A week ago, I was with a beautiful group of people and someone asked a question, how do we think Christianity (the cross) overcomes racism? The room got still and quiet with the question floating amongst us. Then I spoke, I said, to me, I see racism as a sin, an evil deed. There is no explanation, no justification, it is just pure evil,as dark as every other evil in the world. A couple of days later, the news of the murder of two young black men came forth; adding more to the injury and pile of anger not yet resolved. The killing of 5 police officers followed. Bodies adding more to Bodie's wounds refusing to heal and anger soaring deeper than justice.
For people that look like me and look like Philando and Alston, anger and frustrations are the appropriate response. For people who look like the police officer who planted this anger and frustration; guilt, awkwardness, search for exclusion, frustrations and apathy becomes options from which to choose from....
So whom do we turn to? Where do we go? We all speak of a broken system, broken justice, broken world and we wash our hands clean of all the injustices. we take turns in pointing fingers to the system, the police officers, the ignorant "white people" and everyone else but ourselves. The truth is, in all of history, the laws and regulations of this nation has never been more humane for a person of color to dwell in. Not perfect or better, definitely not but tolerable. No doubt that there is a lot to be done systematically but being alive in 2016, this is the best laws we have had for people of color in this country; but why haven't anything changed? Much has not changed because our attitude has not. It is not enough to shrug off your neighbor's pain because you are not racist, what's enough is doing more, doing something about it. Bearing your neighbors burden, standing with and saying No to the injustice.
The stories of injustices and hatred have been alive long before there were hashtags and retweets, yet the reality hasn't changed. We are still reminded of a broken world, a broken people, broken generations giving birth to more anger, fear, and frustrations. In times like this, people are forced to grab onto something, into anger, fear, religion, faith or the cosmos. So I grabbed onto faith because that is all I have, all I know, all that is for me.
The Christain religion is no stranger to conflicts and injustices. In fact, Jews and Gentiles have had to come together because regardless of the way the jews were treated by the gentiles or vice versa, through faith, they have both became born again and adopted into a family of one. The idea and reality of "Enemies becoming families."
As a woman of color, my heart breaks and I mourn so deeply for the family of Philando Castile and Alston Sterling. As a human being, I mourn equally for the family of the 5 police officers. Evil is evil and it does not make it just even if it is deemed or categorized as retaliation, revenge or deserved a response. I threw my fist into heaven and I asked but why God? Why? As a lot of you must have done this past week. I am sure every man and woman, young and old, a person of faith or non-believer had similar questions or tear-filled anger, trembling weakness & overwhelming frustration of helplessness. When a tragedy like this struck so repeatedly, one that questions our own essence of being, finding an answer becomes important and because we are humans, our hearts seeks solace and justice.
I understand that this is going to be easier said than practiced and if I had to turn on the TV and watch my own black brother be murdered for no reason publicly in the 21st century, my intellectuality and pacifism might take a lifetime to find rationality; but how much anger is appropriate? How much angers makes it easy to go through to the emotions and then end up doing nothing about the issue? How much anger makes us as evil as the offenders who has trained sorrow and pain into these poor families? how much anger is enough before my heart darkens and I am no longer part of the movement for a better life but a reformer of the movement for revenge. When the offendee starts mirroring the offender in response, then we are just offenders on a different spectrum.
With all the blood that have been shed for civil rights, for equity, for equality, for people like me to be able to live and thrive in a place we call home, my heart yearns for answer and solution. I have to acknowledge that mourning is alright and anger is the appropriate response to all these evil. But the question now lies again how much anger is appropriate? What do we do with all this anger? How do we find a solution, how many more people have to die for us to understand that as a nation, we must stand together against racism, police brutality, hatred and unnecessary evil? One race cannot single-handedly put an end to racism and all these multi-facet evil. Every man, woman, race, color, denomination, orientation, background and socio-economic status must be the nation and be the world in other to make it a better place for generations to come. Only collectively can we end all these injustices...
For everyone who does not look like me or like Alston and Philando, do not just wash your hands off the icky-uncomfortable outrageous humanity crisis , do more, be more. This is not a call to white guilt but a call for you to stand with the oppressed, the wronged. Don't be like Pontius pilate and wash your hands off this horrors with the justifiable apathy that you are not racist and you have done nothing wrong. Instead, stand with and for others with the realization that this is evil and like every evil, it is wrong, unethical, Inhumane and only when we all stand with one another and against it that we will see the end of it.
Like Gandhi said, be the change you wish to see in the world. Being the Change is actively being involved in the change....
