I know that it is right after Thanksgiving, so if I wanted to have a racial discussion it should have been based on the Quakers and the 1st World Peoples (aka Native Americans). But instead, I would like to talk about a moment in my “Sociology of Race and Racism” class at Temple.
We were studying how Whiteness evolved in the United States and had been advised to pay attention because we would have to write a paper on the subject. As I was listening to the material and beginning to form a central idea for my paper, it hit me. The central idea became “the wealthy will never willingly give their wealth to the poor.” The reality of that statement in my head, in my class, filled my insides with a deep depression. One of the other White students in the class (who seemed flustered) asked the teacher, “Don’t you think that this generation of young White people will get tired of the way things are and try to change it?” I raised my hand and responded, “No, because they live comfortably and in order to change things they would have to be willing to change their lives and there simply are not enough young White people willing to change their lives in order to make a dramatic change in the U.S.” Immediately after making the statement, I turned around and I was filled with a deep sense of “gratitude” as a thought pierced the darkness and overpowered it with its brilliance. The piercing thought was “…there aren’t enough, but I know many…my friends at the Circle of Hope…it is not enough to give me hope for change in our government or in our world, but it is enough to give me hope for my neighbors, my neighborhood, and even this city.” And so, may I say plainly, I am truly and deeply thankful for your willingness to suffer and work towards transformation when the World says that you don’t have to.
thank you for your reflections and particularly the positive encouragement for our community for such an oppressive issue in this world. It made me think about the differences and connections between classism and racism. The larger context of classism and the inequities of money and resources can certainly be a daunting problem to consider and by all means perpetuates the existence of racism. But, I think that racism can occur independent of this larger context and can be addresses much easier on a local level. My hope is that our relationships in our communities continue to break down the context of racism. It takes courage not to be overburdened by our stereotypes and to get to know people and deal with them from a place of love and not fear.
Your talk this week about Job and his 3 friends reminded me of when i first met Josh G. Years ago, Josh and I met at a show in Harrisburg, Pa. He came up to me and asked what my name was. Then he gave me a big hug. Each time our paths crossed again he remembered my name and gave me a hug. It can be hard to get to know someone with a different background then you. Getting their name and greeting them is a good start.
ive been thinking about your talk for the past few days and i, in turn, am grateful that you had the courage to
challenge us with this topic. my mind goes in circles when i think of how to how to subvert the white privilege that i inherently possess. five years ago i decided that i wanted to get into the field of social work because i wanted to serve the “least of these”. in the past year ive been struggling with the fact that its because of privilege that i was able to do this in the first place and having a degree to serve others is a form of power in itself. right now, i am shying away from this career because of that. an article in the recent geeze magazine quotes Sherene Razack: “the white, privileged and respectable identity builds itself by being able to enter places of degeneracy and come out unscathed, willing and ready to tell the tale”. this blows my mind. a friend of mine suggested to me once that maybe the best mission model was to do as jesus did: spend 30 years living with people before entering into “ministry years”. i wonder if this is closer to what i should be doing if i want to serve others.
i think we are on the right path with this conversation, in spite of everything. weve inherited a world plagued with racism and it will take time. lets not forget the strides we have made and are making. lets keep setting a model for reconciliation.
I agree with Joel, we’re on the right path. And, in a certain sense, that’s all that matters. I think that we can get caught up in trying to change the systemic racism that pervades this city and this nation. I believe concern for those things is very important and I think that taking active steps to dismantling the machine of racism is important. At the end up the day, loving people is what matters. I do not necessarily believe that “love” will dismantle the machine, but I believe that love exists and will continue to exist in spite of the machine. That’s where my hope it.
It’s easy to view everything as an artifact of culture and leave it at that, but I think seeing human beings merely as artifacts of a cultural machine is contrary to how Jesus wants us to do it. I’m trying to see people for who they are, and relate to them on that level; one thing I am certain of is that people see themselves as more than simply products of hegemony. That’s why I’m trying real hard to see everyone as more than that. Thanks for sharing, Julius. And Zach, Joel, and Blayer–thanks for contributing. I am encouraged in our mission to redeem the world when I see the partners that are doing it alongside of me.