Over the past several weeks, I have been analyzing my own journey on thing called racism. I remember watching the Civil Rights March in 1963 with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking about his dream. To paraphrase what he said, people of color have been on a journey since leaving Africa; it was always in the shadow of death, always in the shadows of rat-infested dungeons of slave ships. Many did not survive this journey to the, hopefully, new land of freedom. People of color have always been bound in chains, even when they were told they were free. They are still bound to those chains, chains of inequality, chains of not having freedom to become more than their present condition, chains of not being able to have good housing, chains of not being able to afford a good education, and chains of a stable livelihood. And today, we add the ability to walk down any American street without fear of being assaulted by policemen who have no respect for their color.
As we have seen for over 400 years, that journey to freedom has not been easy; Rosa Parks took a stand against injustice by not giving up her seat on a bus, which was designated as “blacks only,” to a white businessman in Montgomery, Alabama. Her stand required risk; change always requires that. By asking other people of color to stand with her, that protest against segregation in busing in the South broke the chains of racism and began a re-designing of our nation’s tapestry of civil rights for all. It takes courage to stand together as one; from the fear of another imprisonment and lose of rights, Black Americans began to rise up to claim their inalienable rights as citizens of the United States.
President Obama remarked in a recent interview that an individual’s ability to stand the course of time whatever the consequences, that a connection to all people creates a one people, that a belief that you are your brother’s keeper is important, and that knowing out of one person’s actions come the decisions for all people, are essential American qualities for a united country. Those qualities have begun to erode amidst the enormous problems we face today. When basic civility declines, it is difficult to make changes. We are one America: White, Black, Asian, Latino, and Native American. Whenever our differences are the catalyst for political decisions made by our Congress and by our President, our freedoms become invalidated by the needs of one group of people rather than the needs of all of us. We must appeal to hope not cynicism, to hope not difficulty, to hope in positivity not pessimism, and in courage to do the right thing not the wrong one.
When our conversations about social issues become routine, our denial of systemic racism in our country becomes the norm, our acceptance of gun violence in any situation becomes a part of our everyday existence, and our belief that our vote does not count and doesn’t matter, these are the harbingers of the decline of democracy in the United States We need to build our lives on the Rock and invite God back into the American way of life. As more and more people of color are dying from a lack of common decency and respect, we need to shout our belief in equality for all from every rooftop, every mountaintop, and every high office in the land. I, for one of the baby- boomer generation, believe that I do not walk alone. One, I walk with Christ by my side, and two, I walk with all my brothers and sisters of color because we are all children of God.
Courage to change things comes to only a few of us, but only a few of us are willing to accept that risky challenge. Freedom does not come without sacrifice. As a first-year teacher in 1974, I taught music in a 99% Black American elementary school in Wilmington, Delaware. My supervisor asked me, “Do you see colors when you teach your students or are you blind to those colors?” My response, “I see children. I do not see the color of their skin; I see their hearts. I see their grace and their courage.” Even still today after forty-seven years of teaching public and private students, I remain true to my own philosophy. Children learn more than we ever thought possible when they know we love them unconditionally, regardless of their race, religion, creed, or color. The same is true of our present day situations with teenagers and adults across this nation.
When a person of color shoots a gun, that trigger is pulled by hopelessness. When a white person shoots a gun, that trigger is pulled by fear. Only when Americans refuse to let hopelessness and fear meet will we become truly a democratic nation. What can we, as a nation, do to help all people of color know that they are equal and feel welcomed? What can we, as a nation, do to stop being fearful of one another? “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8: 36-37) Color is not the heart of a man; love is. Only God knows our souls; I pray that He will not be disappointed in what we are trying to accomplish and that He will approve of the changes we are attempting to make.
Since the beginning of Biblical history, these are questions we all must ask ourselves. Do we take a stand for the betterment of our nation or do we sit back and idly watch as we continue to kill each other? The choice is ours, but be forewarned, that choice will make or break us as a nation and as individuals. As a Christian American citizen, I chose to ask God for His unconditional help and love. What about you?
Anna Hartt
