Stephen J. Matlock's Blog, page 34

Am I Racist?

This is a hard question for white people to answer because it is painful to consider. Short answer: Yes. You are racist. More acceptable answer (to help with the feelings): Mostly likely yes. Here’s why: It’s hard to hear that we white people (and our own selves) are racist, because we want to be on… Read More »

When White Supremacy Breaks

“Trump is what happens when white American bourgeois masculinity is celebratd, allowed, and desired throughout one’s life.” Darnell L. Moore What Darnell L. Moore says here about white male supremacy is all true—and more—but I wanted to extend this to talk about us, white men who knowingly or unknowingly buy into the idea that we… Read More »

A Review of David Lamb’s Novel “On Top of the World”

First of all, let me say this: On Top of the World, by David Lamb, is a romp. It is as much a jaundiced view of American pop culture and its worship of bling and blitz and blather as it is a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the eternally fascinating dance between a man and a woman… Read More »

On Empathy

Some helpful techniques and guidance about how to listen when people tell you something about themselves. It’s called empathy: When someone speaks of their experience, pain, or situation, empathy is to listen, and then to walk or sit with them. Often when people tell you of a painful event they aren’t asking for your own… Read More »

For Brian Crooks and His Supporters

I posted this on Facebook in Brian Crooks’s feed but I wanted to bring it forward. It is for Brian, of course, but it is for his many white supporters who hear what he says and ask “how can I help?” Dear FB Friend Brian, I can’t claim I ‘know’ other than as a FB… Read More »

For Brian Crook and His Supporters

I posted this on Facebook in Brian Crook’s feed but I wanted to bring it forward. It is for Brian, of course, but it is for his many white supporters who hear what he says and ask “how can I help?” Dear FB Friend Brian, I can’t claim I ‘know’ other than as a FB… Read More »

Choosing Among Kaepernick, Sherman, Wilson, Newton, Marshall, and Others

Recently Colin Kaepernick has made a visible attempt to express his own evaluation of his person and his place in American society. Colin Kaepernick is black, and as a black American he is choosing to remain quietly seated or down on one knee when the national flag is displayed at the beginning of football games.… Read More »

Open Community Discussion: Racism and the American Experience

I’ll be hosting an open community discussion this fall, from September 14th through November 23, at Snoqualmie Valley Alliance Church, on the topic of racism in America as it applies to the American church, and more broadly to the American experience. We’ll be using Dr. Drew Hart’s book as the starting point for the discussion.… Read More »

Respect–Given and Earned, Not Demanded and Taken

To say to a bank “I expect you to keep my money safe and not just throw it willy-nilly into the street” isn’t disrespect. It’s respecting the word of the bank and demanding it holds true to that promise it makes to you, to keep your money safe. To say to a restaurant “I expect… Read More »

Being John Lewis. And Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell. And Even Myself.

Today, August 19, 2016, I had the great pleasure and extreme privilege to meet the honorable Congressional Representative John Lewis, his digital director Andrew Aydin, and illustrator Nate Powell when they came to Seattle as part of their book release tour for “March Book 3.” Representative Lewis and Mr. Aydin collaborated on the story and… Read More »