I am gravely embarrassed to admit that for many years I didn't know the difference between Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Columbus Day. This was not completely a result of lacking education, as I was given high levels and opportunity in education (though I do believe we should hold our schools to a higher standard of truth). I didn't pay attention to the differences between these two days, simply because as a white, middle class woman, I was privileged enough not to. The tragic irony of this reality eats away at my core. I viewed them each as a day off of school and thanked Martin and Christopher equally for a day to sleep in and play. As I have become more acutely aware of both the injustice that Dr. King fought against and the injustice that Columbus perpetrated, I am grieved at my own indifference.
My last blog was a plea for Christ followers to stand up and extend the love of Jesus to those of the LGBTQ+ community. I took that stand at great risk, but with incredible reward, as I was given the opportunity to share the love of Christ with those outside of my normal scope and help those among other communities, know how to justly serve the LGBT+ community better. And while I could not be more thankful for that opportunity, I was struck today with the question, "Why am I willing to speak out for those of my own community, but so often choose to not speak out on behalf of other dear friends that experience wild injustice daily?" As I was mindlessly flipping through Facebook, I was struck deeply by the words of Dr. King, standing up for people of native decent, “We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe out its indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or feel remorse for this shameful episode. Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exalt it. Our children are still taught to respect the violence which reduced a red-skinned people of an earlier culture into a few fragmented groups herded into impoverished reservations." The utter foolishness of my own previous unwillingness to wake up to the injustice of both Black and Native brothers and sisters, by simply viewing these days as "another day off" brought me to my knees. Dr. King did not just stand up for people who looked like himself but for justice of all people to be treated equally as God intended. As I reflected on Dr. King's wisdom and sacrifice, I was reminded, with great conviction, that I cannot, with a clear conscious, continue to petition the church to move towards "justice" in only the community that I fall in. Dr. King said in "Letter from Birmingham Jail", "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." It is not actually justice if you treat me with respect, but not those of other minorities. And I am not actually fighting for justice, if I am not fighting for all.
Today, I am praying that God might use my voice as a white woman to reach the white evangelical church, though I am positive that a person of color would be far more equipped and armed with personal experience, I feel I still should not be silent. In fact, my top encouragement would be to not just read this blog, but to read (listen/watch) one of the many books/articles/podcast/documentaries on the experiences of people of color in America.
All day, on MLK day, I saw people posting quotes of the great Dr. King on Facebook and Instagram, and while I am excited to see these notions of support, I plead with you, as humans, but especially as Christ followers, we must do more. I must do more. We must recognize that, while Dr. King is celebrated now- at the hight of his life, he was hated. He was deemed too radical and an extremist, for the nonviolent protests and for believing that we all deserve equal treatment as children of God. Now, because of his death, his quotes are posted to our internet profiles and media representations of ourselves, but to what end? Must I remind us, that only a little over a year ago an NFL player lost his job for staging a non-violent protest about severe inequality in our country. As I read Dr. King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" earlier this month I was grieved to tears at the devastating reality that you could switch the date from August 1963 to February 2019, and with very little revisions be convinced he was talking about today. As Christians we should lament the segregation of our country that takes place today. Dr. King said in 1963, "If the church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. I meet young people every day whose disappointment with the church has risen to outright disgust." It is the devastating truth that King was right. As I work on college campuses everyday to share the gospel, more and more students are viewing the church as a "social club" at best, and "an unsafe trap of hatred" at worst. MLK was told over and over again by white moderates of the church that he should "wait" for better timing to fight against the injustice. But church, I must ask, have we made our brothers and sisters of color wait long enough yet? Dr. King said, "Frankly, I have never yet engaged in a direct-action movement that was "well timed" according to the timetable of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation." If it was your son or brother or father killed unjustly by the police because the color of his skin made him suspect, would you wait? If it were your baby that is four times more likely to die, because of segregated economic unequal housing, would you wait? And even if it was my own dignity that felt threatened when I shop in CVS at night because I was "more likely" to steal, and therefor watched, would I wait? No. It is time we stop telling our brothers and sisters of color to "wait," and start telling them, "I'll stand with you." I am guilty of racism, and I must repent of that sin. I am guilty of pretending not to see my brother and sisters struggle, and I must repent of that sin. I am guilty, of white washing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s quotes, to use for my own gratification.
The humanity of every single person on this planet, is affirmed by God-- and not only affirmed but worthy of death for that affirmation. Who am I to sit back an continue the trend of silence among white, majority members of our church?
February is a month, set aside from the rest, to specifically educate ourselves and become aware of Black history. The truth is, Black history is just as much American history as white history is, and should be taught along side the majority. However, because of the lack of representation and our historic desire to look the other way, it became imperative to have a month set aside to give honor where honor is due. Jamar Tisby, the author of the new book, "The Color Of Compromise," helped me to begin to understand the truth about American history and Evangelical history, as a whole. Tisby said, "If you study history from academic historians it will disabuse you of a lot of mythology that you've grown up with, especially regarding evangelicalism." Did you know that when enslaved people of color were first brought over to America, it was frowned upon to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them because it may give them an understanding of their own worth and cause them to demand fair treatment? My ancestors put their desire to have free labor over the souls of Black people. As time went on, permission was eventually given, for white missionaries to share the Gospel with enslaved people, so long as they made it absolutely clear, while Jesus broke sin's chains on the black person's soul, He would not and could not break the actual chains that tied them to their master's floor. White evangelicals desired to give Black people a chance at heaven without ever giving them the chance to understand the radical worth they have as loved and gifted treasures made in the image of God. I wish we could say that this was only a historical fact, but unfortunately it happens today. While the actual iron chains may be less, the understanding of Black and Brown people being worth less than, and only seen as lost souls that we, white people, need to save is still prevalent, still extremely destructive, and still completely counter to God's word. We must corporately lament over our historical abuse of God's good word, to lessen people. And we must work for change. Friends, do not let the extreme nature of this prevalent racism in our churches keep you from standing up for justice, as it kept me for so long. But in that same vein, do not let the extreme nature of racism convince you that there must be someone else already working on it, and that your voice is not needed. "Minor repairs by the weekend-warrior racial reconcilers won't fix a flawed foundation. The church need the Carpenter from Nazareth to deconstruct the house the racism built and remake it into a house for all nations," said Tisby. Let's all call upon the name of the Lord together and open our eyes to our past so that we can create a future that is truely reflecting of our Creator. Let's remember that Jesus elevated and empowered minorities to positions of power in his Gospels over and over again (the good Samaritan saved a majority man, the woman at the well became the first ever foreign missionary, etc.). I can only imagine these examples are given to us so that we would do the same in our society. For many years I allowed my own ignorance to perpetuate the narrative of racism. I cannot claim ignorance any longer, and if you made it this far, after this post, neither can you. Let's move towards justice together. I would love to keep this conversation going, feel free to ask questions of me or for yourself, encourage additional reading materials for me and my readers, or let me know how I can continue to improve in seeking justice.
Possible Actions Steps:
Books:
- The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church’s Complicity in Racism, Jemar Tisby
- Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race,
Beverly Daniel Tatum
- Becoming, Michelle Obama
- I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness, Austin Channing Brown
- White Awake: An Honest Look at What It Means to Be White, Daniel Hill
- Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, Bryan Stevenson
- Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin, Sybrina Fulton & Tracy Martin
- The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, Richard Rothstein
- The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander
- The Sun Does Shine, Anthony Ray Hinton & Lara Love Hardin
Documentaries:
- 13th
Podcasts:
- The Witness