*In 2017 I gave a sermon called “Why Racism.” The goal was to define racism and consider why Jesus offers the best resources to combat it. I thought it would be helpful to quote an excerpt from that talk to give a framework for some people to talk about and process ideas around racism. Again this was a sermon with a lot more context and nuance that you won’t read here. Please know that there is nothing but love and respect for all people in my heart and words. I hope these few paragraphs can serve you in some way.
If I can make an observation about a difference in black and white communities, it may help us better understand racism as a community. There are some fundamental differences in how white and black cultures approach community and history.
From what many have observed, the white culture understands themselves with the word “I” where the black culture understands itself with the word “we.” White culture is very individualistic. White people do not see themselves connected to one another to the extent that black community does. There is no intrinsic bond or connection. But in black culture we see all black people as our brothers and sisters and that is taught to us from the day we are born.
Any black man is my brother. Saying “brotha” isn’t just a greeting. It is actually a part of what it means to be black. To be a part of a larger family. Those are your brothers and sisters.
The black community sees itself as a people. As a unit. As a whole. That’s why I can go anywhere in this country and other black people will acknowledge me. We make eye contact. We nod our heads. We greet one another in stores. We call each other brotha and sista and suga and baby. It is a part of our culture. We are a family. A victory for one black is a victory for us all. I can go anywhere in this country and automatically have connection with another black person in a way that a white person will not have with another white person. Why? Because we the black community have identified ourselves in the same story.
This connection is something that happens both in space and also in time.
From a young age I am taught as a black man to relate to the slaves. I am told to relate to the civil rights movement. I am told to relate to the beatings and the lynchings and segregation and gentrification. I am told that that is my story. It is my past. It is my life. It is my family. The slave trade destroyed most black families, so we have understood ourselves as one people and one family ever since. Those are my brothers and sisters. That is me. Now this presents a problem in racial conversations because as a black man I can relate to the past in a way that most white people cannot imagine. I was a slave. I was lynched. I was in back of the bus. I marched. I was in the civil rights movement. It’s a part of my story and my struggle and my identity. It’s a part of my history. It’s not just in my head, it’s in my bones. II can feel the burden and pain of it. I know the trauma of my people because it is my story. It is my family. And until white people can relate to slaveowners in the same way that the black community can relate to slaves white people will never understand our pain.
They will never understand why it still hurts. They will never understand why where we are now is not far enough. They can’t. You can’t.
Now I am not saying that to point fingers and blame and guilt. I am trying to help you understand. Please hear my heart and not merely my words. You are my family. I deeply care about you. I deeply care about us, that is why I am here. That’s why my feet are on this ground. This is my home. You are my home. I am committed to being here. I am not leaving. So it is important that my white family understands this fundamental difference if there is ever to be empathy.
When a Trayvon Martin gets shot, I hurt because that is not just some kid two thousand miles away. That is my brother and it could have been me. Trayvon was my brother. I weep for my brother. I weep for my brother who was shot in the streets. I am not trying to make a political comment with any of this. I am just saying that that is my brother in the streets. That is me. Can you feel for me? Can you understand my pain? I know you have your own issues and problems but can you be attentive to me and mine for a few minutes? Can you look past politics long enough to just see that I hurt? Can you stay long enough to hear why I am screaming “Black Lives Matter!” Black lives matter. Black lives matter. They do matter. And until black lives matter, we cannot say with integrity that all lives matter.
This whole “all lives matter” stuff needs to stop. Yes, all lives matter. We get that. We agree. No body is arguing whether or not all lives matter. But if you can be sensitive, please understand. Saying “all lives matter” in response to someone crying “black lives matter” is like going to a breast cancer advocacy walk and screaming “Thyroid cancer matters too.” It is just foolishness. We agree, but we are not talking about that at this moment.
