Current Events
The past two weeks since George Floyd’s horrific death have been difficult for many, including myself. I typically choose not to watch the death of anyone (regardless of cause) that has been captured on video simply because I feel it is disrespectful or dishonoring to the person.
But this incident, I watched. I had to. And watching the horrific way this man died, at the hands of an officer who was sworn to protect his city’s citizens, was so callus and heartless. Seeing and hearing Mr. Floyd repeat over and over again, “I can’t breathe”. Hearing him call out for his mother. Seeing the seemingly uncaring police officer continuing to keep his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck, even after he was unresponsive. It was just too much.
All of it, shook me to the core. It made me sick, it mad me sad, it made me angry and it made me hurt deep within my soul. When, when is this madness and disregard for human life, especially the disregard for the lives of Black males in this country going to END?? When??
My Perspective
The past two weeks have prompted a lot of conversations with numerous members of my family. My immediate and beyond. These conversations come through my lens as a 49 year old Christian White woman, who is married to a Black man, who has two grown bi-racial children.
Over the 30 years my husband and I have been together we have had multiple discussions about race, in particular the various issues he has faced as a result of his simply being black.
He grew up in a predominately Black big-city neighborhood and has had a few incidents of being stopped and harassed by the police for literally NO reason.
Then as a young adult, he moved to a predominately White small-town neighborhood. He has shared with me the many incidents of racism he experienced there.
After we were married and moved to a more mutli-cultural small town in Virginia (though the majority was white) he and both our children have, at times, experienced derogatory racial name calling, racial bias or intimidation, both at work and at school, including sporting events (while neither the bosses nor teachers stood up for them on a couple occasions).
Myself, as a White woman who provides health care to the elderly in their home, I have heard first hand some awful comments made about the Black community.
People, not knowing my family, assume that I would agree with their sentiments. On multiple occasions I have had to speak up and correct the person. Trying to show them how hurtful and awful those statements were.
All of this is infuriating. The racial disparities, the injustice and the bias. First as a wife to my Black husband, Second as a mother to my bi-racial children (all I want is for my family to be and feel safe at all times) and last but not least as a Child of God . How can anyone who claims to be a Christian person, not get that this is a problem?
Family Dynamics
Some of my White family hadn’t initially been supportive of the relationship between my husband and I, but they eventually came around as did his Black family. We all get along very well now. My family loves my husband and kids, no doubt, and vice versa.
However, in light of these new (?) events, racial tension and ignorance has reared it’s ugly head. Because of where my White family members still live, they have little contact with people of different backgrounds. (And we live in another state.)
Occasionally at work or in a health care setting they may interact with people of color and they do get along with everyone just fine. They even form “friendships”. But no real solid relationships, as far as I can tell.
One of my children is very outspoken about racial and social justice issues and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. She has highly liberal ideas about politics and government and many of my White family members are on the highly conservative end of the spectrum.
I fall somewhere in between, leaning more left. Center/Left would be my political category, I suppose.
A few days after the George Floyd murder, my daughter expressed her views about the events of late. Some family members chimed in. While saying they understood that police brutality and racial inequality was an issue, it became clear they didn’t fully understand.
They were horrified by the death of George Floyd and agreed justice needed to be served, but they didn’t deep within, truly understand that this WASN’T just an isolated incident.
That this type of behavior is very prevalent. They then turned it into a discussion about the looting and the riots and how terrible those are. Totally missing the point.
I discovered that because some of my family members haven’t SEEN racial injustices on the regular, they have been in denial that it exists. Because the Black folk they know haven’t told them about the racial incidents they experienced, they ASSUMED it wasn’t as bad as the media had portrayed.
What it boils down to is simply ignorance. (I am not saying it is up to the Black community to educate the Whites that are in their sphere of influence, because it definitely is NOT.)
At any time, White America can educate themselves, if they choose to do so.) And I hope that is the case moving forward.
Needless to say, this new dialogue has caused some rifts in the family. I am trying to express to my White family that this is real and legit. Just because YOU don’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.
I am hoping with more dialogue and an open mind, they will begin to see the light more clearly. To see that America isn’t as GREAT as they think. It never has been. It may have been great for some but certainly not for all. The goal should always be for America to be better today than yesterday.
Looking Back, Reaching Forward
The other day I saw a new video series on Instagram by Emmanuel Acho (He is a former NFL player and a current Fox Sports Analyst) called Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man.
The most recent episode included a conversation he had with Matthew McConaughey. Near the end of the episode, Matthew read a small passage from the poem by Langtson Hughes, entitled “Let America Be America Again“.
The passage he cited was this:
O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
Though I had heard of Hughes, I had never read any of his poems. This was the first. And it is powerful, insightful and still rings true today, despite the fact it was written in 1935. A sad reality.
Here it is in it’s entirety.
Let America Be America Again
Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.
(America never was America to me.)
Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed—
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.
(It never was America to me.)
O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.
(There’s never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this “homeland of the free.”)
Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?
I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.
I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one’s own greed!
I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean—
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today—O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.
Yet I’m the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That’s made America the land it has become.
O, I’m the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home—
For I’m the one who left dark Ireland’s shore,
And Poland’s plain, and England’s grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came
To build a “homeland of the free.”
The free?
Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we’ve dreamed
And all the songs we’ve sung
And all the hopes we’ve held
And all the flags we’ve hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay—
Except the dream that’s almost dead today.
O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.
Sure, call me any ugly name you choose—
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people’s lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!
O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!
Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain—
All, all the stretch of these great green states—
And make America again!
Hope for the Future
The concept of America is a great one. But we have yet been able to live up to the ideals of it; the hope and the promise that it brings.
Until we as a society can live in LOVE and have an open mind to things we may not understand. To learn to listen and believe others, despite us not having the same experiences. To try to LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR AS OURSELVES as it is commanded in the Bible.
Until we can do all of this with an open heart, things will not change.
My prayer is that this movement towards justice continues until real change is made. This time it does feel different. I pray that George Floyd’s death will not be in vain. I pray that the disgust we all feel will not fade away, until change is made.
Prayer
Lord, Guide us to a place where we are all looked upon and treated equally in this society. You created each and every one of us in YOUR IMAGE. Help us to see that in one another. Amen
- Another valuable resource is the book: The Third Option, Hope for a Racially Divided Nation by Miles McPherson. Highly recommended.
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Amy! I’m so pumped that you mentioned Emmanuel Acho’s show, because the entire time I was reading this article I kept reflecting on the episode from this week where they talk about the role of Religion vs. Race.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BCScklTfs0
It’s a great watch and the pastor makes some great points. You cannot say that you love God if you don’t love all men. That there is no room in Christianity for Racism, they *should* be complete opposites.
I hope your family can heal, as their eyes are opened, and as they learn.
Thanks, Seth for stopping by and leaving a comment. I just watched the latest episode of Emmanueal Acho’s show as well. As a Christian it infuriates me that one claims to love God but doesn’t love all people.
I appreciate your comments!