Solidarity: Arduous Journey to the “Promised Land”
Part 2 of 3
The history of our country has been deeply marked by the sin of racism, which is a betrayal of our Christian faith as well as our democratic ideals. Despite great progress in the area of civil rights since the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his dream of racial harmony is still a dream deferred. The “promised land” of integration where “children of former slaves and children of former slaveholders could sit down at the table of brotherhood,” so much more difficult than desegregation, is still very elusive. Church burnings and other hate crimes continue, and motorists are still stopped for “driving while black.” In the last year, 220 articles on racial violence appeared on the pages of The New York Times including the tragic high profile accounts of the torture of Abner Louima and the killing of Amadou Diallo.
It is with shame and sorrow that we recall the plight of Native Americans and Blacks, the two groups to suffer the most devastating effects of the sin of racism in our country. It is obvious that racism in all its forms and disguises is a dehumanizing force that demeans its victims and renders its perpetrators diminished in their humanity, or to use an expression of Pope Paul VI, “mutilated by their selfishness.”
The racial tensions in the U.S. find a counterpart in the ethnic and nationalistic violence abroad. In fact, of the 50 million people who have died in armed conflicts since the end of World War II, most have perished in “ethnic” conflicts " in Rwanda, Burundi, Angola, Mozambique, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, East Timor and the former Yugoslavia. The dawn of the new millennium finds the whole world struggling with a legacy of devastating racial and ethnic violence.
The challenge for believers is to build a civilization of love in a world where there is so much division. The ministry of reconciliation is a sacred duty of Christ's Church as we embark on a new millennium. Diversity must be seen as something that can enrich the human family. We must move from fear and suspicion to tolerance and from tolerance to solidarity. This is not a utopian quest but a moral imperative for peace and progress on our planet. Indeed, it is probably a question of survival. There will be a civilization of love or no civilization at all.
To combat racism at its root, we must begin with a personal inventory, an examination of conscience and a profound realization of how pernicious racism is. Racial bias profoundly affects our culture. It deforms relationships within and between racial or ethnic groups. It undermines the possibility of true community. In addition, racial bigotry exacerbates unhealthy competition, destroys people's self-confidence and initiative. This sin prevents us from being what God has called us to be.
Racism has many faces, not just a pointed hood of the white supremacists. It is evidenced in one's tendency to stereotype people, in an extreme pride in one's own country or race, in belittling members of other races, in condescending attitudes or behavior, and in not taking peoples of other races seriously. A racist attitude finds expression in a lack of impartiality, in the failure to recognize the negative impact of racism on the victim, by encouraging prejudice in others and laughing at racist jokes that are hurtful and demeaning.
In the Parable of Lazarus and Dives, the rich man goes to Hades, not for adultery, or murder, or robbery, but because he was incapable of seeing Lazarus suffering at his doorstep. In a similar fashion, racism makes one blind to the presence of persons of other races. They become like nameless pieces of furniture that clutter up the landscape. Racism will be banished when we overcome our blindness to the people around us; and when instead of being blind, we become color blind, indifferent to people's complexion, but not to their dignity and their feelings.
Desegregation was the process, which eliminated discriminatory laws and barriers to full participation in American life. Integration is much more difficult to achieve because it demands a change of heart. Desegregation may unlock doors, but integration is when minds and hearts are opened as well, when the welcome mat is placed at the door.
Integration is so compelling because it is about people, not laws. It is about the way we see each other and treat others, it is about whether there will be room in our hearts and homes and classrooms and clubs and churches to welcome each other naturally as neighbors and friends. Desegregation is about laws; integration is about the Golden Rule.
In the play “South Pacific,” Rodgers and Hammerstein have a song that goes: “You have to be taught to hate and fear. You have to be taught from year to year. It has to be drummed into your little ear. You have to be carefully taught.”
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 20th century was able to entirely eliminate certain diseases like small pox and polio, but this spiritual disease of racism is still menacing our world as we begin a new millennium.
