America on the Brink

Today, under the clamor of our public discourse, there is a silent trail of pain long ignored by churches, its theologians, pastoral care givers, and people of goodwill. Amidst the retrenchment of racial animus and violence, the re emergence of overt racism, and the appalling silence of people we thought were partners and friends, there has been a steady retreat to racialized spaces. Racism has re-emerged and intensified across the nation and individuals and families have faced the cold, hard, and bitter realization that they cannot stay “here” any longer. Where is here? Here are those multiracial and integrated spaces created after the collapse of Jim Crow. What happened? Black people (and white people of goodwill) have had their eyes opened to the realization that this country has not made the progress we thought. We have been surprised by the silence of white friends as white supremacist and white nationalist groups parade themselves openly in our streets and recruit others to their cause. We have been disappointed by the refusal by white friends to speak out against police brutality and injustice in the criminal justice system when one “not guilty” verdict is followed by another. We also felt betrayed by white evangelicals for supporting a presidential candidate who ran on a racially charged platform of “Making America Great Again.” Then, there is the grief we feel as we observe the spectacle of strife and violence that has engulfed our nation. Social media feeds and the news report the collapse of a society where being “in Christ” and a citizen of a country where people are believed to be “endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights” meant that we could transcend the power of racism. In the wake of such profound loss, we do not have space to grieve. This is the time in which we live, a time of neglected grief that is a part of the fuel to the rage engulfing this nation. A Painful Period of Silence and Betrayal What happened that led to deep breaches in interracial friendships, relationships, churches, businesses, and other networks? During the decades of the nineties and into the first decade of the twenty-fist century, white Christians were talking a lot about racial reconciliation. There was the “miracle in Memphis” and the Promise Keepers Movement in the nineties. Denominations like the Southern Baptist Convention issued apologies for their support of slavery and racism. Numerous books were written on reconciliation and the church’s troubled history around such issues as a new generation seem resolved to correct the sins of the past and build a better future. But something changed. In 2008, Barack Obama became the 44 th president of the United States. Obama was the first African American president and his ascension to the White House unleashed a new wave of racial hate. Many people wanted to believe America had entered a new era where of the old evils of racism were finally behind us. We were wrong. When some semblance of a new day dawned, black Americans were surprised how many of their white brothers and sisters were not happy about it. In fact, they were angry and resentful.

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