Racism still exists and data show that racism indicators are appearing more frequently.

“Hate crimes and hate groups are still around,” said Rowzat Shipchandler, racial equity manager with The Saint Paul Foundation, pointing out that the number of “hate groups” in the United States has risen 54 percent since 2000.

Shipchandler led the educational session Monday evening during the Synod of Lakes and Prairies winter meeting at Mount Olivet Retreat Center in Farmington, Minn., Jan. 17-19.

Citing research by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Montgomery, AL, Shipchandler said nearly 1,000 extremist groups operate in the country. Within that number, she said, are ten groups in Wisconsin, eight in Minnesota, four in South Dakota, four in Iowa and one in North Dakota.

The SPLC, founded in 1971, is known for its legal victories against white supremacists and its tracking of hate groups.

In her position with the foundation, Shipchandler has worked on “Facing Race: We’re All in This Together,” a foundation program that addresses racism at the individual and institutional levels, and provides recognition for those engaged in addressing racism, according to information about the program distributed at the synod meeting.

The St. Paul Foundation is Minnesota’s largest community foundation, reporting its mission is to “mobilize resources and be a catalyst to enrich lives and communities.”

Shipchandler encouraged everyone to address racism by starting “conversations in your churches and in your communities.”

While sounding like a simple starting point, she pointed to the foundation’s own research that showed “nearly 31 percent of people agree that they would like to get to know people of other races better, but feel as if they might be ridiculed or shamed if they say the wrong thing.”

She urged everyone to “analyze your own beliefs,” citing Project Implicit, a research project developed by several universities that looks at “implicit social cognitions” or those feelings that are not necessarily known or professed. Sample research questionnaires examining racial prejudice are available through Project Implicit at https://implicit.harvard.edu/.

Shipchandler told everyone to “look at your own organization. How diverse are they?” And she asked everyone to “take action in your civic and faith community lives.”

In order to “start the conversation about race” Shipchandler recommended a program called “New Conversations About Race and Racism,” a foundation program designed to stimulate discussions among “people who may not have thought a lot about race and racism.”

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