Racial Justice for the Long Haul INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR
JON BOYD IVP vice president of editorial and associate publisher
Jon Boyd: Why do we need another book on racial justice? Christine Jeske: We are fortunate to live at a time with so many books about racial justice at our fingertips. But what I couldn’t find was rigorous research into the ways people pursue justice for the long haul. That led me into a different way of writing a book—listening to dozens of people of color and the White people they recommended as long-term advocates, then searching for trends in their journeys and practices. JB: What do you bring to the topic as an anthropologist? CJ: Anthropologists share a deep curiosity about why people do the things we do, and as a Christian, I also want to know how we can do things with greater love for God and neighbors. Some social scientists study these questions using quantitative research, but not everything that counts in life can be counted. As an anthropologist, I bring a qualitative way of learning that involves listening and participating. Then I look for patterns across their answers and help readers understand those patterns. JB: What did you most enjoy about doing research for this book? CJ: Interviewing seventy people—thirty Christian leaders of color and forty White people they recommended—I felt surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1). I love that my job includes sitting with people as they share life stories, as well as receiving their hospitality in places they live, work, and worship. I can recall times in my own life when I desperately longed for mentors like these seventy people, and it has been a joy to pass along their wisdom to readers.
JB: Was there anything that particularly surprised you?
CJ: I did not expect to write a book about hope. Nor did I foresee how urgently people would be grasping for hope as this book is launching. When I asked people in interviews how they had changed across the years they’d been pursuing racial justice, people kept saying they learned new ways to hope. Among White interviewees, often that meant learning how to hope from Christians of color. JB: How do you hope readers will engage with this book? CJ: My heart sings when I hear about people reading this book in groups. The discussion questions at the back are designed to draw out stories that shape our lives, along with prompts to reflect and reimagine what’s possible together. Readers will come away with a shared vocabulary and means to effectively pursue justice together with long- term hope. ■
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