After a summer of heightened racial tensions across the nation, Trinity United Church of Christ in Concord, North Carolina is hosting a weekly support group to help people confront and recover from their racist ideologies.
For the past month, Pastor Nathan King has welcomed about a dozen people per week into the church fellowship hall to attend weekly Racists Anonymous (RA) meetings. In an interview with WJZY, King emphasized that churches need to do a better job at fighting racism.
“I think the churches came together on civil rights,” King said, “I was a product of that, but I think we got complacent and it’s crept back in.”
The group’s founder, Carol Stanley, explained her intention in starting the group. “We’re becoming clearer and clearer on the unconscious racism that we all carry,” she said. “It’s a way to address one’s own racism as a spiritual practice and discipline.”
The sessions, held on Wednesday nights, are led by a licensed therapist following the traditional 12-step model.
