Racial Reconciliation: A Beginning

This is long. I won't apologize. You don't have to read it if you don't want to. (Unless you're my husband - you have to read it.) 

I don't like controversy. I don't like being made uncomfortable and I don't like to make others uncomfortable; however, much of life is about growth and change and those two things don't usually happen if you are feeling comfortable. I don't want to be the same as I was ten years ago. I don't want to be the same as I was yesterday. I want to grow and metamorphose into who God created me to be. 

Racism is prevalent in our society. It is systemic in our institutions. It is buried in our thoughts, culture, and ideals. It is pervasive. It causes bias and prejudice and I personally know it to be true. This is one personal example from my own history:

I was called for jury duty almost a year ago. There was a jury pool of 75 to 100 people from the area I live in. The trial was for two black men accused of a laundry list of felonies. They were looking at life in prison. In our legal system those two men have a right to a jury of their peers. The jury pool that I was a part of looked NOTHING like their peers. It was a jury pool of (almost) entirely white people. There was not a single African American - other than the defendants and their friends and families - in that courtroom. Not one. And this is not the only area of the country that deals with this issue (Jury Diversity). 

There is a lot of racial tension in our country right now. And there are a lot of people who would say that the media has manufactured this tension, or that divisive two-party politics have generated the tension, but I personally believe this tension has been simmering under the surface for a very, very long time. Don't get me wrong I do believe that the media and an extremely divided political system have played their roles in the racial developments over the past month, but they are not entirely to blame. 

I've not been able to convince myself to watch the entire video of George Floyd's murder. I said murder, not death, because it was a cold-hearted and evil murder of a human being that happened that day in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

"Justice for George" by Shirien Damra

I don't think you need to hear George Floyd cry out for his mama for your heart to break, or to hear him beg for breath. The simple fact that a person who was sworn to serve and protect his community put his knee on the neck of another human being and left it there until that person had expired is enough to wrench your soul - and if it doesn't you should probably ask yourself why not. 

The problem is that George Floyd was not an isolated incident. It is the latest in a very long history of oppression of people of color in this country. Oppression by police, by strangers, by neighbors, by government, by a system that is rigged against them. 

There was a social media post going around that really struck me:

"I have privilege as a white person (in America) because I can do all of these things without thinking twice about it:

I can go birding (ChristianCooper).
I can go jogging (AmhaudArbery).
I can relax in the comfort of my own home (BothemSean and AtatianaJefferson).
I can ask for help after being in a car crash (JonathanFerrell and RenishaMcBride).
I can have a cellphone (StephonClark).
I can leave a party to get to safety (JordanEdwards).
I can play loud music (JordanDavis).
I can sell CD's (AltonSterling).
I can sleep (AiyanaJones and BreonnaTaylor)
I can walk from the corner store (MikeBrown).
I can play cops and robbers (TamirRice).
I can go to church (Charleston9).
I can walk home with Skittles (TrayvonMartin).
I can hold a hair brush while leaving my own bachelor party (SeanBell).
I can party on New Years (OscarGrant).
I can get a normal traffic ticket (SandraBland).
I can lawfully carry a weapon (PhilandoCastile).
I can break down on a public road with car problems (CoreyJones).
I can shop at Walmart (JohnCrawford) .
I can have a disabled vehicle (TerrenceCrutcher).
I can read a book in my own car (KeithScott).
I can be a 10 year old walking with my grandfather (CliffordGlover).
I can decorate for a party (ClaudeReese).
I can ask a cop a question (RandyEvans).
I can cash a check in peace (YvonneSmallwood).
I can take out my wallet (AmadouDiallo).
I can run (WalterScott).
I can breathe (EricGarner).
I can live (#FreddieGray).
I CAN BE ARRESTED WITHOUT FEAR OF BEING MURDERED (#GeorgeFloyd).

White privilege is real. Take a minute to consider a black person's experience today. #BlackLivesMatter #acknowledgeyourprivilege"***

The reason this post resonated with me was because I was thinking about something similar a few weeks back. I get nervous when I'm driving and a police cruiser is behind me. I'm almost always going the speed limit and following the rules of the road, but I'm nervous about getting pulled over and getting a ticket nonetheless. I have never - not once - been nervous or afraid that the officer would shoot and/or kill me.

There are people of color that fear for their lives every time they have an encounter with law enforcement - and it isn't because they've committed a crime - but because of the color of their skin.

"Justice for Breonna" by Shirien Damra 

Persons of color don't need my sympathy. They don't need my opinions. They don't need my perspective or point of view. They need my solidarity and my commitment to stand with them. They need my privilege.

In our home we have always tried to have toys and books that represent the diversity of our world. I want my children to see the beauty God created with different languages, skin colors, and heritages. If children grow up seeing a variety of skin colors, races, ethnicities, cultures - it normalizes that diversity. It removes any taboo or stigma attached to a specific skin color.

I have also recently been trying to broaden my own horizons by reading books by diverse authors - women, people of color, different ethnic backgrounds, etc. I've started following teachers, authors, religious persons, and artists from a diverse array of backgrounds and races on social media. And I am adding to my goals as it is reasonable.

I want to listen to the voices and stories of persons of color and to believe them. To give them the benefit of the doubt. To not question their experience, but to try and understand it and how I can help make this country better for them. I am talking to my children about the racism that still exists in our country. I am teaching them to see the unique diverse color spectrum of humanity and to love each and every shade of skin color.

Does this mean white people are the worst? Or all police are terrible? I don't think so and I'm also fairly certain that I didn't say either of those things in this post. It just means that this is a serious problem in our country and I want my voice to be added among those who are trying to move forward and fix it.

I also realize that this problem is not going to be solved entirely on this side of heaven because it is due in large part to sin and the fallen world we live in, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't work to make life better for all of us while I'm here. Does it?!?!

"Justice for Ahmaud" by Shirien Damra

***I edited the FB post in some places and removed all of the links. I'm not sure what content the individual hashtags might lead to, but you could easily perform a Google search on any and all of these names to read more about what happened to these individuals.

(Art prints created by Shirien Damra)