KUT Interview: Austin Minister Helps White Congregations Discuss Racism

Activists and many others in Austin believe the city's troubled racial climate will never improve if white people don’t have the necessary, difficult conversations to examine and confront racism. So - how do those conversations get started? As part of KUT’s ongoing coverage of race and racism in Austin, KUT's Jennifer Stayton talked recently with someone trying to spark those conversations. Carolyn Helsel is a Presbyterian minister who teaches preaching at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. She has spent over ten years facilitating white congregations’ discussions about racism. Helsel says she was drawn to this work when she got to seminary and realized the Christian life she had been raised to lead did not honestly address racism. Carolyn Helsel’s book is "Anxious To Talk About It: Helping White Christians Talk Faithfully About Racism".