That
ends the reading of the Pastoral Letter on Racism from the
UCC Collegium of Officers, which will be reprinted in our
newsletter. It was a long letter, I know. And I want to
thank the Worship Committee and Consistory for saying,
“Yes, this is important, and sacred conversations on race
are something we should pursue.” For some, racism is not
an easy thing to talk about. I grew up in New Orleans, an
African-American city, knowing and spending much time with
African-Americans, but also coming to know people of
Hispanic descent as I had one neighbor from Guatemala and
two from Argentina. They celebrated different customs from
my family, but they were wonderful families that opened my
eyes to difference.
Why is race something important for us to talk about
today? Is it important simply because of the comments of
Jeremiah Wright that unleashed a storm of controversy
around the country? I hope many of you watched the Bill
Moyers PBS special which explained some of the sound bites
that were taken out of context from sermons years ago.
When those things were explained to me, I had no problem
with them placed in the context of his sermons even though
they might raise eyebrows even in this church. Those of us
who heard the context of those sermons would probably say,
“Yes, it’s upsetting, but I can see where he’s coming
from.” Much of that had nothing to do with Jeremiah
Wright, but had to do with a candidate for President who
happens not to be white. It comes from forces that wish to
see that the Presidency remain one race, which is
unfortunate. And some may say that it’s simply playing
politics.
But as these things emerge...and things will probably
continue to emerge throughout the presidential
campaign...it only brings to the surface tensions which
are right under the surface, tensions that I have seen in
Taneytown which have nothing to do with this election but
have everything to do with race. As a pastor here in this
church, I’ve been to City Council meetings (especially on
the difficult topic of illegal immigration, which is very
complex and has many nuances, and will find us in
different places based on our discussions of the issue)
where I heard attacks on people of a specific race simply
because this community is predominantly one race at this
time, failing to recognize and honor American citizens who
happen to be of those nationalities and races and who also
struggle today to be accepted in society.
For many of us, we see ourselves as people of Christ,
people who love all people and care for all people -- and
for the most part, I believe we are. When I went to
seminary, a fellow seminarian spoke to us in a class on
racial justice looked us and said, “You are all racists.”
And that was highly upsetting to me as a person who grew
up in an African-American city and who never considered
myself a person with any tendencies toward prejudice or
racism. But after taking the class...which gave us more
information and knowledge about subtle and overt forms of
racism, about what exists as white privilege in our nation
which many of us have probably not read much about...a lot
of things came to the forefront and helped me, at least,
to realize that even I had biases and prejudices that I
was unaware of, things that didn’t come out in overt
conversations, but may come out even in my thoughts.
To all of us today who would proclaim ourselves to be
free of racism or bigotry, I give an example. If you were
to break down in a poor Baltimore City neighborhood and a
group of young African-American males approached you on
the street, would you feel comfortable in those moments?
Though I try to look for the best in all people, my red
flags would go up. And in that way, it means that even I
feel racial bias. How many of us would feel comfortable
taking a stroll down certain of Taneytown’s streets at
midnight? I have a feeling that many of us who know about
the complexities even of our own town would not do such a
thing.
The racial bias that is in us comes from all avenues.
It’s not necessarily taught to us by our parents or
grandparents. We see it in the news every night. If there
is a shooting or a murder in the inner city, it is often a
young African-American male between 20 and 30 being
sought, raising suspicion in all of us each time we see an
African-American male. These things are present all
around. We cannot escape them. It is part of what our
society has become. And though our society has had
tremendous race issues in the past, those issues are not
over today by any means. When we hear these discussions,
it’s often easy for us to say, “Well, that’s just people
playing the race card.” But if we sit down and truly
listen and open ourselves up and let our barriers down, we
may begin to realize that even we...as people of faith in
the United Church of Christ, a church that embraces
diversity and loves all people...have limits within us
that we did not know were beneath the surface.
This is why these conversations are important for us
because, even in people like us who have worked for
justice in society, these biases and isms still remain
just under the surface. And if it remains in us, what can
we say about people who are not church people? What can we
say about people who do not proclaim to want to see a
society of equals? What can we say about our nation? It is
difficult and it is painful, and it is unnerving. I do not
expect everyone to excitedly jump up and say, “Yes, let’s
have the conversation,” because it can be difficult. It
can bring tears. In our course on justice ministries in
seminary where we had to talk about the issue of race,
many of us had a couple of very tearful classes where,
when we had to look back over our lives and see things
from a different point of view, we recognized the pain
that we had caused others. And even I was not exempt from
that.
During the summer, I hope to offer several
conversations on race...not just for our church, but to
talk about our communities, our cities, our states, and
our country...and where we are with this issue and who we,
as people of faith, need to become and the things that we
need to do. Not just to challenge ourselves, but to
challenge the powers that be that keep these things in
force, whether they be governmental powers or powers of
financial power, which is an even bigger issue. In these
offerings, that’s where the real conversation will begin,
when it will become a two-way or a three-way, or a five,
or ten, or twelve-way conversation between the people who
come and want to explore not only in prayer, but to look
at and to try to understand the complexities of this
issue.
And if we think it may not be important to discuss
race, let me share from these statistics from that
original Pastoral Letter written in 1991. Progress has not
always been made from this list;; some things may have
gotten better and some things may have actually gotten
worse.
- 1 out of every 4 children under the age of 6 in the
United States lives beneath the poverty level. 60% of
these children in poverty are children of color.
- African-American children are 3.4 times more likely
than European-American children to be poor. Latino
children are 3 times more likely to be poor.
- Poverty among the Asian-Pacific-American population
is 1.5 times higher than that of non-Hispanic whites. In
Metropolitan areas with high concentrations of
Asian-Pacific-Americans, the poverty rate is roughly
twice as high as that of non-Hispanic whites.
- More than 38% of the Native American population has
an income below the poverty level. Though many
reservations have successful gaming casinos as a way to
resolve poverty and unemployment, there is still public
state and federal opposition to this direction of
economic growth. This opposition threatens
self-determination of the tribal governments.
- In 1994, African-Americans were 2.3 times more
likely to be unemployed than European-Americans. 41% of
African-American men nationally are without employment.
The average full-time employed African-American person
makes 77 cents for every dollar of the
European-American. An Hispanic worker makes even less.
- The unemployment level for Native-American young
people on some reservations is 80-90%.
- Latin American women are twice as likely as
non-Latin women to be employed in service occupations,
which are usually very low-paying jobs).
- Nationally, 25% of the Asian-Pacific-Americans aged
25 and over have less than a high school diploma and/or
possess limited English skills; therefore, disadvantaged
Asian-Pacific-Americans have a low labor force
participation rate, only 63%, and only 32% work full
time, usually in low-skilled occupations. Approximately
90% of this disadvantaged population are immigrants, 2/3
of whom entered this country as adults and 1/3 having
been here for five years or less.
- Native American health care is 20 to 25 years behind
the national average and life expectancy is about 1/3
less, even though the federal government’s Indian Health
Services was created to provide health care to residents
of Indian reservations. Most Native Americans living in
urban communities have no health insurance nor do they
qualify for Indian Health Services care.
- The U. S. Department of Housing & Urban Development
found that in 40 metropolitan areas, 70% of all rental
applicants and 90% of potential home buyers were steered
into separate African-American and European-American
neighborhoods. Continued residential segregation is the
result of organized, purposeful exclusion on the part of
European-American residents, exclusion which can also
include harassment, assault, vandalism, and arson (that
actually happened in Maryland a year or two ago in a new
neighborhood for wealthy African-Americans where houses
were being burned; I don’t know if you remember that in
the news, and it was racially motivated).
- In the criminal system, studies have shown
consistently high populations of African-American and
Hispanic and Native American people. Studies have also
shown these population groups receive harsher sentencing
than European-Americans. In California, which has been
using the ‘three strikes and you’re out’ law, 57.3% of
African-Americans convicted have been sentenced under
the law compared with only 12.6% of European-Americans.
When we read this, it’s important for us to remember
that many of the injustices are caused by racism. The
reality, as evidenced by these statistics, is that the
effects of racism are as damaging as ever. While laws no
longer allow clearly overt racism, subtle and covert
racism is still strong. It is in the context of this
reality that we are to engage in these purposeful sacred
conversations.
So what is it that we are asking you to do? To come and
be a part of sacred conversations where we can be in a
safe place, where we can honestly speak the truth in love
but also respect each other’s dignity and share openly. We
will seek to improve our understanding of the types of
racism in our society that are not just personal, but are
institutional and internalized. We will explore the roles
of prejudice, bigotry and personal bias and examine the
meaning of privilege that all white Americans enjoy, but
seldom are aware of. These gatherings will be sensitive
and respectful, but also honest and sacred, as we will
begin each segment with prayer and time of silence. Those
who wish will be able to share, but it’s not required. One
can simply come and listen. But we will try to take more
of a hard look at ourselves, at our church, at our
community, city, and nation. It is important for us not to
let this opportunity pass us by citing that ‘we’ or ‘I’
have no problem here. This problem is in our own town, in
Taneytown. Sometimes it is in our houses even without us
being aware. Some of you who may be new to town may not
know that the Ku Klux Klan used to rally here and have a
stronghold here in Taneytown. They are no longer here;
they have moved on. Many of the voices of the combined
church community and people looking for equality in
Taneytown had a part in moving that group and their
campaign of hatred from Taneytown. The town is to be
applauded for that. But some of the remnants of that still
reside here and are still present in ways we may not be
aware of.
Racism is a problem for all of us, not just for those
who are people of color or a different race. If one of us
hurts, all of us hurt. The lack of change in the larger
society may be due to the apathy of so many of us who
demonstrate that these aren’t problems that we really
have. So as a pastor, and just as an American citizen, I
invite you to come and to brave the waters of truth so
that we may find deeper healing, not just for ourselves,
but for everyone in our community.
