I must confess that I have known interratial marriages where the couple was rejected by the parents; but God is good. When the grandchildren were born, the grandparents became colorblind.
One phenomenon that is not uncommon is the tension that often arises among different minority groups as they are thrown together in the ghettoes and often find themselves competing for the same jobs, housing, or government programs. In Washington, that was the case. I was director of a social service agency across the street from a public school where the students were, for the most part, Blacks and Hispanics. Once a disturbance arose, billed as a race riot (I would call it a food fight), but the teachers were unable to gain control and did not know what to do so they called me. When I walked into the building, the Spanish kids immediately quieted down; they were my parishioners. I had baptized many and given them their First Communion. They were terrified that I would complain to their parents. The reaction of the Blacks was quite curious. Most were Protestants and had never seen a monk. In fact, many of them thought I was like the Buddhist karate masters they had seen in the Kung Fu films. They interpreted this white belt as indicating a high level of proficiency in the martial arts.
It was one of the best dialogues on racism I had ever experienced. Sadly, it became very clear that these youngsters were learning terrible attitudes from their parents. In those days, there was a Cuban nun working in the Washington, D.C. public school system by the name of Sister Mary Ann Justiz. Oftentimes, she would receive calls from Hispanic parents who, when they found out that their call was being handled by an Hispanic nun, would speak very frankly. They would say, "Sister, help us move our children to a better school where there are not so many Black children," often using racial epithets and slurs. Sister Mary Ann would say""Come and see me. I think I can help you." They would go to the public schools administration building and when they were ushered into Sister's office they were shocked to be confronted by very imposing Black nun with formidable presence. She would say "“ "And now, why is it that you want to move your children to another school?" And then she would talk to them about racism, and prejudice, and the disservice they were doing to their children. Her goodness and patience changed a lot of racists into decent human beings. She used to lament the fact that many of these immigrants were not racists in their own countries. Sadly enough, they learned to see color when they came to America. In fact, in most Spanish-speaking countries, references to people's skin color are terms of endearment and affection. In the United States they are often insults and pejorative expressions. As Bishop in the Virgin Islands, I was distressed to see how our young people would graduate from high school and come to the United States for college. Often, they would return crestfallen having experienced for the first time in their lives discrimination and racism in the United States.
One of the points I try to make in the Pastoral Letter is that racism is like a disease most often transmitted from parent to child. Its early symptom is the delusion that one's race is somehow superior to others. In advanced stages, it leads to hatred, violence, and untold suffering. This contagion needs to be checked. The Twentieth Century was able to eliminate certain diseases like smallpox and polio, but this spiritual disease of racism is still menacing our world as we begin a new millennium. [Part 3 of 4]
