I'm (Still) All In

Last night I was honored to be a part of an event here in Charles County called: I'm All In, Creating an Atmosphere for Human Dialogue. It was a gathering of people from our part of the world who are concerned about the cycle of racism, prejudice and violence that is producing a rather lengthy list of martyrs to what Jim Wallis called America's orignial sin.  It was pulled together in a very short period of time by the director of our local community action group and her band of merry helpers.  It was a gut reaction kind of evening.  Things did not go according to plan despite the best laid plans of mice and men.  They had a panel discussion and budgeted each speaker with three minutes or less.  I was asked to be a panelist, and I was rather honored to do it.  They had several black clergy representing various shades and age groups, along with me, police officers (both of whom were white, but represented both town and state police), a black State's attorney, it had a couple of police officers wives (who were also business women)  and educators (one black, one white, both women). The goal of the panel was to give a cross section of the community and represent different experiences and approaches to the issue.  Not much guidance was given about what to say, so there was quite a range of responses.
I will say that the time limit had me nervous, I've grown sort of accustomed to a more extemporaneous style of preaching, where I do the work in manuscript preparation and then sort of use that as a cloud of ideas which then precipitates what I say on Sunday morning.  But this was not preaching, this was public speaking of a different sort, so I spent the better part of Monday and Tuesday going over my remarks like I used to back in Seminary.  I got it down to three minutes, give or take a dramatic pause or two.  I felt a little like the only kid in class who did their homework, because all the other panelists just got up and talked, most of them blew three minutes out of the water.  I'm not bitter about that, I was blessed by most of what was said, I'm just explaining to my usual crowd, if they watch the video that Lifestyles put up, (its about an hour and half long, I speak at around 39 min. mark) why I'm the only nerd reading from a binder.  Also to let you know that, unlike my sermons, the audio and the text are actually pretty close.  Here's what I said:

First, I would like to confess something: I am privileged.  I did nothing to earn this privilege, other than being born a white man in America. I have come to see that a mark of such privilege is to be able to absolutely take for it for granted. For a long time, I thought it was enough to speak of the virtues of equality, and to do my best to live without prejudice. I truly believed that equality is there to be grasped by anyone, but that was and is a lie.

I am here this evening to speak about this lie. I speak as a pastor, and a follower of Jesus Christ, who calls me to always stand on the side of the oppressed. A prophetic voice of the last century, Howard Thurman, pointed out how often Christianity in general and specifically American Christianity has failed to help those who stand with their backs against the wall.  I do not want to continue that tradition, so I am here to use my privilege and my voice, and also to open my ears and heart to all of you.

I am here for more worldly, personal reasons as well. My two nieces and three nephews have not been born into the same privilege as I was, they are biracial. I am here for my niece who, at 15 feels the need to straighten her beautiful curls to look a certain way, in short, more white.  Far be it from me to tell a 15 year old girl what to do with her hair, but the reason behind it makes my heart ache. I am here for my nephew who is about to turn thirteen next week, and who is entering the world of adolescence, en-route to adulthood with brown skin, and I am deeply concerned for him and for my other nephews when they follow him.  Tamir Rice could have been my nephew, in the brotherhood of humanity, in fact, he was.  Which leads me to my own children. A world that is wracked by fear, hatred and violence is not what I want for them.  Unless I do everything in my power to speak for those who have their backs against the wall, I am leaving the world impoverished for my children, your children, all of our children.

I am not here to blame police officers, I truly believe that the solution starts with them. They need our support.  They need better training, they need more resources and they need to be empowered to truly know the communities they “protect and serve.” The police and retired police that I know are truly good people, some of the best in fact. They deserve to be safe, they deserve to be given all that they need to do their job well, but I believe that means much more than guns and body armor. We have to stand with them as they strive to rise to the level of being true representatives of law, justice and peace.

We have to come to our collective senses, recognize the reality and the depth of the problems.  The problem of racism, inequality and separation go back to our very foundations as a nation, it didn’t just start in Ferguson or Baltimore last year. The movement for civil rights is not a lesson from our history books to be learned during black history month, about Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, it is ongoing. It is a work of each generation to take up the cause, and we must be those people. I hope tonight we will open some doors and connect with each other as brothers and sisters, as neighbors and members of a community that must approach this problem together.

 My hope is that out of the emotion and energy of last night, our community will draw closer together.  I feel like we just opened a few doors, clicked on a light bulb or two, but I hope the air and light will grow.  There were hundreds of people in attendance last night, which made the task of dialogue towards solutions a bit of logistical nightmare, but that also means there were hundreds of people who left there with thoughts and ideas, maybe just in seed form, that will take time to germinate.  I am praying that the Holy Spirit will continue the work that was begun last night.  As for me, I'm still All In.