With the opening of the National Memorial for Peace and
Justice in Montgomery, the first capital of the Confederacy as well as the
center of the Civil Rights Movement, I’ve been thinking a lot about America’s
need to acknowledge and repent our sins. Unfortunately, we seem to be
wholly reluctant to do so – due in part, I think, to our lack of awareness of
those sins. Admittedly, many white Americans are working to root out their own
prejudices and recognize their privilege. They are working on social
justice issues and trying to improve race relations in their communities.
They are outraged at innocent black people being harassed, arrested, and shot
by police when these things make the news or are spread around by social
media. But I doubt we’ll ever get very far in solving the issues of today
and creating a better tomorrow if we are not willing to face the sins of the
past.
While all of these attempts to address the racism of today are admirable, they have little depth and no solid footing because they are mostly based only our gut feeling of what is right and fair. Of course it’s admirable to look at the way some people are being mistreated or oppressed and want to remedy that. But the truth is, white Americans do not deserve admiration for doing what is right in this situation. White Americans are all too willing to claim ownership and pride over all the great things “we’ve” done – how great “we” are as a country – and at the same time we are in total denial of our appalling history of slavery, terrorism, oppression, and incarceration of black and brown people. To suggest that white Americans should be admired for doing what is right is to suggest that they have no obligation to do what is right but have come to the work out of some sense of mystical enlightenment. “Oh, look at these bad things that are happening around me! I am such a good person, I will do what I can to try and fix it.” See how that makes it about us? About how good we are to do the right thing? But the problem is it’s only about us because we created this mess. We are responsible for every bit of the racism, oppression, and terror that people of color are still experiencing. Now, you don’t have to look at every little thing that happens and be able to track it back to some earlier acts committed by white people or figure out how you’re responsible. It’s not that simple and it’s not necessary. But what you should do is learn, read, listen, become aware. I’ve considered myself to be anti-racist since I was a teenager – before I even had any idea what that meant. I’ve never intentionally judged someone nor treated them badly because of their skin color or ethnic origin. I’ve had non-white bosses, neighbors, teachers, friends, and lovers. I’ve appreciated and respected them all and enjoyed the diversity. And I thought that was enough. I thought that my own sense of what is right and wrong would be enough. But I was wrong.
I’m pretty sure that what I learned in school about the treatment of blacks in this country was non-existent. Sure, we learned about slavery but it was only in the context of the creation of America, of wars, and of economics. I doubt there was ever any lesson in any of my classrooms that was meant to teach us that America did a very bad thing by bringing people to this country against their will and forcing them into slavery. I grew up in the 50s and 60s. Think of the things I would have been exposed to that included anything about slavery – Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Gone with the Wind. What would I have learned from those books? Very little about how bad slavery was for those who were enslaved. And though the Civil Rights Movement was happening practically under my nose, no one I knew talked about it or tried to help me understand what was going on. I’m willing to bet that for most people who are adults now, any depth of understanding about our country’s treatment of black people is sorely lacking. And without an understanding of that history, we cannot truly address what is happening now and move toward a future that not only treats everyone equally but honors and respects every individual and their history. I thought that I was ‘clean’, clear of racism but I don’t think that’s really possible for a white American without making an effort to truly understand. On my way down this path I have recognized ways in which I judged people of color because I did not understand how their behavior or their circumstances were shaped by the legacy of racism. I have come to understand privilege and its role in helping me get to where I am when others have not been able to get past the ways that my privilege holds them down. No one did this for me. I have sought out this knowledge. I listen and read and watch films. And every day it seems I learn of new sources of information, new books to add to my list. None of this comes easy. You don’t become aware of this history in a flash of enlightenment. You work at.
So here’s what you have to do. First, you have to read. You have to educate yourself. You have to listen to the stories. Read as much as you can. Read about slavery and the slave trade. Read about the Civil War. Read about reconstruction. Read about the Jim Crow south. Read about the great migration. Read about mass incarceration and the school to prison pipeline. Read about what black people are experiencing today. Listen to what they have to say. You should read both fiction and non-fiction. Novels are just the stories of people who did not have a voice. They’ll give you very personal accounts of what life has been like. And the non-fiction will give you facts, draw references and conclusions, make connections you’ve never thought of, pile up statistics that you will find overwhelming. Fill yourself with this information until there is no room for your “what about…” or “I wasn’t responsible for that” or “why didn’t they just…” Read until you cannot deny the pain of people stolen from their homeland, of families ripped apart, of enslavement, beatings, rapes, maimings, terror, torture, and murder. Read about the injustice and oppression and humiliation still heaped upon other human beings by white Americans. Read it until you weep. Read until you recognize that nothing you have experienced as a white person in America comes close. And then ask forgiveness. Get down on your knees and say, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry this happened to your people. And I’m sorry that my people are responsible for it.”
Then, because you know that what black people in America are still experiencing is part of that historical trajectory, you will be ready to stand up and say, “No more.”
While all of these attempts to address the racism of today are admirable, they have little depth and no solid footing because they are mostly based only our gut feeling of what is right and fair. Of course it’s admirable to look at the way some people are being mistreated or oppressed and want to remedy that. But the truth is, white Americans do not deserve admiration for doing what is right in this situation. White Americans are all too willing to claim ownership and pride over all the great things “we’ve” done – how great “we” are as a country – and at the same time we are in total denial of our appalling history of slavery, terrorism, oppression, and incarceration of black and brown people. To suggest that white Americans should be admired for doing what is right is to suggest that they have no obligation to do what is right but have come to the work out of some sense of mystical enlightenment. “Oh, look at these bad things that are happening around me! I am such a good person, I will do what I can to try and fix it.” See how that makes it about us? About how good we are to do the right thing? But the problem is it’s only about us because we created this mess. We are responsible for every bit of the racism, oppression, and terror that people of color are still experiencing. Now, you don’t have to look at every little thing that happens and be able to track it back to some earlier acts committed by white people or figure out how you’re responsible. It’s not that simple and it’s not necessary. But what you should do is learn, read, listen, become aware. I’ve considered myself to be anti-racist since I was a teenager – before I even had any idea what that meant. I’ve never intentionally judged someone nor treated them badly because of their skin color or ethnic origin. I’ve had non-white bosses, neighbors, teachers, friends, and lovers. I’ve appreciated and respected them all and enjoyed the diversity. And I thought that was enough. I thought that my own sense of what is right and wrong would be enough. But I was wrong.
I’m pretty sure that what I learned in school about the treatment of blacks in this country was non-existent. Sure, we learned about slavery but it was only in the context of the creation of America, of wars, and of economics. I doubt there was ever any lesson in any of my classrooms that was meant to teach us that America did a very bad thing by bringing people to this country against their will and forcing them into slavery. I grew up in the 50s and 60s. Think of the things I would have been exposed to that included anything about slavery – Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Gone with the Wind. What would I have learned from those books? Very little about how bad slavery was for those who were enslaved. And though the Civil Rights Movement was happening practically under my nose, no one I knew talked about it or tried to help me understand what was going on. I’m willing to bet that for most people who are adults now, any depth of understanding about our country’s treatment of black people is sorely lacking. And without an understanding of that history, we cannot truly address what is happening now and move toward a future that not only treats everyone equally but honors and respects every individual and their history. I thought that I was ‘clean’, clear of racism but I don’t think that’s really possible for a white American without making an effort to truly understand. On my way down this path I have recognized ways in which I judged people of color because I did not understand how their behavior or their circumstances were shaped by the legacy of racism. I have come to understand privilege and its role in helping me get to where I am when others have not been able to get past the ways that my privilege holds them down. No one did this for me. I have sought out this knowledge. I listen and read and watch films. And every day it seems I learn of new sources of information, new books to add to my list. None of this comes easy. You don’t become aware of this history in a flash of enlightenment. You work at.
So here’s what you have to do. First, you have to read. You have to educate yourself. You have to listen to the stories. Read as much as you can. Read about slavery and the slave trade. Read about the Civil War. Read about reconstruction. Read about the Jim Crow south. Read about the great migration. Read about mass incarceration and the school to prison pipeline. Read about what black people are experiencing today. Listen to what they have to say. You should read both fiction and non-fiction. Novels are just the stories of people who did not have a voice. They’ll give you very personal accounts of what life has been like. And the non-fiction will give you facts, draw references and conclusions, make connections you’ve never thought of, pile up statistics that you will find overwhelming. Fill yourself with this information until there is no room for your “what about…” or “I wasn’t responsible for that” or “why didn’t they just…” Read until you cannot deny the pain of people stolen from their homeland, of families ripped apart, of enslavement, beatings, rapes, maimings, terror, torture, and murder. Read about the injustice and oppression and humiliation still heaped upon other human beings by white Americans. Read it until you weep. Read until you recognize that nothing you have experienced as a white person in America comes close. And then ask forgiveness. Get down on your knees and say, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry this happened to your people. And I’m sorry that my people are responsible for it.”
Then, because you know that what black people in America are still experiencing is part of that historical trajectory, you will be ready to stand up and say, “No more.”
