed reference point. On this day of celebration of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it is only right that we venture into the next phase of the movement to overcome racism in America. Using relative motion as a metaphor, we will explore the phenomenon which is currently being called “white supremacy” or “white privilege” or “white fragility.” Why do we resist these terms? Why does our collective anxiety rise when we hear them? And how can the words of this great American help us to better understand?

Rev. Mark Richards was ordained on Nov. 25, 2018 by the First Parish in Concord, MA. He and his wife Christina moved to Door County in 2016 and became members of UUFDC in July of last year. This past summer they learned the joy of gardening after having not so much as mowed a lawn for most of their adult lives. Mark serves as a chaplain for Unity Hospice in Door and Kewaunee counties. He also has a passion for working with prison inmates, and for expanding awareness of Unitarian Universalism in the wider community.