For Christians,
Christmas is meant to be a time of potential.
For Christians, Christ came to bring hope and justice to a broken
world. Because of this, I am terribly
upset by our response to the injustices that have been brought to our attention
this Advent. Many of us became aware (as
if for the first time) of the racial disparities in our nation. I recently heard that our reaction to change
is a three-fold progression. We respond
by saying: I don’t get it, I
don’t like it, and I don’t like you. This seems to be how many people I know have
reacted when confronted by this new information of institutional racism in our
society. Sadly, many refuse to recognize
that anything is wrong. Then, even if
there is anything wrong or any pain that might exist, we manage to deflect
accountability for biased policies and practices. And yet, as Christians we are
called to listen for and respond with God’s love to the pain of this damaged
world.
I’ve encountered several
people in my life that don’t get it – they don’t see what the problem is, or
why people are getting so upset. Also,
to avoid admitting the breadth of the issue, there is a tendency to minimize
the validity of claims of racism and defend on a case by case basis. In effect, here’s why it is just for there to
have been no indictment in the Michael Brown case. Here’s why it’s okay that Eric Garner is
dead. This attitude mistakes the impetus
for the protests as the only reason for the protests. It conveniently ignores the broader trend
that underlies the anger. It ignores
the overwhelming statistics about biases in the criminal justice system – which
includes police responses, racial profiling, inconsistent sentencing, the
explosion in our prison population, etc.
Sadder yet, it ignores the extensive and ubiquitous cry of pain and
offense by a sizable portion of our brothers and sisters. We need to ask ourselves why our first line
of defense is to deny that there are any disparities.
The second disturbing
response is to deny collective accountability for the effects of any
institutional biases that do exist. “I am not racist”, they’ll say. Or - “The problems in the black community are
of their own making.” “Broken families
and absentee fathers are the problem.” Yet,
we have collectively decided to jail unprecedented numbers of black men, and
then not allow them to rejoin their families in public housing or even vote
when they get out. We act as if policies
and practices that deliberately target those black men have nothing to do with the
issues those communities face. We are
good at suggesting what “they” should do while going to great lengths to avoid
seeing what we could do. In this
democracy that we take such pride in, we act as if we are not responsible for
the root causes to which we contribute. We
need to ask ourselves why our second line of defense is to deny any
accountability for any injustices.
I am struggling mightily
with the widespread adoption of these two responses by otherwise caring and
intelligent people that I know. I am wondering what motivates the concerted effort
to deny a mountain of factual and anecdotal evidence of a problem. I recognize that maintaining the status quo and
denying any personal culpability is paramount for some, but I don’t know that
we can afford a myopic perspective when it causes so much distress for others. It’s too late for that. Just as with global warming, the deliberate
refusal of some to accept obvious truths is jeopardizing us all. How much do black lives matter to you if you
refuse to recognize the blatant disrespect that your neighbors are pleading
with you to take note of? I make my kids
try something new to eat before they can conclude that they don’t like it. But, we let our grown-up friends hold onto
their conclusions on this issue without even trying to see the other side. By doing so, I believe that we allow racism
to continue unchallenged.
I struggle most with the
Christian response to the unsettling events of the last few months. If someone you knew came to you in obvious
pain and distress, you have two choices.
You can recognize their suffering and offer the person comfort. Or, you can question their anguish, deny
their hurt and ignore their pleas for help.
We are clearly called to the former as Christians. And yet some are clearly taking the latter
response towards their brothers and sisters.
We need to ask ourselves why we
are deliberately neglecting our Christian calling to love our neighbor.
I am struggling to
reconcile this very un-Christian reaction from otherwise good (and often
church-going) people. I believe that we
ought to encourage each other towards becoming our very best selves. Loving our neighbor is an integral part of
our best nature and can be accomplished on an individual or community level. I think that we ought to lovingly encourage
and challenge our friends and family to recognize and own the institutional
racial bias in our society. Ideally,
our churches ought to challenge us to grow towards a world where every person
is treated like a child of God.
Referring to apartheid
in South Africa, Rev. Desmond Tutu said that - “Each person is not just to be
respected but be revered as one created in God’s image. To treat one such as if they were less than
this is not just evil, which it is, it is not just painful…no, it is veritably
blasphemous, for it is to spit in the face of God.” Love
and respect for all is where we are called to go – as individuals, as Christian
communities and as a society. We have a
golden opportunity coming out of this Christmas season to respond to the
brokenness in our neighborhoods. We need to ask ourselves – isn’t it time we stopped
spitting in the face of God?
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