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Rev. Bryan Massingale: Unconscious Racial Bias and the Challenge of Solidarity

Catholic Social Thought Post Trayvon Martin (and Michael Brown and...)

Date of Lecture: October 28, 2014

Bryan MassingaleAbout the Speaker: Rev. Bryan Massingale is professor of theological ethics at Marquette University and author of “Racial Justice and the Catholic Church” (Orbis, 2010). He is a noted authority on issues of social and racial justice. He has addressed numerous national Catholic conferences and lectured at colleges and universities across the nation. A priest in the Milwaukee Diocese since 1983, he has served as a consultant to the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops. And he has authored more than 70 articles, book chapters, and book reviews, appearing in scholarly and pastoral journals.

About the Talk: Fr. Massingale begins with a roll of some of the unarmed black men who have been killed by police, security guards and private citizens since Trayvon Martin's shooting in 2012. He explains unconscious racial bias as a malformation in our culture that makes the actions of these shooters seem reasonable. And he calls upon people of faith to reflect on the challenge of solidarity, to go beyond their comfort zone to be their brothers' and sisters'  keeper.

One of the Deitchman Family Lectures on Religion and Modernity.

Note: Due to a technical problem, only the audio of this lecture is available. Listen below or download the mp3 free from iTunes U.