I originally wrote the below piece as a response
to a theology school application:
Theological Reflection: 12. Referring to
at least one Theologian of Significance in your journey, reflect on the
following: (1500 words, typed and double spaced) a) Select what you understand to be one of
today’s most critical issues and reflect on it in terms of your own theological
perspective.
Rev.
Ralph Abernathy was Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s number two person
in the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference, holding the official title of Secretary-Treasurer. Dr. Abernathy
helped organized the Montgomery Bus Boycott,
among other civil rights struggles. He
was also the Pastor of the First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.
Rev.
Abernathy said, “I'm sick and tired of black and white people of good intent giving aspirin to a society
that is dying of a cancerous disease.” I believe in many ways, people in the United States
continue to give aspirin to our race issues.
The race
issue became personal to me in the early 1980’s and continues to serve as a lens through which I
view the world.
During my
undergraduate years at Purdue, I directed a number of readers, interpreters and chamber
theater productions. In one production I met Tim, an AfricanAmerican student, who was
an intelligent, beautifully spirited man. One evening after rehearsal I offered to
drive him home as the buses had stopped running at that hour. On the way home he requested
we stop by the drugstore. I needed a few items too so I
readily agreed. I
was standing in front of Tim in line. After I completed my
transaction, I was stunned to hear the
clerk insist on and then subsequently begin the process of searching Tim’s pockets
before permitting him to checkout. Although he must have been experiencing a sense of
humiliation, Tim withstood this event and proceeded to checkout. I asked him to go out to
the car to warm it up, informing him I needed to return a few items.
I
approached the clerk to address what had been an incredibly offensive experience. The
clerk tried to quell my reaction, insisting I go to the end of the line. This was the first chance as an
adult I had to address the face of explicit racism. As a child many times I overheard
racist phrases and terminology being used. While I often cringed, in reality, there
was little I could do. In this moment, I had the opportunity to give voice to the inequity
I had witnessed but had little power to change up till now. A commotion ensued, prompting
the manager to approach the counter. He began asking the clerk to clarify the
situation. As the true nature of the circumstances became apparent, the manager apologized to
me, stating the clerk was not following company policy and that he did not approve of
this behavior. I insisted on returning the items on principle and did not return to that
store.
I was
again reminded of Rev. Abernathy’s statement when I saw the movie, Crash. Graham, one of the characters in the
movie, made the following statement in the opening dialogue:
“It's the sense of touch. In any real city, you walk, you
know? You brush past people, people
bump into you. In L.A., nobody touches you. We're always behind this metal and
glass. I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each
other, just so we can feel
something.”
Initially
I did not understand these words. It’s like at the end of a movie
that makes you cry; you’re sad
that it’s over, but you’re glad you had that moment that moved you deep inside. I was
overwhelmed with emotions: anger, disgust, and most particularly, sadness. I pondered my
visceral reaction to the movie and its lingering effects on me. I came across a review film
critic, Roger Ebert, had written about the movie that captured my own emotions. He
said (para-phrasing): “Crash shows the way we all leap to conclusions based on race
-- yes, all of us, of all races, and however fair-minded we may try to be -- and we pay a
price for that. If there is hope in the story, it comes because as the characters crash into
one another, they learn things, mostly about themselves. Almost all of them are still alive
at the end, and are better people because of what has happened to them. Not happier, not
calmer, not even wiser, but better.”
Not many
films have the possibility of making their audiences better people. I don't expect Crash to facilitate many miracles, but I
believe anyone who exposes themselves to it will
likely be moved to have more sympathy for people unlike themselves. The movie is
full of hurt, coldness and cruelty, but is it not without hope. The people, superficially
so different, share the city and learn that they share similar fears and hopes. Until several
hundred years ago, most people on earth never saw anyone who looked different than they
appeared. They were not racist; as far as they knew, there was only one race. You may have
to look hard to see it, but Crash is a film about progress.
Hurricane
Katrina served as a recent illustration of the prevalence of racism in America today. While
we would like to believe the days of overt racism I referred to with Tim in my days at
Purdue are long past, Katrina serves to remind us of the thin layer of veneer that exists in
America, most especially in areas stricken with poverty. New Orleans had been listed as
the number 2 most likely catastrophe for several years. Year
after year, administration
after administration, New Orleans was overlooked. The poverty that was exposed by
Katrina was in fact longstanding. Within view of the most resplendent hotel rooms in
the business district, sat the worst part of Ward 9, New Orleans’ most impoverished
section. These people have lived in conditions worst than those in third world
countries for decades. The remarks of former first lady Barbara
Bush’s when viewing the
evacuees located temporarily at the Houston Astrodome a week after the hurricane are
revealing, yet common: “They’re better off here. They won’t want to return home if they stay
here long.” This attitude is all too prevalent in our country. Fox Newscaster, Bill
O’Reilly stated that most of the people stranded on the roofs crying out for help wouldn’t have
been stuck there had they “stayed in school”. While these comments are personally
offensive, they are all too familiar in today’s political climate.
As we
stand, more than 5-months after the storm, New Orleans remains mostly uninhabitable. The
building contracts are going to outsiders, mostly non-native, white-owned, large corporations,
contrary to President Bush’s commitment.
I am
grateful my life has been enriched by people of all ethnic backgrounds. This would not have been
possible had I not been open to developing relationships with those different than me.
Luke 10:29-37
But wanting to justify
himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was
going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who
stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him for dead. Now by chance a
priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other
side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him,
passed by on the other side.
But a Samaritan while
traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He
went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then
he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of
him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the
innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you
whatever more you spend.’ Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to
the man who dell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one
who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
This
parable is similar to Dr. Abernathy’s words about people of good intent providing insufficient
medicine to society. It brings to mind the many people who sat helpless on their rooftops
during and after Katrina, while the rest of us watched from the comfort of our living
rooms, trying in vain to grasp the enormity of the devastation. How could this be taking place
in our country we asked one another at our church’s Race
Relations Forum following
the storm? We knew news crews were able to come and go freely; how was it that
those people were left stranded for days, with the adjoining communities refusing
entrance into their parishes? It was more than most of us could comprehend. The
race issue continues to be one which we grapple with and that I will remain committed to
eradicating to the best of my ability.
Today's Reflection: And let us
not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest
of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up. ~Galatians 6:9
