I’m a white man. Not everything has been easy for me. Growing up, I was repeatedly bullied for being gay. I suffered a great deal of loss during the AIDS pandemic. I lost a job and was on unemployment for a year – even though I had a doctorate, work experience, and proven skills. I’ve had some health issues. Life hasn’t always been easy for me. But at no time did I ever experience difficulties in life (let alone systemic oppression) because of the color of my skin. No one should ever be prevented from living life freely just because of their skin tone. To do so is morally reprehensible.
Black lives matter.
It’s not that all lives aren’t important. But systematically, people with skin tones darker than mine have been the object of hatred, systematic discrimination, and brutality for generations. It’s people who look like me who are on top of this pyramid of skin color. It’s not because we’re any better as human beings. While people who look like me used pseudo-science to prove that we were somehow more developed, it was all to bolster our sinful pride. The economic and political system was built for white supremacy. It’s time to break the system.
Black lives matter.
There’s a meme going around social media that explains why the phrase “Black Lives Matter” is so very important. If your house is burning down and the fire department comes and begins to spray water on every house on the block, what would you say? Your house is the one that matters! It’s your house that is on fire! Yes, the other houses matter, too. But the one on fire: that’s the one that needs to stop burning.
Today, the Black houses, the Latinx houses, the Asian houses, the Native American houses, and every other non-white house is on fire. But it’s as if the fire department is showing up and only spraying water on white houses while letting the others burn. Let’s put out the houses on fire to show that all houses really do matter.
Black lives matter.
Over the last decade, practically everyone has a smartphone with a camera. Because of that, time after time after time we’ve seen police shoot and kill unarmed, innocent Black men. These officers are never convicted of a crime. Why? Because of a series of laws, both federal and state, which shield them from conviction. It’s not about good cops versus bad cops. That’s a simplistic deception that leads to a simple solution: get rid of the bad cops but don’t change the system. Yet, the police system is fundamentally corrupt and in desperate need of reform. Study after study has explained what to do over the last twenty-five years. Instead of following the recommendations of these studies, the only reforms that occur are designed to make people who look like me feel safer while crushing the lives of people with skin color different from mine. This is systemic evil.
Black lives matter.
The global demonstrations happening are important. Even more important is that every person who is eligible to vote needs to vote. In addition to voting, politicians and corporations must be held accountable. Dog them! Shame them! Stay after them! Not just during the election cycle, but day in and day out. If we want the system to change, then continued work will be required for months if not years. It will happen if we decide to make it happen. These changes are what the Bible describes as justice for the oppressed. This is liberation. This is salvation.
Black lives matter.
As a Christian, I believe and affirm that each human being is a reflection of the God who is the Source of all life. When we fail to reverence and respect that image of the Divine in anyone, we diminish the realm of God. Our lives have been knit together when the Holy One breathed in the world calling forth life. Yes, each breath we take is imbued with the Spirit of God. But too many of our sisters and brothers just can’t breathe. They can’t breathe. And our inaction in the face of injustice is suffocating us all.
Black lives matter.
Photo by vpickering on Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND