Reflections on the 6th Biennial Meeting of the Society of Race, Ethnicity and Religion
Last week went by in a blur. I was expecting it to move at a snail’s pace, but it flew by; and I was excited because I got to do 2 things on Friday that I love to do: lead my quarterly staff grief support group session and attend a conference.
The conference began on Friday; a meeting of the Society of Race, Ethnicity and Religion I was able to leave my office in time to catch the first plenary and paper presentations. Andrew and I went to get Mexican food (a go-to when we have things to process), and talk about the first part of the event.
The highlights were the excellent student paper presentations, Miguel de la Torre’s excellent Presidential Address, and most of all, Tink Tinker’s plenary session.
Listening to Dr. Tinker speak is an experience. He prefers to move about the room, not be tied to a podium; and when he makes eye contact with listeners around the room, it feels like he is looking directly into your eyes and speaking directly into your soul.
The main thing that stuck with me about what he said, is his struggle to find a seat at the table, and a voice in conversations. “I don’t know how to have a conversation about water conservation… because I’m not a water conservationist! Who am I to say that my Grandfather is more deserved by this group of people than another?”
He paused and then went on: “ I can’t conserve water, because water is not a thing.” It made me really think about my practices and how I approach water as a resource, not as a living thing that I’m connected to, deeply; even though I feel that way about plants and animals and it shows up in my writing quite a bit.
There is no word for “thing” in Osage. Other words you won’t find in Osage include “chief,” “democracy,” “sin,” “God,” “gospel,” and “conversion.” Tink brought us face to face with the settler colonialism that has created a fertile ground for Christian Nationalism to germinate and sprout; and his plenary was very educational, helping us to tune our hearts to the theme: Seeking Justice within an Apartheid America.
Dr. Miguel de La Torre ended Friday evening’s agenda with a wonderful Presidential Address, talking about the ways in which his Cuban body exists in the world as a Latine person who doesn’t fit all the Latine boxes. One example he gave was being denied an opportunity for a teaching job because he “looked too Pakistani.”
His address resonated, because of the ways in which I, while I identify as a Latine person, don’t check many of the boxes people seem to believe you need to check in order to be considered Latine.
I have the privilege of proximity to whiteness on one side, and the pain of not fully fitting into any of the cultures that make me who I am on the other.
As the weekend went on, I learned a lot and took copious notes. I got to have breakfast with Andrew’s and my former professor who also officiated our wedding, and I got to see difficult conversations being engaged for the enrichment of all.
I came away recognizing the ways in which Christianity is so normative in society that the pains of exclusion within other religions (which were vastly underrepresented here) are deep wounds that often threaten to bust through their delicate scabs and bleed, and the backlash for resisting assimilation that Indigenous communities face constantly is prevalent and pervasive.
I also came away with a longing to be in the room with these scholars more often; to have a place to have these conversations and to feel seen, all the time, like I did this weekend. I’m hoping it can springboard another conversation as well, about how ministers with professional doctorates like the Doctor of Ministry I’m working toward, can participate in and contribute to these kinds of academic spaces. It felt like a place to belong - like a theological and communal home for this body and soul that wanders the earth, wondering, “where do I belong?”