"A fragile hope has been broken by my white brothers and sisters"

[Tanuki]

I wish I could copy this in its entirety; there is so much of value here:

http://www.onbeing.org/blog/yolanda-pierce-a-fragile-hope-has-been-broken-by-my-white-brothers-and-sisters/9056
(Yolanda Pierce is an associate professor of African American Religion and Literature and the director of Black Church Studies at Princeton Theological Seminary. She holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. from Cornell University and undergraduate degrees from Princeton University. Her research specialties include African American religious history, womanist theology, African American literature, and the relationship between race and religion.)


..."I chose to go into predominately white spaces — sometimes all-white spaces — to teach from my areas of expertise. I offered myself as a professor and a mentor, trying my very best to create an atmosphere where tough issues around race or gender or sexuality could be discussed. Some days I succeeded and some days I failed, but I kept trying. More importantly, I traveled this nation, speaking almost everywhere I was invited, but particularly at white churches and schools. I have written for popular media, facilitated workshops, preached, lectured, appeared on television and radio — all in my quest to be a bridge-builder within the body of Christ.
Because I don’t believe that you can live your faith on the sidelines, I entered into spaces I knew weren’t hospitable. I’ve lectured at churches that don’t ordain women, despite being an ordained clergywoman. I’ve spoken to congregations that don’t support LGBT rights, despite my embrace of them. And I’ve been a guest speaker at far too many places that were deeply suspicious of my frank talk about racism and white supremacy in Christian spaces.

.......

On November 8th, ....
I watched as 81 percent of White evangelicals and born-again Christians voted for someone who admitted to sexually assaulting women and gleefully affirming that he would face no consequences for doing so.

......dismissed his affairs, adultery, multiple marriages, participation in porn subculture, refusals to release his tax returns, failure to donate to charities to which he promised money, mockery of his own supporters (including their wives and parents), participation in racist lies about President Obama, stereotyping of African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Muslims — and still voted for him.

......

How do I continue to be in Christian fellowship with those who embrace a man still calling for the deaths of five innocent African-American men acquitted of a crime by DNA? How can I believe that racial justice is possible when dealing with those who are quick to forgive the president-elect’s egregious moral lapses, while simultaneously supporting his contention that black and brown youth are inherently criminals deserving of constant surveillance?
......


I am a descendant of enslaved persons, and my ancestors have been in the United States longer than almost any other group besides American Indians. I am not going to leave the country my ancestors built with their blood and uncompensated labor. And I am a Christian — a faith that was birthed in an African cradle. I am not going to leave the faith bequeathed to me by my foremothers and forefathers. But I will always speak truth from my lived experience as an African American living in a nation in which the structural sins of racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression are clearly evident even in the body of Christ.
Yet I do not know as I write this whether the work to which I have given my career can continue. I do not know if I can continue to pay the cost of being a peacemaker and a bridge-builder with those who refuse to see how their actions have so deeply wounded minority communities. Something has been broken for me; a fragile hope that the work of racial and gender justice will be embraced by the larger church."

[JHan]

1. Recommended.

At some point they have to reach out too, we can't do all the work:

"I do not know if I can continue to pay the cost of being a peacemaker and a bridge-builder with those who refuse to see how their actions have so deeply wounded minority communities. Something has been broken for me; a fragile hope that the work of racial and gender justice will be embraced by the larger church."

[moda253]

2. ok I have to ask this and I admit it is my own pure ignorance.

I don't know if anything I have to say in this mini rant is appropriate in this thread but something about reading that evoked my response.

As a white man I honestly don't know what the hell I can do to help... anything. I mean I am really stumped at how I can help at all. I really think that we have to be very careful about fracturing a unified movement that we are desperately going to need now.

Some weeks back I was listening to MPR here in MN during the protests at the governors mansion over the Philando Castille shooting. They had a panel on the show of people involved or affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement and they were describing why white people needed to stay home and educate themselves but that if they did show up that they should remain silent and not get in their space. This frustrated me to no end because I feel deeply about the issues that BLM faces.

After the election there was the safety pin thing which was turned into a point of shaming because how dare white people put on a stupid safety pin and think that means that they are off the hook (I read that literally). Ok I get it putting on a safety pin doesn't mean that your work is done, or that you in any way can necessarily identify with the very real issues that minority groups are facing.

There have been many pieces on facebook basically saying white people should not show up. That they don't get to participate and that removes any of their white privilege. I get that I am a privileged white man and that even if I try to acknowledge that I can hardly even understand how privileged I really am. I know that I was raised in a poor as shit blue collar neighborhood but that because I am white I had many advantages that minorities didn't which equated to me having opportunity to better my position in life. I get that. And still I know that I am likely largely ignorant simply because that is how our society is engrained. But I am trying which maybe doesn't afford me anything but damn... can't I be an ally?

How the hell are we going to unite if we cannot find a way to show people that we deeply fucking care about what is happening? This is all scaring the hell out of me because the people that need to work together are so distrusting of each other that there appears to be no way for us to even begin to start building a coalition. Hell I would tattoo on my forehead "Ignorant but willing to learn" if it would help. I would do almost anything at this point to be able to let people know I want to help.

There is only one way that we begin to fix things and that isn't standing apart from one and other. It is only to trust one and other and move forward.

[safeinOhio]

3. It's a journey for us

And we might not get there. As an old white fart, I know I'm not there. Just hope I'm half way and stay headed in the right direction.

[LisaM]

4. Yes, that's a frustration.

One thing the LGBT movement did very successfully was allow others to identify as "allies". I'm proud of that label - I like to be considered an ally. I would like to be an ally to the BLM movement as well, but I don't want to tread on someone else's space.

If the BLM movement opens itself up to creating allies, I would proudly own that label.

[LuckyLib]

5. Your head and heart are in the right place -- knowing that you need to keep learning.

But it may be that in these times working in quiet ways, behind the scenes, to advance the cause of human rights is what needs to be done. You just don't get to be front and center. As a woman, after years of woman-hating and sexism in our culture, I've had it up to here with mansplaining. I think the same holds true with folks of color. Their power needs to be their visibility and their insistence that their voices be heard. Dr. Price is working to bridge the divide by communication with white groups -- we who are white can work within our communities to deliver the same message.

[Tanuki]

8. Moda, if there is a chapter of SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice)

in your community, you might find some kindred spirits and some practical ideas for how we can all move forward together.
http://www.showingupforracialjustice.org/about

[Ligyron]

6. Well I'm glad she finally figured it out.

Why AA's adopted and refuse to leave a religion that endorses their slavery among other disgusting things is beyond me.

Maybe she (and others) should just get out of the religion business altogether. Magic thinking is no answer to anything steeped in reality

[Bettie]

7. White Evangelicals

They are the problem.

I know a lot of them.

I am related to a lot of them.

Here is the problem: they blindly do whatever their leaders (church and political) tell them to.

Critical thinking is frowned upon, it is stamped out at an early age.

They are the base of the Republican party and they accept anything their leaders do or say because they are told (and thus believe) that their leaders are ordained by their petty and vindictive version of god.