The Repentance Project was born out of grief and desire.
The grief comes from knowing that the wounds inflicted both by centuries of slavery and a century of Jim Crow are not yet healed. Many systems of racial oppression are still in place and its diabolical legacy continues to affect millions of lives, both black and white.
The desire comes from knowing that those wounds can be healed and that there really is hope and possibility for the “beloved community” of which Martin Luther King, Jr. so often spoke.
This possibility, however, requires that we reckon with the long history of racial oppression in America and recognize the persistent legacy of slavery. When cities like Los Angeles, Ferguson, Baltimore, Dallas, Charleston, and Charlotte erupt in protest and flames because of racial tensions, it is not without context and a long history. While America was founded on some noble principles, it must also be said, grieved, and repented of that for centuries, America was founded on the attempted genocide of Native Americans and the oppression of African Americans.
We must recognize that if it took 400 years to bake racial oppression into our country’s DNA, it didn’t get resolved in the few decades since the civil rights movements. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, and the deepest work begins in the heart.
The Repentance Project wants to facilitate this work by helping Americans recognize this persistent legacy, repent with sorrow, and respond meaningfully, in the context of relationships. Our ultimate mission is: to encourage racial healing by communicating the systemic legacies of slavery, building relationships, and creating opportunities—through formation, repentance, and repair—for a just future.
The Repentance Project is an attempt to help Americans recognize structural and racial injustice, as well as its impact. We hope this website will provide new eyes to see, new ears to hear, and a new heart that cares about how racial oppression is hurting others who bear the image of God. This text will also be helpful for those who are exhausted from having to “prove” that racial injustice actually exists. Our goal is to help create a safe space for those who face the reality of racial injustice to feel authentically seen and heard. We also hope to facilitate conversations in which African Americans can be a part of developing substantive solutions in repairing centuries-old fissures.