I am blessed to be the pastor of Mt. Oak Fellowship - a growing multi-racial church. - for such a time as this. We are diverse in many ways including race, age, political party, and economic condition, just to mention a few.
It grieved my heart today that one of our members reported on his Facebook that racism is at an all time high today, referring to the reaction of some to the President Elect, Senator Barack Obama.
As Christians, as members of a diverse community of faith, we must stand with one another and not allow racism or bigotry to be aired by us or in our presence without some retort. God is a God for all people. Our church, Mt. Oak, is a place all should feel welcome. We should be a model for the community to see, God's people working together and respecting each other.
We cannot allow people to speak in a detrimental way about others. Won’t you pray and STAND up with me and let those around you know we love all of God’s children, red and yellow, black and white?
President Elect Barack Obama might be a true picture of unity. Born of black and white parents, raised in multi-cultural places, he can be claimed by us all. Whether you voted for him or not, he is the President Elect and I pray a unifying figure in a climate of racial unrest.
Pray for his safety and for the safety of his family as they represent us for the next 4 or 8 years as our President. Mt. Oak must stand up and be counted as a place where harmony is evident and where we are gathered together in our diversity. We are different in many ways but we have one God and one faith, the truth, found in the Holy Bible. Stand with me.
Any thoughts or comments?
It grieved my heart today that one of our members reported on his Facebook that racism is at an all time high today, referring to the reaction of some to the President Elect, Senator Barack Obama.
As Christians, as members of a diverse community of faith, we must stand with one another and not allow racism or bigotry to be aired by us or in our presence without some retort. God is a God for all people. Our church, Mt. Oak, is a place all should feel welcome. We should be a model for the community to see, God's people working together and respecting each other.
We cannot allow people to speak in a detrimental way about others. Won’t you pray and STAND up with me and let those around you know we love all of God’s children, red and yellow, black and white?
President Elect Barack Obama might be a true picture of unity. Born of black and white parents, raised in multi-cultural places, he can be claimed by us all. Whether you voted for him or not, he is the President Elect and I pray a unifying figure in a climate of racial unrest.
Pray for his safety and for the safety of his family as they represent us for the next 4 or 8 years as our President. Mt. Oak must stand up and be counted as a place where harmony is evident and where we are gathered together in our diversity. We are different in many ways but we have one God and one faith, the truth, found in the Holy Bible. Stand with me.
Any thoughts or comments?
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12 comments:
I hope the two people who voted on the poll so far that they see racism in their church are not from Mt. Oak. If they are I would be interested in where you see it! So I can work to remove it!
Excellent post. I thought we had done racism in the 60's but have found it very alive and well since. My adopted daughter is Hispanic, and I experienced it with her. Today I saw some very offensive emails about the election. Barack Obama's early speech about racism was one of the best I've heard. My vote was not racially motivated, but I know many people's were. Churches must embrace and celebrate diversity - if God's people won't, who will? Sometimes I think God must be watching us and just shaking his head wondering when we will "get it".
Do you know what it feels like to told on your honeymoon in that there is no room for "you" in the inn? Do you know what it feels like to spend the night in Kansas and awaken to KKK written on your car? Have you ever had to enter the rear of a resturant "blacks only" and have your food passed through a slot in the wall? Do you know what it feels like to stand in a pharmacy with your 83 year old sick grandmother and be told to step aside so the pharmacist could wait on the white customer first? And just when you thought racism was over your five year old daughter breaks down to inform you that she has no friends, that no one wants to play with her because of the color of her skin.
Have you ever walked into a store and felt followed, or pulled over by the police because "you looked suspicious" in that area of town. You haven't, I have experienced all of these. I also know that my Hispanic, Asian, Chinese, Arab, Jewish and other brothers and sisters have scars of racism as well.
Have you ever felt like you could not be anything you wanted to be because you would be stopped before you reached the ceiling? Do you know the feeling of not voting for someone because you did think they could win. Not because of the content of their character but they couldn't win because of the color of their skin. And then when they do win you cry and are in shock and disbelief. You feel maybe things have changed! Maybe the scars can heal, only to find that the next wound of racism would come from a "Christian" brother or sister.
I will continue to pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ that you, your children and their children's children never experience of what others have had to indure before them.
Alvin, I feel your pain as much as I can. I pray that those days are behind us and we can heal as a people of God. In many ways you are a better man than I because of the journey you have walked. Together we can make each other stronger witnesses for Jesus.
I will say it's hard to grow up as a minority within school and especially in church. There are some hurtful things said even if jokingly put out there.
I don't think celebrating diversity is just acknowledging diversity but actually the understanding. Asking questions, having the hard conversations. It's not enough to recognize that someone is white, black, asian, hispanic, or latino or qualify whatever discrimination that has or could happen.
And from my heart, I don't agree or like when people talk about being "colorblind". It's easy to say that as a part of the majority and it's a false hope of any minority. It's not the dream MLK Jr. was talking about. Judge by the content of character but we must all keep in mind that there is something we can bring to the body of Christ or any body for that matter due to how God himself diversified us by race.
There is a definite lack of understanding of issues, feelings, or experiences that pertain to race among other things but we all stay silent.
Apathy, it doesn't corrode mankind as fast as hate but it does a lot of corroding.
A Good Book: "Why Are All the Black Kids sitting Together in the Cafeteria" by Beverly Daniel Tatum.
So Josef, help me understand more and more! I really want to know. I am not colorblind - I was raised in a society that had color values.
I was raised in farm country and then moved to Seat Pleasant near DC. I was raised by a family that didn't express bigotry but we lived in a society that did.
I try to filter it and rise above it. Help me understand how I can grow in my understanding.
To the limit that I can know the significance of this election, I know. Tell me more. Help me be the best pastor I can be to a multi-racial congregation.
I don't understand the bigger picture of race in this election. Yes Obama, he was elected to the highest office in America. He is labeled African American. What makes him any more black than he is white? Today, black people (not all are African) hold high jobs and contribute to society just as much as white people or any other race. I hope with this election, racism will continue to diminish.
Since I am not black, I don't understand the importance of this. Why should it matter so much the color of our presidents skin? Why not focus on the issues at hand? I understand that blacks have been discriminated against in today's society and in the past. But they are not the only minority that has. Have you ever been told that you can't do a certain job because you are a woman? Are you paid significantly less because you are a woman? Have you not been allowed to become apart of a sports team because you are white? Have you not been offered a job because you are hispanic, asian, latino? Or killed because you were a Jew? I am not denying the fact that blacks have had a great deal of discrimination brought upon them. But so have others races. This is a great time to acknowledge the pride for blacks, but not just them. His election is not just a great time for blacks, but for everyone else who voted for him, minorities and whites. When will this emphasis on race stop.
McCain nor Obama mentioned races in their speeches until the last moment. As if both men were color blind. In McCain's closing speech he said we now have our first African American president. And Obama recognized the accomplishment of African Americans. Why didn't they mention the issue of race during the past 18 months?
The last post is dangerous for two reasons:
1. it minimizes the struggle that the African American community has (I don't understand the bigger picture of race in this election.)
2. To refer to African American as "blacks" is racist in my opinion
I heard it said on CNN yesterday, "Parks sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Obama could run".
Before people start with the "whats' the big deal anyway" comments, they should consider how would it be if it were THEY on the receiving end of the suspicion, the mistrust, the stereotyping, if it was THEIR history that spoke of the denial of services, the refusal of education, and the longing for the day when they were simply treated EQUALLY with everyone else.
Not that it matters, but I am caucasian.
The names or labels we use should be congruent terms. Not all blacks are from Africa, but if we are to call blacks African-Americans we should call whites European-Americans. Why should the census cards or school registrations say African-American, Hispanic-American, Native-American, white or Caucasian. Use color, historic location, or scientific terms, but use them the same for all people.
I said "blacks" because not all black people are African American. I was not trying to be racist, nor am I. If i said African American while referring to black people, a Haitian-American might be offended. Someone is always going to be offended.
I have always used "black" the same way I have always been referred to as "white" not because I'm racist. I think the press has perpetuated this idea. I work where I'm in the minority & it has opened my eyes to many things.When describing a person all the nationalities I work with speak of skin tone, light, medium, etc. I struggle with my prejudices (skin color, weight,religion, etc.) everyday. But I don't think of myself as racist when I know it's really about noticing the differences first.
My husband, Chalmers and I have been married 21 years and together for 25 years. I am from Pennsylvania and was raised by mom and dad who were Jewish New Yorkers. They moved to the town of Lancaster in the early 50's to raise their children in the country. Of course, I had more discrimination when I was growing up in Lancaster than the entire time I have been with my husband. My parents were Jewish and they were business owners and had a huge home and they were from New York--and these were WASP's being ignorant. My husband is a United Methodist black man from Pageland, South Carolina. His home church was always a black United Methodist church until 1985 when I started attending whenever we went home. Getting to my point--(had to lay the background on my story) we have raised our two children and our niece to not be totally immersed in the color or religion of any one and to always be accepting of all. When Kamaria first came to live with us she started high school at Bowie and would come home talking black and white all the time and I would not allow her to say those words--I made her say light complected and dark complected (we all laugh about this now) --I drove the kids crazy but I feel that we were teaching them to not see color and to look past the outside of a person and to search for the real identity of the individual. They laugh at me saying that I am really black painted white. Kamaria was in the gospel choir at Bowie so I would drive all the kids to churches all over the DC and Maryland area for performances--they all still to this day call me Aunt Lorie-the point is that these kids will not ever forget the relationship that we all shared spending time together and talking about all the stuff in the world and spreading the Gospel of Jesus to other people from all walks of life. I cannot remember a time when we have had any negativity about our black and white family. Okay, so yes our one kid is classified white and the other black with the Prince Georges School System--of course my attitude takes over when I am filling out "what race are you" forms and I did get into it with the hospital when Woody was born because a lady came around to fill out for his social security card-refusing to write down that he was black and white. He had to be classified black since dad is black--that really set me off. I believe that we need to step down off of our high horses and try and communicate with other people and experience where the other people in the world are coming from and where they have been. Yes, some people like to be called African-American and some like to be called black. Okay, that is fine and everyone has their own idea on this. People are all different and everyone has a different background. Ask what they prefer--my husband and I like the term black-not African American. He is from the United States and has always been an American so likes to be called American. I am an American also. But I feel that the most important part of all this talk is that if we are from the United States--then we should be UNITED and take that stand against any one that wants to mess with our United States of America. One thing I do when I am interviewing perspective parents of daycare children who may decide to bring their child to me--I make sure they see my family or pictures of us that are displayed throughout of home. If you are a bigot--please go elsewhere--I do not know how many clients I may have lost because of this--and that is fine. I will not have that type of negativity in our home or around my daycare kids. These children that I hold in my care every day are growing and learning how to be accepting of any and all people. What truly beautiful lessons we could all learn from the innocent children around us--pure love--just as Jesus had for us! Lorie Lowery
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