Racial Justice Committee

Created in fall 2015, CBI’s Focus on Racial Justice is intended to strengthen our Congregation’s commitment to the Jewish value of equal justice. We are currently seeking additional CBI member participation as we expand our racial justice advocacy.

Our Mission:

• Increase self-awareness of our own implicit biases and privilege
• Build awareness in our congregation about our own diversity and celebrate it
• Create and ensure a safe environment for all people involved with CBI
• Educate our congregation about the Jewish values of tikkun olam and racial justice
• Increase awareness of issues of racial injustice, bias, privilege and systemic racism
• Develop ways for congregants to become involved in efforts to further racial justice in our congregation, the Reform Jewish movement and the larger community

Our Vision: CBI will...

• Be inclusive of people of all backgrounds and races and celebrate diversity
• Further awareness of systemic oppression faced by people of color and privileges of those perceived as white
• Through social and political action efforts, be an active ally in working with the Reform Jewish movement and local community groups involved in racial justice efforts

DISCUSSIONS & WEBINARS

The Fire Next Time … and This Time (April 4) 

We continue CBI’s discussion of race in America. At this event, we talk about three essays that can help us better understand the experiences of African Americans: 

• James Baldwin’s essay, in the form to a letter to his nephew, from The Fire Next Time (1963)
• Garnette Cadogan’s “ Black and Blue/Walking While Black ” (2016) from Jesmyn Ward’s The Fire This Time
• Heather McGhee’s recent New York Times Op Ed, “ The Way Out of America’s Zero-Sum Thinking on Race and Wealth .” 

The Lasting Legacy of Housing Injustice in Sacramento

• Part 1: Understanding Historic Housing Injustice in Sacramento (April 25)
  Brian Landsberg interviews UC Davis urban ethnologist Bruce D. Haynes, PhD about the historic roots and ongoing impact of racial segregation.

Note: About 8 minutes into this recorded presentation, we ask you to pause the program on your computer and watch a 6-minute online video clip that is a key part of our discussion. The video clip, titled The Disturbing History of the Suburbs, is part of the Adam Ruins Everything series by College Humor on TruTV. You can find the clip HERE (or click on the link provided directly within the YouTube video). After viewing the video clip, please come back to this web page to watch the rest of our program.  Apologies for the inconvenience. Copyright rules prevent us from including the clip in our recorded program.

• Part 2: What Can We Do to Address Housing Inequities in Sacramento? (May 2)
  Sherry Okun-Rudnak interviews Sacramento Housing Alliance Executive Director Kendra Lewis about Sacramento’s new long range plan to allow small multi-unit buildings in neighborhoods zoned for single-family homes.

The Impact of Racial Injustice on Health and Health Care in Sacramento

• Part 1: Institutional Racism in Health Care, and COVID-19 Disparities in Sacramento (May 23)
  Steve Orkand, longtime CBI member, physician, and former chair of the Sacramento Public Health Advisory Board provides historical background and a health care provider’s perspective.  Pastor Joy Johnson, PhD of Dr. Joy Johnson Ministries, immediate past president of Sacramento Area Congregations Together, and coordinator of pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics in high risk Sacramento neighborhoods, provides a local view of the lasting health impacts of racism.

CBI thanks Vox Media, Black History in Two Minutes, and Democracy Now for permission to use portions of their work in this program. Below are direct links to the content included in the recording.

• Vox Media, The US Medical System is Still Haunted by Slavery
• Black History in Two Minutes, The Tuskegee Study
• Democracy Now, "This is How Black People Get Killed": Dr. Susan Moore Dies of COVID After Decrying Racist Care
• Part 2: Addressing Current Health Disparities in Sacramento (June 13)
  A panel of local experts discusses current barriers to health care access and equity in Sacramento, and strategies to overcome them. Includes Flojaune Cofer, PhD, MPH, Epidemiologist, Senior Director of Policy, Public Health Advocates; Tim Choi, MPH, Program Planner, Sac County Dept. of Human Assistance; and Mikah Owen, MD, MPH, Social Pediatrician, UC Davis School of Medicine, UC Davis Health, and Sacramento County Health Center; and Ryan McClinton, Program Manager, Public Health Advocates.