This is going to be a long one, folks, but I got headings if it helps. 😀 I would also like to insert a little disclaimer here – there’s a LOT of ground to cover and I’m really giving a broad overview of several different topics, so please know that any one of these topics has a lot more to unpack and I’m limited, still ignorant, and definitely unskilled in addressing most of them. I’ve still got a lot to learn, but I want to be having these conversations and engaging in discourse, because silence should not and cannot be the answer anymore.

Starting Out:

In the wake of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd’s murders and the increase in protests across the United States back in May/June, I set out to spend my summer educating myself.

It took way too long in coming for me to do this. And to my black friends, I’m sorry it took me so long. I really don’t have a valid reason why. But I want to do better.

So I joined a group called Be The Bridge – an organization dedicated to bridging racial tension and bringing reconciliation. Every new member must complete an orientation class, which consists of 7 Units – it takes time and it’s painful, but it is so, so worth it and needed. (If you’re interested in joining yourself, you can find out more information here: https://bethebridge.com/).

I recently completed the units and boy, it’s been as much unlearning as it has been learning. I started hearing about people and events I’d had never heard of before.

People and events like:

Mary Turner – an eighteen-year-old black woman, whose husband was lynched and who, when she tried to obtain justice for him, was herself lynched and murdered along with her unborn child. This was in 1918 – that’s not that long ago.

Manakota, Minnesota – where the largest mass execution in the States took place – the hanging of 38 Dakota warriors. An event still historically painted with white people as the victims, when in fact, they were the instigators that pushed the tribe to desperate measures.

Corbin, Kentucky – where, in 1919, a mob forced the entire black population to leave the city. This was only one of several cities across the US to do this.

I could go on – there are far too many similar, horrific, and heartbreaking stories. And they continue on through today. Not just murders like Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, but injustice like the jailing of a 15-year-old black girl named Grace who was jailed for…drug possession? Violence against her teachers? No. For not doing her homework.

Yes, you read that right and you can read more about the gross injustice in her story here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/free-grace-now?source=direct_link&referrer=group-color-of-change.

I started to realize flaws with my understanding of the issues. Which led me to the long overdue realization that:

Racism is Systemic:

Raise your hand if you’ve heard or said these phrases before:

“I’m not racist. I’ve never said the n-word or hated black people.”

“I have black friends.”

“Racism is a heart issue; we can’t make it political.”

I’ve been guilty of either saying or thinking any one of those statements, as if that justifies avoiding tough conversations or being reluctant to talk about racial issues.

Even if you haven’t been outright hateful towards minorities, if you are white, you are benefiting from a system that has preferred whites for hundreds of years. This is shown in deferential treatment in regard to housing and wealth, particularly regarding the GI Bill that was supposed to help all returning veterans from WWII find affordable housing and education, but systemically prevented black veterans from settling in “good” neighborhoods or even receiving any financial support  (see https://www.homemattersamerica.com/the-black-history-of-housing-in-america-how-the-dream-was-deferred/and https://www.history.com/news/gi-bill-black-wwii-veterans-benefits).  This started a ripple effect that has lasted through the present day, leading to a disproportionate number of black families living in poor neighborhoods.

Then there’s affirmative action policies which always seem to get conservatives in a tizzy. And I can’t lie, I remember growing up in El Paso, Texas and having friends and acquaintances receive scholarships for colleges based solely on the fact that they could prove that they were 1/16 Hispanic, while I couldn’t qualify for any of them. It wasn’t a good feeling. But now I’m starting to realize that even affirmative action has heavily leaned in white favor.

Take, for example, the famous case of Abigail Fisher, who sued UT Austin for discrimination when they let in students with lower grades than her because they were black.  I always saw that case as “proof” that reverse discrimination happened. Until I recently learned that, of the students admitted under the affirmative action policy at the school, “Five of those students were black or Latino. Forty-two were white. Neither Fisher nor Blum mentioned those 42 applicants in interviews. Nor did they acknowledge the 168 black and Latino students with grades as good as or better than Fisher’s who were also denied entry into the university that year” (https://www.propublica.org/article/a-colorblind-constitution-what-abigail-fishers-affirmative-action-case-is-r). Even affirmative action cases slant heavily in white favor.

And then there is the problem of the prisons, which statistically show that more Black Americans than White are incarcerated (see https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/color-of-justice-racial-and-ethnic-disparity-in-state-prisons/).

Black Americans also receive longer/harsher sentences than whites (see https://www.ussc.gov/research/research-reports/demographic-differences-sentencing)

In light of these facts, it’s not enough to say you aren’t racist or have black friends, or to dismiss systemic problems by saying “Well, racism exists everywhere and it’s really a heart issue. We can’t do anything unless the Lord changes people’s hearts.”

While yes, I absolutely agree that racism is a heart issue and we do need the Lord’s intervention, that does not absolve His people from speaking out and being actively Anti-Racist and that calls for us as a nation and as a church to repent.

Everything Changed When the Fire Nation Attacked:

Alright, bear with me, we’re about to get nerdy.

As I was thinking about repentance and reparations, I thought of a parallel story. One of my favorite shows is Avatar: The Last Airbender and my favorite character from that show is Prince Zuko.

(Heavy Spoilers for those of you who haven’t watched this show – if you don’t want to be spoiled, you can skip down to the repentance heading).

The whole premise of the show is that four nations, based around four elements – water, earth, air, fire – coexisted in peace until the Fire Nation got greedy and decided to take over the world, burning and pillaging its way across all lands.

Prince Zuko is the great grandson of the man who put this plan into action. Abused by both his father and sister, Zuko is disfigured and banished. His only chance of being accepted back into his community and family is if he captures the Avatar – someone who can control all four elements….and who has been missing for 100 years. It’s an impossible task that suddenly becomes possible with the reappearance of Aang – a boy who hibernated 100 years trying to escape his Avatar duties.

What follows is three seasons of Zuko hunting the Avatar, using all the tools at his disposal (including his own war ship and men) to capture Aang. He’s conflicted throughout it all – sometimes aiding the Avatar Gaang (I didn’t spell that wrong, that’s what the team is known as in fandom :P), sometimes attacking them right after he aided them, sometimes betraying the one person who has tried to help him all along, namely his uncle.

(I would like to add that this is not a perfect comparison because Zuko is as much a victim as an aggressor and white supremacy has not stemmed from a place of victimization).

The key turning point in Zuko’s story is when he finally figures out that his country is not the heroic nation he thinks it is (there’s even a very interesting episode where we catch a glimpse of a Fire Nation school and see how they have changed and whitewashed history to make themselves appear better). He comes to the realization through interacting with other people from around the world who have been on the receiving end of the Fire Nation’s wrath, who have endured serious, detrimental hardship, through his uncle’s guidance (a man who was also responsible for tearing down other nations, but who learned from his mistakes and tried to get his nephew to make better choices) and also through his own interactions with the Avatar Gaang. In other words, he had to put in work and gain experience in order to understand the flaws and failings of his own country and family.

It all culminates with Zuko meeting up with the Gaang and asking to join their team. Which, because this is a kid’s show, of course all of the kids welcome him with open arms and everything’s hunky dory, right?

Because this show has more nuance than Disney channel, that would be a big, fat NO.

The Gaang is rightfully suspicious and accusatory, ready to fight him off.

When his offer of friendship and/or assistance is rejected, Zuko offers himself as a prisoner.

Still he is rejected.

It is only when he helps rescue the team from an assassin (that he hired before his change of heart!) – that the Gaang finally agrees to let him on the team. But even then, there is deep distrust and one of the Gaang makes it quite clear that if he does anything to harm the team, she will kill him.

And the rest of the season continues to show that tension and the slow, hard pace of mending bridges and building trust.

But it started with Zuko recognizing not only that he had done wrong, but that his nation had done wrong. It took humility for him to not just apologize and offer himself up as a prisoner when he saw even being an ally was impossible, but to also, once he was accepted, actively work to mend bridges and fight against the oppressors, even when it meant fighting against his own family.

(By the way, if you want to see these scenes, here’s a clip – though it does leave out the fight between the assassin, Gaang, and Zuko: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CchuYXkeTUE)

So, what is my point with all of this?

Repentance:

As White Americans, we have got to be willing to see that our history has been one of oppression and systemic racism. We have to be willing to see ourselves as the villains in the story and the enablers of injustice.

And, just as an aside, I would like to specifically ask my White Christian friends why they are so hesitant to believe that our history has been rife with great wickedness? Just because our nation has the words “All men are created equal” and “Liberty and justice for all” in our founding documents does not mean we lived up to those ideals – in fact we fell flat on our face right away when the Founding Fathers penned the Three-Fifth’s Compromise, which essentially claimed that slaves were only 3/5s of a person (see https://www.thoughtco.com/three-fifths-compromise-4588466).

We, of all people, should be able to recognize that our country failed because, as Christians, we believe in the doctrine of Original Sin, which says that all men are fallen and sinful from birth. (One of the Biblical doctrines, as my dad would say, that is the easiest to prove – I mean, just look outside or scroll social media for five minutes, wickedness is rampant). We should not be surprised and caught off guard by sin, even in the historical people that we have looked up to for years.

We, like Zuko, have to take responsibility, not only for our own actions, but the actions of our nation.

I know as Americans we chafe at the collective – whether it be collective good or evil – because we value individualism. But the idea of collective repentance isn’t just some political idea or agenda – it is Biblical.

Take Daniel. The man was carried off as a slave by an enemy empire. Though he had not personally done great evil, he saw that his nation had and he repented on behalf of his people. He was not afraid to acknowledge ancestral sin as his own and to repent: “To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you….O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us” (Daniel 9: 8, 16 – emphasis mine).

Or what about Ezra, another prophet, one who was not directly responsible for the actions of his people? Listen to how he intercedes: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt” (Ezra 9: 6-7a, emphasis mine).

There’s also Zacchaeus, who went out of his way to make restitution to those whom he had wronged, going above and beyond what the law required of him in order to make things right (Luke 19).

There is Biblical precedent for collective guilt and collective repentance. And as God’s people, we need to acknowledge and practice what God’s Word commands that we do.

Not just repenting, but going beyond and making things right. Ours is a humble, sacrificial, others-oriented Gospel and our Savior is One who “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3). And if that is our God, shouldn’t we as His people, as ones who have experienced His grace and healing, be the first to go out of our way to heal others? 

Conclusion:

I’ve rambled on long enough, but I wanted to share a few things I’ve been learning. And I am still a newbie at this, I’m still trying to wrap my head around things, and Lord willing, I will continue to learn and grow until the the day I die.

I’m sure I’ve failed to address all the issues and give them the time and treatment they deserve, but I wanted to start. I want to be a part of the solution and help explain why we are where we are today. Because it shouldn’t be up to our Black brothers and sisters to do all of the hard talking and explaining all of the time. They shouldn’t always have to feel on the defense, especially in the church.

We, White People, have got to start putting in the hard work and effort to learn our history in all of its muddled, messy, terribleness and maybe then we can start building to some of those ideals of “all men are created equal” and “Liberty and Justice for All.” Those are good, godly principals that we have failed to obtain.

We have to be willing to try to make amends and build bridges and be okay if some people say no. Our obedience to the call of repentance does not hinge on people extending forgiveness in return. Forgiveness may not be possible for some right now and we have to accept that. That does not absolve us of our need to make amends.

We have our work cut out for us. And believe me, it is hard, discouraging work. I feel like I’ve been dismantled in some ways this summer as I’ve read first hand accounts and listened to true stories and seen the legacy that we have. It is hard. It is necessary. It is the only way to move forward, because we have to know where we’ve been in order to not repeat the same mistakes moving forward.

Resources:

My librarian is showing, but if you are interested in starting this journey and learning, here are some fantastic resources I’ve found over the summer.

1. Be the Bridge – my launching point for my whole journey this summer. Both the book and the program are excellent ways to start learning and give godly, Biblical advice in how to move forward. https://bethebridge.com/
2. Woke Church by Eric Mason – a history of how the church has failed in the past, but has the opportunity to be the solution today. https://www.amazon.com/Woke-Church-Christians-Confront-Injustice/dp/0802416985
3. Seeing White Podcast – this is part of the Be the Bridge requirements, but if you don’t join that, at least listen to these. They are an excellent insight into the historical events that got us where we are today, including racial cleansing throughout the nation, how “race” was created, and even the hypocrisy of the Northern states when it comes to issues of racism. https://www.sceneonradio.org/seeing-white/
4. Reverend Duke Kwon’s 2017 LDR sermon – again, this is something that is part of the Be the Bridge material, but if you don’t join that, I would highly recommend listening to this sermon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejNaO_ec_Uk

I hope this can be a starting point for conversation. And not just conversation, but real, lasting change by the grace of God. I think we have an opportunity in these weird, pandemic-ridden, racially charged times to really dig deep and start pressing forward.

But we have to put in the work.

And it will take time.

And it will hurt.

And it will be discouraging at times.

But know that we serve a God who promised us that, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

We are more than conquerors, Beloved, so let’s rise up and speak the truth in love.