Dan Berry – July 26, 2022
Those of us who have taken the course, What Lies Between Us, have learned a lot about the narrative of racial difference.
What is a narrative? In my journey, I learned that it is a story that is told over and over whether real, exaggerated, or fictional that is used to convey or reinforce a given perception that has become a part of the way we think.
Th narrative of racial difference espouses the idea that whiteness is superior to anyone who is not White. Without realizing it, this narrative had begun to infiltrate many of my conscious and subconscious thoughts. Taking the course What Lies Between Us, helped me see how much I had been influenced by the story.
I started to understand that even though American chattel slavery was abolished and the Civil Rights Act had been set in place, the way people think about race had not changed all that much.
Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy said, “I think the North won the war, but the South won the narrative war.”
The ideology that White is superior and everyone else is lesser than continues to wreak havoc on the wellness of humanity. Because these lies continue to live on, any sense of racial justice and equity continues to elude many of us.
I learned we must own this and embrace it if we ever hope to end it.
I would have never said out loud, “white is right,” but I wonder how many times I have thought it?
Denying an issue, continuing to sweep it under a rug will never liberate us. But when we own something, we have taken our first steps towards being a part of not only our healing but the healing we so desperately need in our human family.
May we be people of peace, with voices of hope, doing the hard work of love.
Dr. Lucretia Carter Berry
If you have taken our What Lies Between Us or Foundations courses and are interested in becoming a Certified Instructor to facilitate them, our next Certified Instructor Development course is August 11th & 18th, 8pm-9:30 pm ET/7c/6m/5p
Dr. Lucretia Carter Berry and I will guide you through the training and also provide monthly support as you continue your journey. We can’t wait to get started!
Dan Berry is the author of Navigating Diversity In Our Most Segregated Hour, a Certified Instructor for the What LIES Between Us and What Does It Mean to Be White courses, and advises individuals and organizations on how to take first steps toward racial healing.
He has pastored for forty years in Iowa. After pastoring in predominantly white spaces for several years, he began to realize the need to bring about racial healing in the body of Christ. For the last 30 years he has worked to bridge ethnic and cultural divides, a work that has led him into confronting the churches complicity in upholding systems of racism.
Check out Bridge Building Solutions. Like, subscribe, and share the Bridge Building Podcast on
Recent Comments