I am a well meaning male white liberal....

....and it doesn't help.

 I've been there and done that with the best of intentions.  But it's scarcely made a thimbleful full of difference to a stinking ocean of bigotry.

 Yesterday I browsed the pages of the local Episcopalian Diocesan magazine/newsletter.   The back page of the magazine bears a photo' of the Diocesan Clerics, some one hundred of them, clad in their fine array for a group photo'. Apart from the instantly recognisable Presiding Bishop, the Most Revd. Michael Curry finding back or brown face in their serried ranks is more difficult than finding that proverbial needle in ten hay stacks.

 There are maybe less than a handful of black or brown skinned clerics in this Diocese, none amongst the movers and shakers. 
It reminded of the words of  C.O. a Jamaica born woman who was a member of the Vestry at St. James's in Cambridge., the only black skinned person in a Vestry of white skinned people. "Of course" she said "I know that I am a token".  We didn't like it, but she was right

  To have C.O. on the Vestry made us feel good.

  It reminded her of our unthinking but real condescension. 

 One article in the Diocesan Magazine announced that a parish not far from Sarasota is slating a weekly (for six weeks)  programme American Racism: Yours, Mine and Ours.

Good for them of course,  or maybe not.  I can well imagine the dark skinned presenters looking out at a white skinned audience (with a sprinkling of black faces), and thinking "When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn?"  

 I've been to such workshops and led some of them.  What a great accomplishment, to ace Racism 101 and feel good about it, until from deep within in my soul comes the troubling question: "When will I ever act, when will I act?"

 ------------------------------------------------------------------

 To be well meaning may salve the conscience of white liberals, but it is inadequate.  Worse still it is delusional and dangerous.  It is like placing a band aid/plaster on the arm of a person who suffers from the ravages of cancer and thinking "that should make her/him feel better".

 The cancer in the soul of America is racism.  That cancer began with the genocide of native Americans and with the enslavement of  African human cargo in slavery.

 It is embodied in our woefully compromised Constitution, (the 3/5  "solution").  Anti-black racism was the fountain-head of the so-called Jim Crow laws -  De-Jure in the former Confederate States -  De-Facto in the Union States.

Abraham Lincoln emancipated Slaves.  He did not and could not emancipate white skinned people from their fear and their subsequent anger.

 Their fear.  White skinned Americans are terrified that the "Blacks"  (and people of Hispanic origin) will take over - hence Senator Mitch McConnell's determination that President Barack Obama should be blocked at every turn. McConnell won.  

 Post the 2018 election McConnell is already dissing the New York State Representative in Congress-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She has a suspiciously sounding Hispanic sounding name.  

 Their fear and anger.  Pres. Donald J. Trump has tapped into the (white) nativist fear of "the other" (in this case people of Hispanic origin).  Hence his determination to build a wall. We all know that his wall has nothing to do with the two U.S.A borders with Canada or with the entre-ports of our many air and sea ports.

 I know that in the face of this deeply rooted and systemic white supremacist racism,  being a well meaning white liberal is not enough. It is the system which needs to be changed.


 Well meaning parish programmes on anti-racism are all well and good. but they can never cut the mustard.

 "Racism 101" parish courses may be more harmful than good when they inoculate well meaning white liberals from endemic racism: the soul killing disease which is at the heart and centre of American political power.


 I am a well meaning male white liberal.  Pshaw that's such a feeble cop out. When will I ever learn  and act?


 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Racist in Chief
His ally and best buddy, the Senate Majority leader,

The essential gad fly in the new Congress. All power to her!







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Shoe insults

Last year I consulted with a local podiatrist: Dr. Robert F Herbold Jr. D.P.M. 4717 Swift Rd., Sarasota , FL – 34231  because I was being bothered with a couple of bunions  (yes I am at that age). I was very impressed with this Doctor.  He agreed that I had bunions, but he ventured that it was much too soon for surgery. (Now there’s a first). Instead he recommended some “arch supports” to relieve the tension for my feet, a tension which was exacerbating the bunions. What’s more -  he told me that he sells these arch supports at the miserly sum of $2.50 each (about 1/5 of the price in the local pharmacies). He is an honest man, and I recommend him to anyone with foot problems. So, a couple of weeks ago, having purchased some new walking shoes, I knew that I needed to buy a couple of new arch supports I took myself to his office. Once there, my mind went blank. I wanted to ask his front desk Clerk if I could buy some “shoe inserts” , as I could not rem...
Read more

It began in Bristol U.K. "A man dies" and "Jesus Christ Superstar"

Image
I well remember the swirling controversy in Bristol, U.K. when a (Presbyterian) Minister the Revd, Earnest Marviin created a ":Rock Opera", called "A Man Dies"  in and for his congregation in the Lockleaze area of Bristol, U.K. Earnest Mrvin I was a sixteen years old member of the Plymouth Brethren Church back in those days, so I most likely disapproved of "A Man Dies" .  We, (the Plymouth Brethren),  disapproved of everything! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had forgotten all about "A Man Dies" until earlier today when saw these pictures on the "Bristol, Then and Now"  Facebook page.   St. James Presbyterian Church, Lockleaze, Bristol  The Bristol Then and Now page includes the following commentary: Lockleaze, Bristol  -  'Jesus Christ Superstar' began at St.James (Presbyterian) Chur...
Read more

The background, the couple, my friends, the wedding ceremony, the Shaykh, the Priest,

Image
The background   I have known the Keller/Bonsey family since 2000 when I became the Rector at St. James's, Cambridge, MA. They (Elisabeth Keller and the Revd. Steven Bonsey with their four children Noah, Sam, Josiah and Annie) had come back to Cambridge from Hawaii where Steve had been the Rector of an Episcopal parish. Steve had just been appointed as a Chaplain at Tufts University (no Sunday morning duties) so the entire family was able to enrich our common life at St. James's - which they did with great love and joy. I count them as friends and have stayed in touch with them since my retirement.  Noah, the oldest son is eloquent in Arabic (he spent a year in Damascus when Syria was a safe place).  He has developed a super career as an analyst of social media in the near East.    Noah worked in Tampa for a while a few years ago, so he and I were a...
Read more