He defined things a certain way when presenting the problem without much clear argumentation. He made a lot of claims that he seemed to assume were facts. While I appreciated a lot of what he had to say I feel that the biggest weakness of the book was that it did not provide a lot of specific examples or reasons why he claimed certain things. He provides a lot of nuance which is something I loved. This is helpful and keeps the reader going and appreciating the points that are being made. He often reminds readers that although he making point a–that point b is also true while not discrediting claim a. He is quick to guard his language and claims with responsibility on the other side. Yancey does a great job of never going overboard. You may not agree with everything but you will walk away challenged to integrate or change some of your views while appreciating a lot of what he says. ![]() The power of the book is that since the author is a political moderate or even slightly left-leaning it can be read by anyone–and yet still challenge and speak to them because of the tone and fairness in which it is written. Most importantly he lays out key pillars of the Mutual Responsibility Model. He lays out Christian principles in relationships to help bridge racial gaps, gives advice on how to create spaces for safe and real race conversations, and much more. The second part of the book is also good but incomplete. This gives a great lay-of-the-land for readers and will equip people to identify who espouses what and where certain blind spots may be. The greatest strength of this book is the first seventy or eighty pages where Yancey describes each of the four secular models for racial reconciliation. But, his intentions were to get a new conversation started based upon a new proposal. I found many areas I wished he had expanded on or described in more detail. He self-admits that the book is not a complete work on the model but a place to begin. In the second part of the book he fleshes out his model. He treats them fairly and seeks to be positive about their intentions as well as strengths. It laid out well the four popular models (two generally conservative approaches, two generally liberal approaches). This, to me, was as valuable as any other part of the book. In the first section he describes the four major approaches to the issue of race-relations in our country. The book is divided up into tow major sections. He believes that Christians must bring forth a unique solution based upon foundational Christian truths just like we have with issues like abortion. His thesis is that the four secular approaches, while having strengths and weaknesses, are all incomplete and will ultimately be ineffective. In this book he proposes his Christian model called the Mutual Responsibility Model. He claims that there are no current Christian models made to solve this issue only secular models that Christians have Christian-ized. The book is a quick one-hundred-fifty-page read where Yancey proposes his Christian model to racial unity and reconciliation. This book was written in 2006 but reads as relevant today, or more relevant, as when it was written. The author is George Yancey, a Christian sociologist that teaches at Baylor Christian University. ![]() I decided to read this as I knew it would be unique and a good starting point in forming my own understand of how God would have me think through this issue and put it into practice. ![]() This book, Beyond Racial Gridlock: Embracing Mutual Responsibility, came suggested by some trustworthy sources and places. There have been many poor suggestions and approaches to this problem as well as some better ones. I plan to break my reviews up into four groupings: why I read the book, synopsis and structure, agreements/positives, disagreements/negatives, and reasons to read at the end.Īs our country has been facing how to deal with racial reconciliation and looking for paths forward a number of solutions have been brought to the table. I think the best reviews are not too time-consuming but helpful and to-the-point. This is my first book review and I am planning to keep reviews short and effective.
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