Tuesday, November 24, 2015

#Justice4Jamar - appalling silence

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.          
          – Martin Luther King, Jr.

I'm pretty pissed off at this point.  I have been for the past week, but today I hit the boiling point.  I have no doubt that I will offend and/or piss off people with this post.  So it goes I guess.

Today I posted 5 things on Facebook regarding the injustices in our world directly relating to racism in America as seen in the current situation in north Minneapolis.  Additionally, I made my old cover photo my new profile picture.  More people liked the "new" profile picture (that has been on my Facebook page for a long time already) than cumulatively liked the 5 other posts today.  That is fucked up.  Really fucked up.  Thanks for thinking that my dog and I are worth the effort of your pointer finger clicking down on "like."  However, if that is the one thing on my page that gets your attention, I am absolutely APPALLED.

And it's not just Facebook.  I've found that for the most part, people are not interested in dialogue about what is going on.  Yeah, that dialogue very well could become heated and messy and really hard- SO BE IT.

MLK tends to be pretty highly respected in the eyes of pretty much everybody, it seems.  Me- not necessarily as much.  So I'm gonna let him do some talking on here.
Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them.  (MLK)
Folks... if that doesn't grieve your heart and piss you off and ignite a fire in your soul because it is so jacked up that this is STILL the reality in our world- even in my city and yours- check yourself.  People are LOSING THEIR LIVES because of the racist bullshit that we call "politics" and "law" and the "system" and "justice."  People are LOSING THEIR LIVES because they are black and the system is set up with the premise that black is guilty.  It's not necessarily overt anymore, but it- racism- is alive and well.  We are ALL guilty of it to one extent or another.  Please do not deny it any longer.  No change will happen if we aren't even willing to admit what's true.  And the fact that I (and maybe you) get to sit and ponder whether or not I (and maybe you) think that it is actually really true that there is systemic racial oppression happening in the name of "law" and "justice" and "protection" and whatever else... probably kinda points to the fact that I (and maybe you) are privileged in the eyes of this system to even have such a "luxury."
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and consciencious stupidity.  (MLK)
There's a pastor in Minneapolis that I have so much respect for- Jin Kim.  He said this today, and I think it is far more gentle and assertive than I could be:
Friends, let me define racism simply. When all the facts are not known, but our gut tells us to give the benefit of the doubt to white institutions, white pronouncements, basically other white people MORE THAN the witness of people of color, then it's pretty clear that our bodies are racist, even if our minds are not. 
I don't say this judgmentally. I always remind my people at Church of All Nations that as long as I'm the senior pastor, I'm also the senior racist. My instincts have also been shaped by white supremacy as I've lived in the US for 40+ years. I'm one of the lighter skinned people that the police find non-threatening, kinda like off-white. 
At the very core of this nation's psychology is the fear & hatred of blackness. Ironically, hatred of blacks is just the self-loathing of white people (& whitewashed people like me) projected outward for all the rot, filth, theft, rape, murder & endless violence perpetrated for over 400 years by settlers & their descendants to advance white supremacy.
I don't know what action looks like for you in all of this.  Maybe it is educating yourself.  Maybe it is hard conversations.  Maybe it is confessing and apologizing.  Maybe it is writing.  Maybe it is interacting with the situation via the internet.  Maybe it is protesting.  Maybe it is bringing food or firewood down to the protest.  Maybe it is crying.  Maybe it is political activism.  Maybe it is working at changing policy.  Maybe it is doing your job differently.  Maybe it is making phone calls or writing letters/e-mails.  Maybe it is signing petitions- or even creating them.  And if you are a Christian, it sure as hell better mean praying.  Whatever it looks like for you to respond to what is going on, please do it.  

Our lives begin to end 
the day we become silent

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