You’ve probably heard about Ahmaud Arbery. The young black man who was killed in an altercation in Georgia. Those who shot him said he fit the description of a burglar in the area. There was a video taken of the scuffle and shooting.
There’s a lot of conversation about this tragedy. And we have a system of justice that I hope will bring truth to light. Strange, but it doesn’t appear that for two months not much happened: no arrests, little apparent investigation, etc.
It’s probably safe to say that if the color of skin was switched – that a couple black men had an altercation with a white man and the white man ended up dead – something would have happened before now.
Again, I’m not getting into the details and specifics. I’m laying out the story in broad terms so that we can talk together about what happened. So that we can think together about the difference between how whites and blacks are treated in America.
After watching the video that was taken of the shooting (something I do NOT recommend you do. It’s disturbing), my heart bleeds for my children.
I have a biracial family. My wife is half white and half black. Her first husband was the same. My family is comprised of a few different shades.
Their reality; my daughters’ reality is not like mine. Their reality is that people look at them differently.
People have commented, “That doesn’t happen here in Idaho. We don’t have a lot of racism. There are a lot of biracial couples here.” True. Very true. I’ve been in places where racial tensions are much higher. But it’s still here.
It’s why my daughter feels compelled to explain to waitresses that “this is my dad.” I don’t think any other dad at our radio stations has a daughter who feels she has to explain why she is out with this man at dinner. But my daughter has seen the looks.
Another daughter was in a high school class here where they were discussing racial tensions and a kid said, “We should just move all the black people to Canada.” As a white person, it may not hit hard. But when you’re black, you’ve seen the looks already, and those comments speak so deeply about belonging; about your place; and your value.
It’s easy to pull back from this. As people of faith, talking about race can feel so divisive. For the sake of unity, we don’t want to stir this pot of race. But, as a friend of mine wrote, “I can’t help but feel like sometimes the church is loud where it doesn’t need to be, and quiet where it should be loud. And it’s not about being politically correct, or woke… it’s about loving our neighbor. When it comes to a sin like unfaithfulness, we address it. When it comes to a sin like racism we sometimes say ‘well let’s not talk about that, let’s talk about the Gospel.’ The thing is, unity, be it ethnic or otherwise, IS a part of the Gospel. When our brothers or sisters are scared or hurting, we should be a voice and comfort for them, regardless of differences.”
The deep issue here is that we see people who are different as other. They are not “us,” they are “them.” And that attitude is killing us and our witness.
I’ve stood at a mass grave in Rwanda where thousands upon thousands were killed. Murdered in cold blood by neighbors and even fellow church members. It all started with a message, repeated again and again, that “those” people were not “us.” “They” were responsible for all the problems we face. They were “cockroaches.”
Suddenly, killing “them,” the “other,” was easy.
It’s happening right now. In America. We view “them.” The blacks. The Democrats. The Republicans. The liberal elite media. The conservative echo chamber media. The immigrants. The mega church people. The stuck in their ways small church people.
So, when a young man is shot down, our hearts should be breaking because one of God’s kids died. When men chase someone down the street, we should weep for the divisions among us that keep us separate and distrustful of each other. When a woman is abused by a powerful man… When a man is blacklisted from his career. Our hearts should weep tears that result in action.
Yet as passionately as I feel about knocking down the division between us – the division that makes us see people as “other” – I also know I am a hypocrite. I can’t give three easy steps to fix this.
I want to give those simple answers.
I fight the battle of the other. I start to paint the people who don’t have an open mind (to my standards) as the “other.” I get suspicious people who look different or have a different background. Sometimes I just get grumpy at people who don’t face issues like this with the same presuppositions that I do.
So, I don’t have easy answers. I think we have to fight for those whose voices are silenced. We should stand up to bullies. We should not victimize the victim by blaming their past actions or their background.
But most of all, I want to look at the “others” in my life and ask, “God, how do you view this person who I don’t understand? The God who inspired these words, “For God so loved the WORLD that He GAVE His Son….” must look at this person, this “other” person as something precious and delightful.
Father… Help me see the “other” as You see them….
I know it doesn’t matter wether I agree on anything in this article, the answer to this problem matters. I agree for sure about that last part in this article, I’m not sure if I agree with the rest, but I do agree that we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves (though we should be seeking to be filled with Jesus than ourselves every day). Those who have Jesus in their life their heart are God’s children, we all start by being born of water then if we accept Christ in our hearts we are born of the spirit God’s Holy Spirit (born again). We all NEED to treat each other how we would want to be treated. That’s that. We should mourn with those who mourn, God’s word is what we ALL should be living by every day/daily. God’s word is a light for us and we should have Christ lead every step we take every day/daily. We don’t always know what what we should do, but Christ does.
We love discussion – what you says matters! Specifically what do you disagree with?