VCC Magazine Spring 2019

Publisher’s Introduction to “Race and Reconciliation” issue By David Bailey A special thanks to each person who contributed to this issue. Powerful words and phrases jump out from the articles on the subject of race and reconciliation. Here are just a few, and I have added some from other sources. Each quote offers a seed of thought. Let us see where they lead: • There cannot be reconciliation without equality. • All people have inalienable rights endowed by their Creator. • Most (in South Africa) believed that justice was a prerequisite for reconciliation. • Reconciliation happens only when hearts open to those who have held to irreconcilable differences. • I would wager that very few of us – regardless of race – can boast of perfect pasts, absolutely clean of racial slur, insensitive remark, or ill-conceived comedy. • Virtually any Southerner born in the 1950’s or 60’s who is not now positively racist will have chosen to reject the attitudes that dominated the South during his or her youth • The hope that we will continue doing things to repair and reconcile the brokenness ingrained in a country built on the enslavement and legal discrimination of millions of Africans for centuries. • Reconciliation will come when your story is as important to me as I desperately want mine to matter to you. • Martin Luther King was far more than a dreamer; he was an intellectual, an activist, a minister, and a Christian prophet whose legacy can help us fight this new wave of hate. • I hope that, as a society, we do not waste the opportunities this discussion presents. • There must be sacrifices made in order for any true aim to bring us all together. • Reconciliation is the process by which groups taking different stands settle them in an amicable fashion. • Everything changed, when I was finally allowed to go into “the colored section.” • What reconciliation does not do: make life fair. Nothing makes life fair. • After listening comes the action. • Virginians should look beyond personal preferences, biases, and egos to join together in a common cause to rebuild and strengthen personal relationships, neighborhoods, and communities. • I have faith that we can make the tough choice-to tackle our history head on and move forward together to heal and reconcile. • Over 50 years ago, Dr. King noted that the arc of the moral universe is long and bends toward justice. I would add, however, that it takes a little help from all of us. So I ask you: what are you going to do to help bend that arc so it doesn’t take another generation before it actually reaches justice. I, like you, have stories to tell. I’m willing to talk about growing up with loving, Christian, racist parents. I’d like to talk about the experiences that changed me. Above all, I want to listen to your stories. Let’s talk. Then, as Rabbi Moline said, “After sitting down to listen, stand up – and get to work.”

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Virginia Capitol Connections seeks to add to both dialogue and action through this and subsequent issues in our 25th anniversary year. Send comments to the publisher: DBailey@CapitolSquare.com .

V irginia C apitol C onnections , S pring 2019

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