R3 Contributor
I sat on my couch with mixed emotions that past Saturday awaiting the jury to come back with their verdict. I was naively optimistic with a pinch of skepticism. I saw the puppeteered look of white (male) privilege on the defendant’s face – which matches my emotional irony due to his Hispanic and thereby “minority” ethnicity. I felt the air sucking tension in the national atmosphere. And when I heard “NOT GUILTY” I wept. I called my soon to be teenage son just to hear his voice. The call was dropped (rather telling, huh?). He texted me to let me know he was “in the basement [at my sister’s home] and didn’t have service” (even more telling if you can exegetically interpret the metaphoric messages embedded in his text). I replied to him, “Ok. [I] just wanted to hear your voice. Been watching the news… Trayvon Martin’s killer was found not guilty. Always be careful son…dad loves you.” I felt (and periodically feel) pathetic and helpless. Be careful.
That’s what we have been reduced to in our parental ability to protect minority children from random acts of prejudice. To be black and young in America compounds the reality of being unsafe, unprotected, subject to random violence and hatred. I cannot count the number of times I’ve been pulled over by the Memphis Police Department (MPD) for “not wearing my seatbelt” or “going a few miles over the speed limit.” Thereafter I am visually accosted and indirectly interrogated by (at least) TWO cops and sometimes TWO cop cars while one is inspecting the back and passenger seat areas of my car – obviously looking for speeding and seat belt violation materials.
I’m grieved at the culture we have bequeathed to my only son and his peers. He and his friends (especially his non-white friends) are in the societal (and religious) basement and this verdict reminds us that they are too often disconnected and without the necessary services needed to get in touch with what they need. This is PERSONAL! Make no mistake about it, as a social justice activist and liberationist preacher this verdict pissed me off.
The verdict is a sickening reminder of the insensitivity and compassionless culture that fuels our criminal (in)justice system. The sadder reality is that most people, at some level, expected the verdict (or at least knew it was as rather probable). But from my vantage point, the saddest and most depressing element in this are the relatively too-little-too-late responses from so many ministerial leaders who are silent about some of the most pressing matters (especially relative to local matters). I didn’t hear much from minister’s when the Supreme Court struck down a pivotal portion of the Voting Rights Act. What have we to say about the infant mortality rate? Where is our righteous indignation in relationship to the poor stewardship practices of local politicians? We have chosen to remain silent (by and large) when it comes to matters of gender equality and LGBT inclusion, the Tennessee medical lottery, the mismanagement of the school merger and other issues that we can smell the stench of when we open our church doors.
In all honesty, I must say that I’m not necessarily “moved” by the Monday morning quarterbacks for social justice who swim to the surface at every sign of social acceptance. We need our ministerial communities to have a revolution of values. It’s repugnant how much blood is on the contemporary Church’s hands. We’ve sat idly by while injustice has been gaining traction and recovering ground lost during the Civil Rights Movement (and other progressive efforts for equality, justice and peace). We’ve perpetuated our own evil as we were singing radically individualistic and hedonistic renditions of “Bless ME Indeed” and “Enlarge MY Territory” and “Go Get YOUR Blessing”. By the way, how’s that “walking into MY season” thing working out for us right now?
We must come to the realization that Christian Discipleship is inextricably bound to social justice – material prosperity is OPTIONAL! Yet we have made what my pastor calls, “cash, camera’s and crowds” the fundamental litmus test for ministerial effectiveness. WE ARE GUILTY! The harsh truth is that this verdict (and the countless number of similar instances akin to it all over the country) are merely reminders that the Church and its constituents are in denial that our work is a constant struggle and not a fly-by-public-tragedy, opportunistic and momentary instance. Social Justice is a MOVEMENT not a moment we use for photo-ops and pamphlet pr
oductions. I recommend that anyone who’s minister merely suggested that we “fast and pray” in response to this verdict, needs to “pack up and leave” and find a better church and a more engaged minister.
I’m thankful that the grace of God hasn’t rendered its final verdict. But as it stands right now, we’re guilty of negligence, the slaughter of social justice and 2nd degree ignorance. Maybe it’s time we file an appeal.
Follow Earle on Twitter at @pastor_earle
Rhetoric Race and Religion
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In