White People Talking About Racism: Do It Anyway

Through the month of October, we've been talking about dialogue as the example Jesus modeled for lifting up the dignity of disenfranchised people and for bringing back into community people who have previously been excluded outright or who have been relegated to the margins. In this post, we will talk about a certain type of dialogue in regards to race in America. After all, race is one of the primary ways that society is divided, in particular the Christian community.

***

A lot of white people avoid talking about race in America on general principle.

In some ways, that is understandable. It is seen as a high-risk, low-reward scenario. The risk is high that someone could be offended or that one's personal work or reputation could be jeopardized, and the prospects of making the situation of race any better for anyone seem pretty low.

So it's easy to see why people of goodwill opt out.

I don't think that's the right approach.

I take great solace from the poem Do It Anyway (copied below) (attributed to Mother Thersea but originally written by Dr. Kent Keith): I think it's something we need to do anyway.

If the majority of us who have any sensitivities or empathies around race stay silent, who will do the talking? Surely, white supremacists will show no hesitation. And young people who are vulnerable to this message may not hear a counter narrative.

There is a chance we will be seen as dominating the discussion. That is not something to take lightly. But if we don't talk, the burden will fall on our African-American sisters and brothers who run the risk of re-traumatizing themselves trying to explain race *yet again* to an unsympathetic audience.

There is a chance we will be seen as trying to make the conversation about ourselves, trying to pat ourselves on the back for thinking we are "woke" or for trying to appease our white guilt.

There is a chance we will stay something stupid or at the very least insensitive.

All of these are serious considerations. That is why we must enter the conversation as sensitively as possible and to listen, listen, listen, and then listen again, as one my colleagues frequently says. But enter it we must--knowing we will fail, knowing we will say stupid things and knowing there may be doubts as to our integrity, selfishness or value to the conversation.

If we can allow a bit of grace for each other, when we do air out those unconscious biases and say things that genuinely *are* insensitive, we can lovingly correct each other. If those thoughts are never spoken out loud, they may linger for years and continue to infect our perspectives and decisions. If we speak them out loud, there is a chance they can be challenged.

After all, I remember a time when I was less woke that I am today. And I am hopeful for a future when I am more woke than I am right now. As easy as it is to condemn my fellow white Americans for their insensitivities, I have to remember how easy it is to have them.

I seriously doubt how successfully we can scold people into a change of heart. It can make me feel good in the short term but what good is it if, well, no good comes from it?

After all, God loved the world into existence, Christ loved the world to its redemption and the Holy Spirit continually loves us in the process of sanctification. If that weren't enough, Jesus told us the first and foremost commandment is to love one another, up to an including our very enemies. How could we see anything other than love as the vehicle for change?

All things equal, I do believe it is better to talk about race than not talk about it. Please understand, there absolutely *are* risks in talking about race. We have to continuously take personal inventory and be always consciously on the alert for dominating the conversation. We have to lift up African American voices, as they are the ones directly living with the effects of racism and whose voices have been silenced all too often. But we white folks are the ones who can use our privilege and our relationships to have the tough conversations and make the tough decisions in the personal, private and public spaces that we inhabit.

After all, many African Americans report feeling exhaustion over talking about race, and we've been asked to do use our privilege to make the situation better, and that includes talking about race, especially with other white people. Just be sensitive to how you are doing it, such as making a  priority of listening to the experiences of the black community and avoiding the traps of making it too much about ourselves, but do it we must.

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;

Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;

Build anyway

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;

Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see in the final analysis, it is between you and God;

It was never between you and them anyway.

by Mother Theresa and/or Dr Kent Keith

***

This is part 4 in a series during October on Respect Life.

Part 1: Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue is a Respect Life Issue

Part 2: Yes, Even "Those People"

Part 3:  Dialogue: A Contemplative Practice

Forgetting

The huddled masses, desperate, weary, worn, scared but hopeful.

When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

Leviticus 19:33-34 

I've seen this quote from Scripture a lot lately in reference to the immigration debate in the U.S. I'd like to focus on a part that we often gloss over:

"for you were foreigners in Egypt."

Let’s break this down.

So much of the Old Testament is about a people who are always forgetting where they have come from. When times were tough, they would beg to God and to anyone else who'd listen. But when the good times came, their haughtiness returned. They were quick to forget what it was like before. They judged others more harshly, lost sympathies for the suffering and generally forgot the poor. We  resonate with these stories because today we are still at risk of falling into the same habits.

Native Americans have been here for thousands of years. Africans were brought here as slaves. Virtually everyone else is either an immigrant or a descendant of immigrants. And most immigrants did not arrive in the best of shape. Many were fleeing war, persecution of all kinds or poverty. In short:  Most didn't come here because life was all that grand back home. Most were begging for help, an opportunity or just a space to live in peace.

Even if you don't have a living memory of being a foreigner, you still would not be here today if people mistreated your ancestors when they were foreigners in need. It doesn't matter if all of your ancestors came here "legally." Besides, that's always a debatable point. When the first European settlers arrived to the New World, they made no hesitation about pushing out the people who were already here. Driving out established cultures of people certainly meets any thinking person's definition of "illegal." On top of that, dig into the past and learn the finer details of how waves of immigrants from different countries arrived and you'll find that the process was a whole lost messier (and yes, very often illegal) than you might have thought:  See this link for explanation.

So many Americans living today are descendants from the people on the Mayflower. But those folks would probably have died if it weren't for the generosity of the Wampanog. Have we been as generous to them and their descendants as they were to us?

If you are white, somebody probably helped your ancestors when they arrived here. At the very least, they created a safe, peaceful system to live in and thrive. Someone almost certainly helped your ancestors when the chips were down, when one person's--or one nation's--generosity made all the difference between life and death. You would be not here today otherwise. That should still matter to you today. That should be a permanent reminder to walk more humbly, judge less harshly and be merciful to all--because we were all in that position at one time.

The quote from Leviticus doesn't say "your ancestors were foreigners." No, it says "you were foreigners." Whether you were born yet or not doesn't seem to matter. Most Americans today--especially white Americans--simply do not think of themselves as "a people." Their ancestors were just some people who came over on a boat, but we rarely think of them as "us." It is not normal for humans to be so disconnected and to lose the ability to identify with one's own ancestors and say "we" when referring to them.

Lack of Collective Identity in the White Community

Part of the issue is something I've heard in a paneldiscussion on racial reconciliation at the Southern Baptist Convention in Birmingham, Alabama: The white community does not think collectively. In fact, most white people do not even self-identify as members of "the white community." We think individualistically.  However, the African American community has developed a more collective understanding--what happens to one black person happens to all. I think their approach is much more honest and much more human than what white people do, and I appreciate this panel for making these points.

If you think individualistically as most white people are trained to do, then it's hard to notice all the ways that the system has supported, encouraged and enabled you and your efforts. It's easier to take credit for successes and downplay all the ways the community and the system has helped you. It is also easier to disavow any responsibility for helping your neighbor if individual effort were the sole determiner for success--you can simply blame them for their struggles and rest easy with a clean conscience.  However, this is not an honest nor a responsible read of the situation. 

And in light of the Scripture verse at top:  It's easy to forget that what happened to your ancestors still matters to you today.  The past matters. Our families matter. We would not be here today if somebody didn't help out our ancestors.

The prevailing idea in the white community is that we are disconnected individuals. There is no such thing as a "system." Your own hard work and enterprise is all that is needed for success.

Why would people in the white community gravitate toward this idea? Simple:  If you are the group with virtually all the power, wealth and privilege, and all white people are so some extent (yes, even the very poor), it behooves you to deny the system because the system is unfair.

Black people tend to see themselves as members of the black community. They have a more collective identity. What happen to one black person happens to them all. And the successes of one black person also is felt by all. This is normal and natural. It is the white community which is unusual because we try to divorce ourselves from that.

White people forget that we are a people, we have a history, we have inherited both a good and a bad legacy that we have responsibility for. We forget that we belong to each other and have responsibilities to each other. Why?  It is easy when a group has most of the power, privilege and wealth to want to divorce themselves from a collective identity. It's easy to want to duck responsibility and to take credit for things that are at least partially the result of  class and racial privilege.

Racism and African-American Poverty

Picture taken from linked article.

I highly recommend this article for anyone engaged in discussions on race in America:

Black Poverty Is Rooted in Real-Estate Exploitation

This article is a must read. It does a fantastic job explaining succinctly so many of the themes we've been talking about on this site regarding racism.

Redistribution of Wealth

Many in the U.S. don't like the term "redistribution of wealth." They say it sounds "socialist." However, the U.S. has been engaging in redistribution of wealth through its entire history. Slavery literally stole the labor, the freedom, the lives and family structures of millions of people. The theft was not merely financial. This continued through oppressive Jim Crow laws. It continued even after Civil Rights became the law of the land 50 years ago through housing practices that literally stole wealth from African Americans. The linked article above makes this case so well.

Despite Civil Rights legislation, there has not been a massive move of African Americans out of poverty into the middle and upper classes. Some individuals managed to achieve this, but it was largely unavailable to the vast majority. Why? 

One of the primary ways to "move up" in the U.S. is through home ownership. As you can see in the linked article, black people have faced very different housing and finance options compared to white people. This has has very real, tangible, visceral results.

Booming Economy?

They say the economy now is booming--the stock market may be going up and there are available jobs, but that doesn't translate into a better standard of living for the vast majority: 

*    Wages have been stagnant since the 1970s.

*    Young people are finding jobs that pay $10/hour but require college degrees. 

*    Those college degrees mean that a person in their early 20s is often saddled with the equivalent of a home loan in student loans--nothing any previous generation has had to face.

*    Retirement options are minimal and pension plans are virtually nonexistent. 

*    Many do not have full access to health care, and those that do often go into bankruptcy in order to get it.  

STILL, the white people I know do fare better than African Americans. Why? Inheritance.

I've seen this play out with people I know. I know a white couple who run an organic farm. They moved onto land that the husbands's parents owned. There is no way they could have acquired land with only their own money or credit. So even in a tough economy, white people are faring better because so many have access to houses or land that they got from their parents and grandparents. Since black people largely do not have this option, they struggle far more. This white couple are able to use this inherited land to establish a business and perhaps build equity.

As you can see in the linked article, home and land ownership was far more difficult for black people to get than for white people. These policies continue to have a lasting effect for generations, even if cases were the policies themselves are no longer in effect.

It's not just Home Ownership

There are certainly other reasons for disparity along racial lines in America. Mass incarceration and the well-documented disproportionate treatment of black people in every stage of the criminal justice system factors heavily. So is implicit bias and other covert forms of racism that impact everything from a sense of belonging in this country to getting jobs and securing higher salaries.

Individualism in the White Community

So white people: Before you take too much credit for "pulling yourself up by the bootstraps" and claiming you achieved so much with "no one helping you," first make sure that is actually accurate. You most likely did work hard and you did struggle. No one is going to deny your right to say this. But you also had help that a black person in the same situation would not have had: In the case of the linked article above, that help included reasonable home loans, the G.I. Bill, sensible financing options, access to any neighborhood you wanted to live or conduct your business, etc. 

All of these translate very directly into upward class mobility, and their impact lasts for generations. Case in point: Most wealth in America is inherited (at least 60% of private wealth according to this link), NOT earned by the individuals who have it.

We white people can be humble about this and give thanks to the community and nation that supported our goals and work hard to make sure that all of our sisters and brothers have those same opportunities that we had.

Can a White Person be a Victim of Racism?

Image from: http://www.sbc.net/media/

At the recent Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting, a white man (presumably an SBC pastor) got up to the microphone and said that he had experienced racism personally in his life. He might have even said he had been a "victim of racism" (unfortunately I don't recall his exact words) * (see note at the end).

What brought him to this conclusion?

He told the story of how one time he attempted to worship at an African-American church. He was discouraged from attending by a couple of people there and even asked to leave. One person told him he would be better off worshiping "with his own kind."

On the Importance of Avoiding False Equivalencies

Words are important. This white man may very well have experienced discrimination. He may very well have been the target of bigotry. Or maybe there was another explanation (see below). But one thing is clear: He was not in any way a victim of racism.

Racism is discrimination with systemic, social power behind it. Racism is more than just one individual rejecting another based on superficial criteria. The power of a congregation to discourage a visitor from attending a single church service is not sufficient to merit the term "racism." Racism is the social, political and legal structures that keep one group of people in a second-class position as another. Racism may certainly be expressed by individual incidents like the one above, but it also requires a larger framework.

I totally understand that this man may have been hurt. He may have felt rejected. He thought he was attending in good will, but instead of a wonderful experience of unity he found himself on the outside looking in. But to call this "racism" is to create a false equivalency. One person's one time experience of rejection is not equal to a population of people who live with both historical and ongoing trauma, oppression and marginalization every day of their lives.

Further, calling them "racists" if they don't enthusiastically open their doors to your one-time, unexpected visit is to not take seriously the trauma this group may be acting out of. He needs to work harder than that.

Whether it's intentional or not, claiming that "there is racism on both sides" comes across as an attempt to downplay the experiences of the African American community. As such, it is actually considered a an expression of racism itself. There may certainly be negative experiences felt by both African and Caucasian Americans by the other, but the situation of race in America is anything but equal. Taking one isolated, small incident and acting as it if levels the experiences of both groups is not fair and it is easy to wonder if this SBC man was really acting in good faith.

Maybe it wasn't even discrimination at all

There is another another reason why this man may have been rejected from this church besides racial discrimination.  Both historically and in the present day, life for African Americans has been much more difficult than for white Americans on average. African Americans have found that whenever they have been happy or successful, or whenever they have expressed themselves, talked energetically or laughed loudly, that white people would inevitably do something to sabotage that. They were accused of being too "uppity" and put down harshly. Their leadership was thwarted. When they complain, they are gaslighted and accused of playing the victim, which only exacerbates the trauma. This is the brutal reality of life as second-class citizens.  Many African Americans have had to pretend they were less successful, less happy and less educated than they were for fear of precisely this.

Look at the burning of the black wall street in the Tulsa riot and the murder of hundreds of black people by an angry white mob. America has a long history of brutal lynchings and white supremacist groups which operate as a system of domestic terrorism designed to keep one group of people "in their place"--that means not equal.

In the midst of all that, the black church has been a refuge. It has been a safe haven for black people to more fully express themselves without fear (although given all the church burnings and bombings through the years, this has obviously made the black church a target for white racist terrorists). In milder times, the black church has been a place to simply be yourself. It is a place where others can sympathize with and understand you.

Is it any wonder then that when a white man shows up unexpectedly at an African American congregation that perhaps the congregation might feel invaded?

Emanuel A.ME. Church in Charleston, SC, opened their doors and allowed the young, white Dylan Roof to attend their Bible study on June 17, 2015.  The consequences were that he shot and killed 9 of their members. In light of this, is it even remotely fair for a white man to claim he is a victim when he shows up unexpectedly at a black congregation and finds himself discouraged?

The work of healing racial wounds is going to take a lot more than a random Sunday visit, however well-intentioned it may be. And if you are angry that African Americans don't let you into their space, ask yourself:  Where is this anger coming from? Do you feel entitled to be in their space?  Does it bother you that they have power and are using it? Historically, white people maintained numerous "white only" spaces but back people were often putting themselves at great risk to ever dare say "no" to a white person. Could this anger be an expression of this racism? Look deep within yourself to answer that question. There are many layers of racism buried within each of us, hidden even from ourselves, but the fact that they are hidden does not take away their sting nor their seriousness.

I know this is hard for many white people to hear, because white groups are being asked to open up and become more racially diverse and integrated.  Why is it good for one group and not the other?  The answer is simple:  Experiences in both groups are not the same.  White people do not have anything close to the multi-generational trauma and ongoing systemic racism that African Americans live with every day. There is nothing in theory "wrong" with spaces for white people to be with other white people. However, those opportunities present themselves almost every day for white people. As a white man, I could easily live my life without any contact with other races if I chose to. There is plenty of "white only" time if I actually wanted that. Furthermore, white people have consolidated power and privilege in those white circles, so there is not only value but actually a need to open that up to dividing up power and privilege as well as for education purposes.

Not every black congregation will respond this way, of course. Personally, I have been welcomed to worship services at black churches--although I usually go after receiving an invitation or at least getting to know one of the members and asking first. Some were quite happy I was there. Perhaps some were simply being polite. I should also point out I've been to some very secluded rural white churches where I didn't exactly feel cozy and welcomed, either. They may not have been mean, but perhaps they just weren't used to having visitors. And that's the point here:  Maybe instead of rushing to judgment we can take a deep breath and consider that maybe the story is much bigger than we realize and that the work of unity may take that--a lot more work than just showing up unexpectedly one Sunday and expecting a hero's welcome. Maybe that Southern Baptist man could take time to get to know individual members of this African American congregation and enter into a dialogue where trust can be built so that one day he might very well be welcomed to the church that once asked him to leave.

* NOTE: It is important to point out that this one white man's comments do not represent the SBC as a whole. I just thought his comments were a good case study, because what he said is similar to what I hear elsewhere. I find a wide range of racial perspectives within the SBC. The SBC leadership overall is continuing to work hard to make racial progress.

Love the Racism Out of You

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. 

Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. 

-- MLK

I talked about how racist attitudes and acts of racism are always rooted in cowardice and self-hatred in a previous post.

If that is true, doesn't that change everything about how we ought to approach racism in this country?

We often approach racism this way:  We condemn racism itself and the people who hold racist beliefs. Then we focus on lifting up the people whom racism has oppressed.

That seems logical, right?  Racists have all the power and have used it to hurt others, so to make the situation right they need to lose that power and be reprimanded.

But what if racists don't feel like they have power?  What if, on some level, they feel like they are the victims? 

After all, racism comes out of fear--always. I'm talking about the kind of fear so deep most people often don't know they have it, but their actions speak for themselves. Why else would people work hard to oppress another group unless they were worried about what this group would do on a level playing field? Why else would they spend so much time hating what another group is doing?  Isn't their life, their family and their work enough to keep themselves interested? Don't they believe in themselves?

It gets more complicated because racism, bigotry and discrimination are problems every person struggles with. It's endemic in the human condition, or at least in human culture. It can flare up in anyone and many keep it on the back burner simmering. But to the extent that either racism is "true" for any of us, whether it's in small ways for some or larger ways for others, I would argue the same lessons probably hold true. Racism may be like greed. Some multi-millionaires revolve their lives around greed while for others it's a more occasional misstep. But whether it's all-consuming or an occasional tendency, it is still coming out of sin, and that sin is tied to fear and that fear is tied to insecurity.

What sin are we talking about? Breaking the 1st commandment. People have their confidence and pride in something other than the awesome Mystery of God. And despite what it looks like, pride is always trying to cover up shame--a lack of self-worth or self-esteem. Feelings of superiority are always masking fears of inferiority. Always. The psychologist Alfred Adler made that point many years ago. Hated of others is always tried to a deeper, often hidden, self-hatred.

That's why it's rarely successful to "beat the racism" out of someone, whether in an actual war with bullets or in a fiery online debate. Attacking someone who is fearful is not likely to inspire them to move through and beyond their fear--rather, it actually validates the legitimacy of their fears ("You see? I was attacked so my fear was justified all along!") In short: We have to love the racism out of folks. Society still needs to send a message and condemn racism, but that alone won't cause transformation in hearts and minds.

We know that racism in the U.S. was fueled by a cruel system of manipulation: Poor whites were pitted against poor blacks. It served the wealthy and powerful for the poor people to squander their energy fighting against each other so they would never organize and recognize their common enemy. The wealthy were not sharing any of their riches with the poor whites, but they gave them a sense of pride in their "whiteness." And some of those folks were so poor the only thing of value they had was their whiteness, so they have fought hard to keep the racial pecking order in place as a result. It's a twisted system.

Can we convince white people that their future will be better without racism? Can we convince them that there is a place for them in a more open, diverse, inclusive world? Can we convinced them that they have value as they are so they don't need to spend energy hating another group? They don't need racism in order to feel secure in this world. Can we convince them to let go of white privilege, which has given them much but also creates unrealistic expectations that make white people so volatile and fragile? Many white folks cannot envision themselves in a vibrantly diverse America of tomorrow. They have been convinced that they have nothing to gain there and much to lose. Can we show them that there is a bright future for them, too?

And if so, how do we do this?

Conclusion

If racism and other bigotry is rooted in fear--and I think it's clear that it is--then we should approach the issue with that firmly in mind. You can't scare the fear out of someone or beat or punish the fear out of someone. Or win legal cases. All of that will be perceived as a loss and will only work to strengthen the fear and persecution complex. All these will just work to convince a fearful person that they were right to be fearful because negative consequences are coming their way. But if we can get to the point where white people do not see Civil Rights victories as a loss but instead see that it is a win-win for all of us, then we can start healing that core fear. What I'm arguing is similar in a way that union organizers of years gone by worked to build a class consciousness and build solidarity--'that man over there is not my enemy but my comrade and we'll both get farther if we see our commonality and work together.'

Why would a group dedicated to Christian unity talk about justice?

Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue
Deuteronomy 16:20

A recent question on our Facebook page raised an issue that often comes up in our work. We hear it a lot. I'll paraphrase:

Since this page is dedicated to the pursuit of unity among Christians—especially between Catholics and evangelicals—why are you always talking about racism, immigration and so many other issues of life, dignity, justice and care for creation?

It's an extremely important question. One of the issues with unity is that people have different ideas of what it means. The very definition of "unity" itself has disunity!

If you ask someone who is an Orthodox Christian, they will probably hope your vision for Christian unity includes standing with them against the religious persecution and genocide in the Middle East that is currently devastating their churches. What kind of unity doesn't protect their very survival?

If talk to someone who is African-American, they will probably hope your vision for Christian unity includes healing the ongoing sins of racism that continues to fracture our churches and our society and leaves black bodies dead in the streets, rotting in prisons or suffering in near-perpetual poverty. What kind of unity doesn't advocate for their lives, dignity and equality?

The desperately poor people immigrating to the U.S. from Latin America are almost all Evangelical, Pentecostal or Roman Catholic Christians. If an asylum seeker is denied entry and is doomed to die on the other side of the border, then some statement resolving theological differences may not mean a whole lot to them—they aren't going to feel any warm fuzzies over church unity as they will only feel cold exclusion from (most likely) their fellow Christians. The group that steers this page is comprised of Evangelicals, Protestants and Catholics. Therefore, these are our sisters and brothers in the faith whose lives are at stake at the border. That means something.

So that is why this page and many other unity-seeking organizations eventually find that we have to be a voice for these other issues that exclude so many. The above is not an all-inclusive list, as there are definitely other issues that relate just as strongly.

We know from history that so many of the major splits in Christianity were related to—and were often a direct result of—serious differences in doctrine and theology. But what we often fail to recognize is that there have just as often been cultural, racial, ethnic, national and political reasons that have also  undergirded so many official and unofficial splits over the centuries.

I'll even take it a step father: I will go on record as to say that few splits—if any—have ever been purely theological. Every split is probably a combination of at least two of more of these factors.

Well, they say never say never, right? Given the thousands and thousands of Christian denominations, I can't say for sure that there has never been a split which hasn't been based entirely on theological grounds. However, I would suspect that even if it seemed like there were, there were also probably cultural or generational differences dovetailed into the mix somehow. Even some of the most famous splits, such as between Catholics and Lutherans in the 16th century Reformation or between the Churches of the East and West over the Chalcedonian Creed in the 5th century, may have been driven as much by different cultural approaches to language and inflection that could very well have factored heavily into what seemed like theological differences. In other words, it was like both groups were looking at the same coin, but one was describing the front and the other the back. What seemed like irreconcilable differences were perhaps more a difference in perspective rather than content. Again, I'm not suggesting that this accounts for every point of disagreement, but it has been suggested that this could be a factor—and even a major factor.]

So which are the church-dividing issues that matter most to you?  We'd love to hear your input and feedback! Leave comments here or on our Facebook page.

What are Reparations? An Analogy

A number of political candidates have been talking openly about the issue of reparations to the African-American community for slavery, Jim Crow laws, redlining and other discriminatory practices. A controversial issue, no doubt.

Many folks do not understand what reparations are and what they are for. Let me offer this analogy to demonstrate why slavery still matters to this day:

A Wrongful Conviction: An Analogy

A person in slavery is like a person wrongfully convicted and sent to prison with a life sentence. 

The Civil War was the trial that finally got him released from jail after 30 years incarcerated. Hallelujah! 

But no one did any subsequent legal work to finish the job. The man is "free" but still lacks voting rights. The prison record still prevents him from getting loans or meaningful work. His record was never completely exonerated or expunged. He is in a messy in-between state--out of jail but still a second-class citizen with no resources to pursue legal action to get his record fully cleaned.

Getting out of jail was only the first step--a huge one, yes, but only the first step toward making the situation right. How about all the therapy it will take to recover from those years of psychological trauma and forced separation from his loved ones? Perhaps his children grew up without a father, so this trauma is multi-generational. 

How about some kind of integration program to get into schools and jobs and to at least attempt to make up for lost time? That's 30 years of lost wages, lost promotions, lost raises, lost work experience and lost money saved for retirement. Instead, this person rotted in jail for 30 years and is now starting off in entry level work, with a stigma and a spotty record he shouldn't have, all doing this with years of trauma to somehow process without adequate community support.

This quote from author Marianne Williamson sums it up nicely:  "If you kick somebody to the ground, you owe it to them to do more than stop kicking," she told New York radio station Hot 97 earlier this month. "You owe it to them to say, 'Here: Let me help you get back up.'

Reparations for slavery and other discriminatory practices are like the work that happens after getting released from jail.

An Analysis

It's outrageous that we have stalled on this so long. We as a nation have clearly wronged a people severely and deliberately. When the Civil War ended, all debts were not paid by a long shot. Dismantling slavery should have been followed by rebuilding, but we all know how flawed "Reconstruction" was. 

We should have gathered as a people, pooled all our resources and did everything possible to redistribute the wealth that African-Americans had generated and help them get a leg up and get the skills to integrate in society--skills they were long denied. Instead, we denied them access to education, access to loans and access to the voting booth. To top it off, white society blamed African-Americans for "personal moral failure" for high rates of poverty. Unbelievable. 

The wealth of the plantation came through the stolen labor of slaves. That wealth should have been divided up. Instead, what they got was second-class citizen status through Jim Crow laws and unofficial second-class citizens status through racism and white privilege which continues to this day. That is NOT how you treat a group of people who we admit we have wronged. Then they get blame on top of that.

Just trying to heal from 250 years of continual forced family separation is an almost unbelievable trauma. Then add on to that denial of voting rights, prohibition from the educational system, from jobs, from getting loans, from getting the GI BIll, the list goes on and on. Instead, what I hear from white folks on my own page is "they should get over it and grow up." Wow. Try unpacking that sentence. Talking down to folks like they are children.

Imagine if I stole your money, invested it and made more from it, and then I tell you to "get over it." Give me my money back--AND the interest you've built off it--and THEN we'll talk about "getting over it" right? Obviously, reparations are much more than giving a check but you get the idea.

The morality is simple:  When you sin, you first confess it. Then you beg forgiveness both of God and of those you have wronged. Then you worked to correct the wrongs that have been done, to the extent that is possible. And then you work to make sure it never happens again.  And then as a final penance, you "pay it forward" sowing seeds of justice and charity to others going forward. This is basic, common sense. It's what adults should be doing.

Imagine a thief breaks into your home. He steals a thousand dollars. When you find him, he tells you: "Just get over it! Why can't you learn to forgive? Why are you playing the victim? Quit discriminating, leave me alone and I'll leave you alone!"  Well... give me my money back and then we can talk about "getting over it"!

Some folks say that any race-based classification is a perpetuation of racism itself. So giving advantages to African-Americans today would be to further racism, in their opinion. They say "you can't use discrimination to combat discrimination." The problem with this logic is that is favors those who already have all the power and wealth leveraged in their favor. These two quotes below dismantle that rationale quite nicely:

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.

― Desmond Tutu

“We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe.”

― Elie Wiesel, The Night Trilogy: Night, Dawn, the Accident

Racism is Cowardice and Self-Hatred

Picture from linked article.

Racism, cowardice and self-hatred go hand in hand.

Case in point: Check out the nighttime firebombing of the Highlander social justice center in East Tennessee. In predictable form, racists act at night when no one is looking. Historically, they also put hoods on to hide their faces. Nowadays, they troll online using fake accounts from their parents' basement.

People only hide their faces and sneak in the shadows when they are not proud of themselves and what they are doing.

Oh, I'm sure you could point to an incident here or there where aggressive racists showed their faces. But I bet they only did that if they thought the odds were 10-to-1 in their favor. But even still, a few incidents here or there doesn't change the overall trend of how racists like to hide.

To be clear, racists will certainly be passive aggressive in broad daylight. Usually that's also when they are denying that they are racists while doing something very racist. They display racist symbols and mannerisms while playing dumb about it. We've all heard it: "It's about heritage not race." Sure it is. Well, that may indeed be true for some but we know it's definitely not true for many. Their denial is part of the psychological terrorism they are employing.

If you have something to say, then say it outright. Show your face. That's what grown adults do. But racists can't do that because a person has to have self-confidence to do that.

Racism is Self-Hatred

We talk so much of the damage that racism inflicts on others, but we often neglect to mention another tragedy: How sad it must be to be a racist. I mean seriously. These people have nothing better to do than sit around and hate another group? All that means is that they don't believe there is anything interesting going on in their own lives so they have to focus on what someone else is doing. If racists would just start doing something meaningful with their own lives--maybe creating new art, building up a successful business or achieving some goal--they won't have time or energy to worry about what someone else is doing. What they were doing would simply be too wonderful to waste by taking time away to hate someone else who is not harming them.

I was bullied a lot when I was younger. One day it occurred to me:  I must be absolutely amazing because these people have nothing else to do than obsesses over every little thing I did or said. Yes, it was painful and yes, it was damaging. I hate to give them the satisfaction of knowing that, but I'm also not going to give them the satisfaction of living in secrecy about it, either. But in a very unexpected way, it actually boosted my self-esteem and confidence in so many ways! It made me so much stronger than ever before.

You pretty much have to be a coward to be a racist (or any other kind of bully). To all the racists out there, admit it: Deep down, you are afraid that another race is better than you. You are afraid that if you didn't constantly work against them behind their backs that they would out-compete you. Racists have poor confidence in their own abilities. They are desperately afraid of fair competition. Why else would they spend so much time and energy obsessing about another group? Why else would they work so desperately to keep another group down if they didn't fear what that group would do on equal footing? Their actions reveal all this about them.

Do something of your own to feel proud of for a change and then you won't worry about what some other group is doing.

And that's all very sad. Racism is nothing but jealousy and envy hidden very well. And jealousy is just self-hatred--you want what someone else has because deep down you hate who you are and what you have. Racists hate themselves which is why they find it so easy to hate others.  And that's so very sad because every person has so much to offer and so much that is good about them. I have to believe that about everyone.

Love yourself and you will have nothing but love for others.

Yes, racism can and does hurt others. But it is also a sign of how deeply wounded the racists themselves are. How little they must think of themselves.

And that's so very, very sad.

These cowardly racists could learn a lot from the people they try to hate: You'll never find a display of courage more powerful than those of the Civil Rights movement. The racists hid behind dogs, covered their heads with pillowcases and used the bully power of an unfair legal system to add muscle to themselves. Unarmed Civil Rights marchers stood up to all that and won. These firebombers today and yesterday have a sad legacy. Nothing they do compares to the bravery of the people in the Civil Rights Movement. But don't be mad at the Civil Rights movement for this. Instead, be mad at yourselves that you don't think better of yourselves.

I'm angry at racists but I don't really want to shame them here. I just think the whole situation is so sad. I wish racists loved themselves and believed in themselves more. Hating others is never going to bring anyone fulfillment. You are never going to hate your way to happiness. Whatever pain or anger in their own lives is something that need healing, and hating on others is never going to fix that. It will just create more pain but most of all it just creates a loss of potential--for the victims but also for the racists themselves. Individual black people have been seriously harmed, but as a group African Americans have only risen above all of this to be even stronger than ever before. The same cannot be said of racists.

If I love myself, I love you. If I love you, I love myself.

-- Jalaluddin Rumi

Jesus, the Rich Young Man and White Guilt

Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth." 

– Matthew 19:21-22

There is one reason for racist behavior that does not get talked about enough.

One reason why so many white people behave in racist ways is not necessarily because they openly hate other races—they may or may not (although they probably have at least some implicit bias). No, the reason for their racist behavior is that they feel those other races have legitimate grievances—this includes grievances against them. Instead of facing up to that responsibility, looking that guilt square in the eye and working to mend those wounds, it is simply easier to turn their backs on that pain and the people behind that pain.

It sounds crazy. It doesn't seem to make logical sense. But one reason we push away people is not because we hate them, it's because we actually love them—but to actually acknowledge that love and then adjust our actions and lifestyle in light of the truths of this love would require far too much. We instead turn away like the young man in the quote from the Gospel of Matthew above. That young man was far too attached to his possessions and his lifestyle. He was not ready for the radical changes in his life that following Jesus would entail.

We all know at a deep level that we are all sisters and brothers to each other. We just know. The Bible tell us. But once we admit that, then we quickly realize that this truth requires drastic changes in our life.

It's easier to blame the victim than do the hard work listening to their pain. Listening to their pain means feeling their pain. This is hard to do not because we hate them but because we don't hate them. Their pain hurts us because we genuinely care about them and feel solidarity with them.

If we really hated them and didn't value their lives, hearing about their pain would not matter. But it hurts us because their pain reminds us of a kinship that we don't want to be reminded of. Their pain reminds us of our common humanity and family relationship to one another. Their pain reminds us that we have responsibilities to each other.

This is probably poor consolation to the black man being assaulted by police officers or the young high school student walking home terrorized by profanities coming from a truck with a Confederate Flag displayed.

You might think that once people recognize that they are doing something wrong that they would stop it. But sometimes it just makes them do it more.

This goes far beyond racism and into other issues of social concern. It's much easier to mock the homeless person or yell at the poor unwed mother than it is to take their concerns seriously. If you blame them for their circumstances, then you can try to rest easy at night. I'm not convinced that we ever really convince ourselves to blame them, but we sure try.

Guilt Management USA

A whole industry has sprung up in America to help people rationalize away their guilt.  My uncle once told me this was the driving force behind Rush Limbaugh and so many radio commentators like him.

At a deeper level, the point of Rush is to help listeners feel okay about not giving a damn about their neighbors. The reasoning goes like his: Not only do you not have to care about your neighbor's welfare, but they are in fact better off if you don't. Instead, let the 'free market' take its course, let nature take its course and all shall be well. It's the moral adjustment that has to be made to live in to the neoliberal philosophies of Ayn Rand which drive most of our current politicians.

We know in our bones that this is wrong. This is why we people like Rush, Sean Hannity, the FOX News Network and so many others have been pushing this message over and over and over again for years. It's not natural to believe this way, but people can be pushed (dare I say brainwashed) into believing it if it is the only message they hear.

For a well-to-do white person, listening to Rush can be somewhat comforting. His message can be summarized as: You're okay just as you are, and you don't have to do anything. In a twisted way, I can sort of appreciate that. He helps assuage guilt. It's okay to tell people they are okay as they are, but it's not okay to tell them they have no responsibilities to their fellow sisters and brothers.

Racism at our Core: The Divided United States

I have a terrible habit of accumulating books that sit far too long on the bookshelf before getting cracked open. One of them currently is America's Original Sin: Racism, White Privilege and the Bridge to a New America, by evangelical Christian author Jim Wallis.

Despite not having read a word of this book yet, the title has spent a lot of time rolling around my mind. I think of it often. I chew on it the way others might chew on gum or perhaps a mantra. I take the expression of racism as America's original sin and apply it like a yardstick to other issues I am contemplating to see if it fits. What I have found has changed my perspective profoundly.

Even if I never end up reading a single word from this book, it will still have had a significant impact on me.

At first, I thought the title was an exaggeration. Surely racism is one of many sins in this country, but calling it our "original sin" seemed like an overreach. After all, we have no shortage of sins in the USA. I used to think racism was an issue that only impacted certain racial and ethnic groups, and I reasoned that no matter how bad those issues might be for those groups, other issues were more important simply because they impacted all of society in a broader way—militarism and poverty being two glaring examples. Well, I am here to admit that I was quite wrong in this! The more I delve into different social issues, the more I see the unmistakable footprint of racism underneath almost all of them. Contrary to my earlier thoughts, racism actually involves and impacts all of us. It's just everywhere and it's ugly.

In short, Jim Wallis is right.

Layer upon Layer of Racism

The US is built with layer upon layer of racism. The most obvious example is that the US was populated mostly by western Europeans who massacred their way across the frontier, wiping out whole cultures of people along the way. Native peoples who had built robust communities and civilizations were almost completely eradicated from the face of the earth, all so that European settlers could steal their land. Many settlers were convinced God has granted them this land and the people who were already there were treated like some kind of nuisance. Settlers rarely regarded native people as equal persons with rights and innate dignity bestowed on them by their Creator.

Then those European settlers brought in Africans who were kept in the cruelest form of chattel slavery for a period of over 250 years (longer if you include slavery in the Caribbean and elsewhere in the Americas). Each was legally regarded as only 3/5 of a person. After they were "freed," African Americans were still subjected to harsh treatment and denied opportunities through strict segregation (which was not, to say the least, a kind way to treat people who had been so terribly brutalized through slavery). Full freedom and inclusion for African Americans has still not been attained by a long shot, especially with current oppression in the form of mass incarceration.

As horrific as both of those are, racism doesn't stop there. No, it seeps into the cracks and crevices of life in America in other sinister ways, in places where you might not think to find it.

Waves of immigrants fought for jobs, status and opportunities by trying to push down successive waves of immigrants from other races, cultures and religions. Competition between the racial, religious and ethnic groups was built into the fabric of America this way. Poor whites were pitted against poor blacks as a way to divide and conquer. The repercussions of this go on to this day. It's deeply ingrained in us. We've been trained to see different groups as threats and competitors. We've been trained to see different groups as, well, different.

Education and Health Care

Racism is a driving force even in our education and health care systems. How can this be?

For example, white middle-class people living in a white middle-class neighborhood usually don't quibble too much over paying taxes to support their public school (or paying tuition for a private school) that serves mostly white middle-class families like themselves. But suggest that this same tax or tuition money should be distributed to schools in a wider circle and outrage will probably ensue. Why is this? Because there is a perception that "those people" as not part of "my society." If we really and truly felt in our bones that we are one united society, we would not hesitate to invest in each other the way we do when our communities look like ourselves. The original sin of racism stains everything we do.

It's all racism: We don't want "those people" to benefit from "our money." We only want "people like us" to share in what we have.

It's more than a little ironic if white folks do not want "their" money to benefit someone else. Much of white wealth was earned on the backs of enslaved Africans on free land stolen from native people and it is all kept that way through a deeply entrenched system of white privilege. This in turn even benefits white people who have had no direct inheritance from the days of slavery.

When people talk of "states rights" and are against "federal spending," these are often code words for racism. The reasoning is simple: If something is instituted at the federal level (such as spending for education or health care), then it would be distributed to all members of society evenly and equally. People who value states rights or local decision-making are hedging their bets that they can create a higher class of living for their select group at the expense of others outside their group—hence, racism. They want to maintain divisions to maintain privilege and power.

Rich people in rich neighborhoods pay for the education of each other's children—that's true whether it's a private or public school. So why do many not not want to pay for the education of ALL kids in society?

Many pay for the health care of other people through shared health insurance group plans. But try to suggest that all Americans should be covered under a single-payer, federal plan, and you will encounter all manner of resistance. Why? Because "those people" who we have been trained to hate, fear, mistrust, rival—and who might have legitimate grievances against us—could stand to improve their stature and thus their "risk" to us. At least, that's the fear.

Whatever feeling that arises when you read those words, perhaps a fear or a resistance, that is what this blog post is about.

The United States is not so United

We Americans just don't see each other as members of the same family and society. If we did, it would be easy to convince each other of the value of investing in each other. We act very differently when we have that sense of shared commonality with others.

One problem with the sin of racism is that our best efforts to exclude others and deny that we have a shared identity with certain groups does not change the fact that we actually do have a shared destiny together. After all, what happens to you impacts me and visa versa. As MLK said, "we must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools" [emphasis added].  Either way, we are indeed "together."

A lack of a shared vision is a poor vision. When crime goes up, when our nation falls behind other nations in the competitive world market, when our health care and education systems lag far behind other nations, we have only ourselves to blame. We are so threatened that another group or race might grow in power and standing that we end up just shooting ourselves in the foot in order to try to stop them. By attempting to hold them back we hold ourselves back. We cut our nose to spite our face. That's reality whether we want to believe it or not.

Our country is built on paradoxes. That's the polite way of saying it's built on hypocrisy. As George Carlin so eloquently said: "This country was founded by slave owners who wanted to be free." In a likewise fashion, this country was built by immigrants who wanted the door to immigration closed after them.

Our national rhetoric describes us as a "great melting pot" and a "nation of immigrants." However, in light of our national history, those seem more like lofty goals than a description of the reality on the ground. The name of our country is the "United" States of America, but we have yet to actually unite as a whole people. We just don't see "those people" are part of "us." If we did, these discussions would be so very different.

That's about as foundational of an issue as you are going to find. America was indeed built on racism itself, the deeply-ingrained notion that groups are to be divided and treated differently (with some treated as though they were better and others lesser) than others. American pioneering was built on the unquestioned assumption that natives did not have rights. The economy was built on the assumption that Africans were not fully human. Established immigrants keep treating newly-arrived immigrants as not deserving of the same opportunities that they themselves had. These notions, these assumptions—this sin—is at the core fabric of what it means to be American. And we need the Holy Spirit to help us repent, restore, offer penance and reconcile with one another.

This is racism. It impacts nearly everything we do. In short, it's why we can't have nice things. It is so ingrained in us to divide people up and value some lives more than others that we don't even realize we are doing it. And racism is indeed America's original sin.

Where Charity and Love Prevail: The Matthew 25 Solidarity Test

Our society is so divided over many hot-button issues. There are conservative and liberal viewpoints, with variations of all kinds in between. It can be confusing to know what to think when half of the population seems to have strong opinions one way and seemingly the other half of the population has just as strong views on the other side.

When people express opinions about a particular issue, I always look to see how charitable they are in this. Do they take the concerns of others seriously and try their best to get to the bottom of it? Or do they simply dismiss their concerns outright without getting involved? That is often a clue as to whether their opinions are in line with Christian discipleship.

Jesus promises that he is close to the poor and suffering of the world. He is so close that he can say whatever is done to the "least of these" is also done to him (see Matthew 25:31-46). In this passage, he compels us to do the same through the works of mercy. This is a great model for how Christians can move and act in this world.

If you are trying to figure out what position to take on a controversial issue, you can use what I call the Matthew 25 Solidarity Test: Do you know the people who are affected by this issue? Have you walked in their shoes? Have you heard their concerns in their own words rather than from a third party? Are you so close to them that whatever happens to them also happens to you?

I'll use two hot-button issues to illustrate this point:  Racism in the U.S. and the struggle of refugees and undocumented immigrants.

Reports have been mounting in recent years of unarmed black people in America being killed or otherwise brutalized by police officers. There are so many reports that it is hard to dismiss them all as simply isolated incidents. Yet, some people are quick to say, "There is no racism in the U.S.!" It is strange how that is their first thought. It comes across as defensiveness and frankly just flat out denial. 

Anyone who studies statistics can tell you that a string of incidents does not necessarily prove that there is something like societal racism in play. Such things are difficult to prove and it can take years for the proper data and studies to come in. However, anyone who is even remotely charitable should recognize that we have a big problem. All indicators point to it. Even if we were to find out later that this treatment of African Americans is somehow NOT systemic racism (which I sincerely doubt), we should still be acting as if it were racism until we know for sure. That is what a charitable person would do. Until we get to the bottom of it, we should be doing everything possible to solve this. We should be sensitive, compassionate and diligent until this problem is solved. The fact that so many resist any effort to work on this issue just about proves the legitimacy of the charge of racism.

For example, if someone falls out of a tree and thinks he has broken his arm, the best thing to do is take him to the hospital. It is possible that the arm is not broken, but doctors will treat that person as if the arm is broken until they can properly diagnose. It would be cruel and inhumane to say, "quit crying, your arm is not broken!" without actually doing the necessary evaluation to know for sure. Yet, that is exactly how many in our culture are treating African Americans who present strong evidence of racism and are met with resistance, dismissals of their concerns and overall lack of interest.

The people who say that racism is not a factor are rarely (if ever) close to the issue. They seem to pronounce their judgement from their comfortable living rooms in very white neighborhoods. They aren't the people who are consoling grieving family members or helping a wounded and angry community heal. Those who are involved seem to have no problem recognizing the footprint of racism at work.

I see the same pattern over how we treat refugees and undocumented immigrants. The people who are closest to migrants—who hold their hands when a loved one is missing or who simply listen to them with open minds and hearts—these people overwhelmingly support a merciful approach to welcoming immigrants and granting hospitality whenever possible. Those who want to shut out immigrants and refugees with strict rules are usually people who have had no meaningful contact with those migrants and have rarely taken the time to fully understand their concerns.

An important note: It takes more than physical proximity to truly be in Christian solidarity with others. For example, police and the people they arrest are very close. The police physically touch them and they share a ride in a police car. However, despite sharing that space, they are often very far apart in terms of their life experiences and perspectives. People in segregated communities can often think they are close to each other. They see each other from behind their car windows or in limited interactions in public. They can fool themselves into thinking they understand the concerns of the other group. Segregated or confrontational relationships are not relationships of solidarity, and solidarity is what Jesus is requiring in Matthew 25.

Being in close solidarity with the poor and suffering of the world is no guarantee that you will always form the best opinions. However, in our culture that seems almost evenly divided on so many important issues, we are actually not very divided when we factor in solidarity. Looking at the issues of racism and immigration, those who are in solidarity with the affected groups overwhelmingly have a supportive, sympathetic opinion of their struggles while those with differing opinions are almost always those who are not in solidarity. I'm sure there are exceptions, but quite frankly, I have never met one. Exceptions must be very rare, if they exist at all. This is a pretty clear indicator to me that opinions on both sides are not equal in validity.

I'm reminded of the lyrics to the old church hymn:

Where charity and love prevail,

there God is ever found;

Brought here together by Christ’s love,

by love are we thus bound.

Book Recommendation: Thinking Theologically about Mass Incarceration

Click here to buy

It's hard to imagine a more urgent and timely topic: How can Christian churches understand and address the problems of racism, especially in its most current manifestation, mass incarceration?

BOOK RECOMMENDATION: Thinking Theologically about Mass Incarceration, Biblical Foundations and Justice Imperatives.  Churches, seminaries, social action groups and other concerned Christians: This is a fantastic book for any Christian who wants to better understand—and take action on—racism in the U.S in its contemporary form: Mass incarceration.

26 writers—representing nearly as many Christian denominations—contributed brave essays, prophetic sermons and top-notch scholarly pieces on this very topic as part of the Faith & Order Commission of the National Council of Churches. It was the fruit of a multi-year process of vigorous discussion and discernment. The essays are powerful. 

Topics covered include racism, white supremacy/privilege, prison ministry and the main focus, mass incarceration.

Full disclosure: I am one of the authors who has a piece in this volume.

YOU CAN PURCHASE IT HERE.

This book is a great volume for prayer, study and action on this extremely important, contemporary issue! It's a "must have" for libraries, seminaries as well as personal and group reflection! It is academically robust, but it’s written in an accessible style so that non-experts can engage.  Thanks, Paulist Press!

What is mass incarceration?

If you talk about what racism was like before the Civil War, you couldn’t do that without talking about slavery—it’s most sinister manifestation. For 100 years after the Civil War, you couldn’t talk about racism without mentioning the way Jim Crow laws in the U.S. South institutionalized segregation and, along with it, racism. Today, you can’t really get a full grasp on the reality of racism without understanding how it manifests itself in the phenomenon of mass incarceration and the selective bias and privilege which fuel it.

Mass incarceration is the disproportionate treatment of people of color in all aspects of the criminal justice system—everything from shopkeepers being overly suspicious of black patrons to the statistics that say that people of color are more likely to be questioned by police (such as in a traffic stop), more likely to be searched, more likely to be arrested, and more likely to be convicted and, once convicted, more likely to have the harshest sentences. And the only factor that seems to correlate to these differences is skin color. I’m only restating what has been said so well in Michelle Alexanders seminal book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.

A young African American kid is shot and killed for sporting a water pistol in Cleveland, Ohio. A white man who was arrested after shooting 9 black people in Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, is taken to the drive-thru at Burger King immediately after the incident. Perhaps a single incident could be excused for any number of reasons, but there are hundreds and hundreds of comparable examples all across the nation.

The end result is that African Americans have a familiarity with the criminal justice system that most Caucasian Americans will never have. This leaves empty spots in the pews, a gap in father-child relationships, a permanent mark on one's work history and a lifetime ban from voting. While some individual African Americans may fare well, the overall result of this is a permanent 2nd class caste system for African Americans in general.

What can we do about this?  And more specifically, what can our churches do about it? I recommend Thinking Theologically about Mass Incarceration, Biblical Foundations and Justice Imperatives to help with that.

YOU CAN PURCHASE IT HERE.

Taking One (Knee) for the Team

Race relations in the U.S.A. all too often play out like this:

African-American people: "We have a problem in this country with race, and it is important to us."
White Americans: "Be quiet!"
African American people: "Lives are impacted both in the past and now."
White Americans: "Get over it!"

I wish I could say this were an exaggeration. Sadly, I have seen these responses quite literally on the social media pages I manage and elsewhere.

Right now, this controversy is playing out intensely over athletes taking a knee during the national anthem in protest over racism and police brutality. Before any of us gives our opinions on the flag, the national anthem, racism or the first amendment, there is something more fundamental that we are missing:

Our brothers and sisters in Christ are raising their voices. They say there is a problem. The rest of us may not see the problem, but we can hear their voices raised. Maybe we ought to walk in their shoes for a while until we can also see the issue as they see it?

The fundamental issue is: How do we treat our fellow citizens when they cry out in pain?

Whenever people respond with denial, trying to shut others down from speaking their voices or dismissing their concerns without any reasonable discussion, that just about guarantees that the original concerns are probably a little too close to the truth for comfort. Or at the very least, they have hit some nerve somewhere.

That is simply not an appropriate way to respond when someone comes to us in distress. People who attempt to shut others down are very often—if not always—trying to hide something. I suspect that white America knows its guilt, but it is still largely trying to run from it. White America has never been very good when it comes to mature accountability for its actions around race. Tragically, all this does is allow the injustices to continue to be perpetrated, and it passes the buck for later generations to deal with. Problems do not go away this way.

You may not agree with my assessment. But can you please demonstrate that you are listening deeply to the concerns of protesters before reaching that conclusion?

Some do not like the method of protest where athletes take a knee during the national anthem. However, the debate over the method has obfuscated the original reasons for the protests. The original issues have little to do with the flag, and many were doing it long before President Trump weighed in. It is about racism and police brutality.

If you don't like the way folks are protesting, could it be because you didn't listen to all the other ways folks tried to tell you before? We, as a nation, did not hear their cries, so prophets had to find new ways of getting the message across. This is not hard to understand. What is difficult, as history reminds us, is finding the willingness to hear.

If you don't want athletes to kneel during the national anthem, are you willing to come to the table to hear their concerns in some other way? Or do you want them—and their protest—to simply go away? I have heard many detractors call for these protests to end. I have not heard a single detractor invite the protesters to the table to listen with an open heart to their concerns.

It seems before we can resolve a conflict as serious as racism, we have to first learn how to talk to each other. This means active listening and taking each other's concerns seriously. That has to come before any other consideration.