A Quiz, a Question, and Follow-up Thoughts

          Let’s start with a quiz based on recent headlines. Can you correctly match each item in column 1 with one in col. 2?  When finished, reflect on the question that follows

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1. Breonna Taylor and George Floyd	A. pejorative name for indigenous people
2. Mt. Rushmore and Keystone oil pipeline	B. excessive force by police
3. Washington pro football team	C. questionable use of confederate flag
4. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton	D. violation of native American land rights
5. Mississippi state flag and NASCAR	E. slave owners

          The question: What do these have in common?

         

As an older, middle-class white woman, my own thoughts about answering this question circle around racial and social inequality. These incidents and others make me realize how bias is inbred in our social system, and most of us don’t even see it.                              (QUIZ ANSWERS: 1-B; 2-D; 3-A; 4-E; 5-C)

A few random observations:

·         One popular TV reality cop show most often depicts the culprit as from a minority race, often black. Have you ever wondered why stories rarely depict a black victim and white culprit? After all, white people are much more numerous in our society. Does this mean white people are much more law abiding or could it be that it’s easier to believe black people guilty of a crime?  Because of this newly realized imbalance, the producers of one of these shows have recently pulled it off the air.

·         Some states are still tightening access to the voting booth apparently oblivious to who will now not be able to vote. As a result, the poor are often disenfranchised by their own government because they can’t afford picture ID or cost of transportation to more distant polling places or they would have to miss work because the hours to vote have been reduced.

·         How many of us, including our president and people in congress, speak of how our freedom was enshrined into the constitution and declaration of independence? When we hear this, do we remember that women and slaves were not considered people? This was obvious when the founders were talking about owning land or voting. Women had to protest for decades before they gained the right to vote; that was just 100 years ago. In our own time they and black people are still fighting to be considered equal. Despite amendments to the constitution, both groups are still struggling, women for equal pay for equal work, black people often for their very lives.

·         How often do we recall that our country has struggled with racism in one form or another since its beginnings. Even our sanitized history books refer to how various waves of immigrants were treated like inferior people - Germans, Irish, Chinese, Japanese Americans during WWII, and of course citizens of Africa who were not even considered human, but rather property. Have we outgrown these judgments?

Where do these thoughts lead us? They lead me to wondering what can be done. It all seems so entrenched. What can one person do? Here are some ideas gathered from various sources.

·         Be willing to look at our personal and collective history with more openness. Remember that the history written by victors is probably what we were taught, then consider how the stories might have been different if there had been “minority reports.”

o   A. Would we have learned about lynchings? child enslavement? separation of families? Would “Gone with the Wind” have painted a different picture?

o   B. Would we have learned that the plantations and industry that built the South were built on the backs of black men, women, and children?

o   C. Would we have studied about horrors of the Trail of Tears or Wounded Knee?

o   D. Would we have spent some time reflecting on how our government cheated the native tribes in buying Alaska and Manhattan for a few beads and furs? Was this a “great deal,” imposing our system on a culture that believed no one could “own” land because it was given by the creator for everyone to use?

o   E. Would you be willing to read Sojourner Truth’s speech in 1851 and/or Frederick Douglass’ about 4^th of July in 1852? (Both are fruitful reading these 160 years later.) If so, try these links: HERS: https://www.thesojournertruthproject.com/compare-the-speeches ;  HIS: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h2927.html

It’s not too late to reflect honestly on these questions and re-educate ourselves about things we as the majority culture have taken for granted.

Often we act as though truth is simple; it rarely is. Because of this, we must learn to open our minds and hearts to the Spirit who is wisdom and insight. God is constantly blessing us with opportunities to become more than we are at the moment. To quote the iconic John Lewis who died just recently, “Hatred is too heavy a burden to bear.” So are ignorance and apathy.

           Sr. Colleen Winston, OSB