PJ’s Page –
In July Bruce and I will head to the Deep South for two weeks of visiting with family and friends. I go with some misgivings this year, mostly around the knowledge that we will fly into a culture that continues to make space for racism. When I lived there, I didn’t see it as much. My eyes were clouded to it. It happens in ways that are so familiar that it seems normal. And therein lies the tragedy.
Oh, there are the obvious atrocities…..confederate flags flying over state buildings; the Alabama motto is “The Heart of Dixie” and we know that “Dixie” stood for slavery and oppression. Racist slogans are splashed on t-shirts and bumper stickers while people defend themselves by saying “I have friends who are black.” It boggles the mind.
But there are more subtle, persistent signs that sneak into the ordinary parts of each ordinary day. The way that women hold their purses a little tighter when a black man walks toward them. The way that white men move through doors first, before black men, without even thinking about it. Almost every time. The language used to speak to and about one another is often different dependent on race, and people still talk of the “girls” and “boys” who work in their homes or yards, even when those girls and boys are full fledged adults. And I confess that when I lived there I did not see it.
One of my favorite things about visiting the deep South in the summer is the chance to see fireflies, or, as I call them, lightning bugs. As the summer skies darken in the evening, the first twinkles of light appear. They can be hard to see at first. The best way to see them is to stand with another person and have them help you find them. Look! Over there! There’s one!
There are many ways we can fight systemic racism in our country. One of the simplest ways is to point it out, as we might point out a light blinking in the summer dusk. That joke/phrase/story that is offensive? Point it out. That assumption/suggestion that is made entirely based on race? Call it out. And lest we imagine that we are off the hook in the tolerant, progressive Pacific Northwest, I say to you with firmness that we are not. I have witnessed racism within the walls of our own congregation. It is a systemic problem that comes from generations of white privilege. It is not Godly and it is not acceptable. And until it is eradicated, it is, in fact, our concern.
Another way we fight racism is in relationship. We must reach out and know one another. We must see one another with the eyes of love and recognize that each of us are made in the image of God. We are sisters and brothers.
If you are traveling this summer, may the mercies of God go with you. May your hearts and lives be enlivened by relationships old and new. And may you see your neighbors and friends with new eyes, shining with the light of Christ’s love.