CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- To get people to discuss racial issues in America, a Chicago-area pastor, his wife and their five children are hitting the road.
Nathan Stanton has been in ministry for 10 years in the Chicago area. He’s currently the associate pastor at Missio Dei in Chicago.
Stanton is black, his wife is white, and along with their five children they’ve sold their South Side home and are heading to California for the next month or so to hold events that will allow people to discuss race in America.
"We have never been together on the same page. The races have been in different places since we arrived here on the soil; but maybe we can begin to remake our legacy and our destiny, but it is necessary that we don't fall into the trap of being optimistic, and we do the hard work that is necessary right now," he said.
Stanton said they want to spread a message of "peace, and of love, and of racial unity. I'm black, my wife is white, and so we feel like this is an amazing time in the country to be doing this sort of work - reconciliation, which is to bring back together. The truth is there's never been much conciliation in this country, so we are basically attempting to heal the wounds that have been the way they have been in this country for a long time."
Stanton said later this year the plan is to get an RV and take his family across country to hold more of these discussions that include talks, poetry readings, and music; and in three years, he hopes to be able to organize a gathering in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the 60-year anniversary of the march on Washington and also gather people together to participate in a festival-type event aimed toward forgiveness.
Stanton has just launched the website, forgiveusmin.com.