The Soul Repair Center offers free monthly webinars of use to religious leaders and professional caregivers supporting veterans and their families.
Racism in the Military and the Chaplaincy as Morally Injurious
Tuesday, December 12, 2023
1:00 - 2:30 CST
Register at https://voa.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_InSCCCyjS6qfdaTQkkTg0g
In this webinar we name and explore the consequences of racism in the military and the chaplaincy as morally injurious and detrimental for readiness. Racism is an interlocking system of advantage based on race -- a form of systemic inequality that privileges whiteness. For those who suffer its inequalities, racism is dehumanizing and emotionally harmful. It is also consequential because its distortions are reflected in reviews and promotions. While a distinct form of oppression, racism often amplifies other co-existing forms of marginalization such as sexism. Racism weakens the military by creating institutional barriers to equal opportunities for all to advance and flourish.
We will hear from two respected officers who draw on their own experience of racism to describe its harm. Such harm is deepened because racism in the military and its chaplaincies remains unacknowledged and unaddressed. Racism is a longstanding challenge in American culture. For the military to create a space of equality for all, leadership and training must clearly demonstrate no tolerance for it. Currently curricula for those entering the armed services, the military chaplaincy, and officer training are silent about racism. Instead, they need to name it as a structural system of advantage and provide instruction for resisting it. Racism undermines readiness in each of the branches of the Armed Forces. Effective leadership is needed to name and confront racism and its dehumanizing harm, for those whom it harms directly, and for those who enact or fail to prevent that harm.
Col. Mark Lee, CHpln, US Army serves as Dean of the Army Graduate School. Previously he directed the CPE Center at Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, TX. He holds a DMin and PhD, and certifications in ACPE and BCC. Chaplain Lee previously served as chief of Theater Spiritual Resilience as the US Army Europe-Africa Headquarters in Wiesbaden, German. He also served in South Korea and deployed twice in Iraq. Prior to his service in the Army, CH Lee served as senior pastor of Community Church of Honolulu and concurrently as a chaplain in the Hawaii Air National Guard. He holds a PhD from University of Aberdeen, Scotland, a DMin from Erskine Seminary, an MDiv from Princeton Theological School, and an MBA and BS from the University of Southern California.
Timika “Timi” Lindsay, Captain USN, (ret.) Captain Lindsay retired from the Navy in 2021 after 30 years of honorable service. In her last four years of military service, Captain Lindsay served as Chief Diversity Officer at the U.S. Naval Academy. She was a trusted team member at the highest levels in the Department of Defense to build, lead and manage a joint team to advise on policy and procedural issues associated with Culture of Excellence, Diversity and Inclusion, Equal Employment Opportunity, and Military Equal Opportunity/Sexual Harassment. She implemented and led two task force teams to identify inequities by gender and race/ethnicity resulting in the formulation of the Navy’s D&I Roadmap and the Naval Academy’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan, designed to improve the Navy’s diversity and retention initiatives. Timi now draws on her leadership and DEI expertise through Anchor Leadership Solutions, a company she established. For example, she planned and executed two leadership development conferences for the Naval Academy Alumni Association. She is now completing an organizational assessment and training plan for a Veteran, non-profit in California (Swords to Plowshares). Timi has frequently partnered with organizations in better understanding diversity, equity, and inclusion in their organizations. Her daughter is a graduate of the Naval Academy, and her son will graduate soon. Timi recently travelled to New England to finish her one-year Freedom to Serve tour which celebrates the 75th anniversary of President Truman’s executive orders that de-segregated our military and federal government.
Captain Dale White USN (ret.) was commissioned as a Naval officer/Chaplain in 1992. Prior to his commission as a Naval Chaplain, The Rev. Dr. White earned his MDiv from Drew University and DMin from Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC. Reverend White was ordained in the United Methodist Church in 1984. He served congregations in NY and concurrently as a Chaplain in the burn unit and pediatric ICU in Nassau County Medical Center. As a Navy chaplain, Captain White served in multiple settings including the Marine Corps base in Okinawa; the Chief of Naval Operations, the Pentagon, 2001-2004 and 2010-2013; Camp LeJeune and Fallujah, Iraq 2007-2010; Naval Personnel Command, TN 2013-2018, and Marine Corps Training & Education, Quantico, VA 2018-2021. He was in the Pentagon on 9/11 and provided pastoral care to Navy families whose loved ones were killed in the attack on the Pentagon. In Fallujah, 70 of the personnel he served were killed and over 1000 were wounded. Chpln White earned the Combat Action Ribbon and Bronze Star. In retirement he serves as Director of Congregational Excellence Valley Ridge District, Virginia Annual Conference. His work includes helping congregations to connect with partner organizations and to develop strategic plans and vision.
A recording of the webinar will be available on the Soul Repair Center website and the VOA’s YouTube channel.
Register at https://voa.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_InSCCCyjS6qfdaTQkkTg0g