{"id":45,"date":"2013-03-28T02:33:35","date_gmt":"2013-03-28T02:33:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/?p=45"},"modified":"2013-07-06T16:34:42","modified_gmt":"2013-07-06T16:34:42","slug":"running-from-the-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/?p=45","title":{"rendered":"Running from the Race …"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post started with a commentary in the Minneapolis Star Tribune<\/i> by Brother Ali (a local hip-hop artist \u2026 but, if you\u2019re not into hip-hop, don\u2019t let that lead you to underestimate him; Brother Ali is very wise!).\u00a0 The commentary had to do with the recent arrest of MC Hammer in the Oakland area which, for Brother Ali, touched off a reflection of how racial disparities really have not changed despite the obvious successes of MC Hammer, Bill Cosby, Oprah Winfrey \u2026 now JayZ, Beyonc\u00e9, and Barak Obama.\u00a0 \u201cWould a white person ever need to transcend their race to achieve mainstream greatness?\u201d he asks.\u00a0 (You can read the whole piece here<\/a> … I highly recommend it.)<\/p>\n

Maybe \u201cwe\u201d (meaning \u201cwhite people\u201d) don\u2019t have to transcend our race to be accepted in mainstream society \u2013 after all, we are \u201cmainstream society.\u201d\u00a0 But we do need to transcend it nonetheless.\u00a0 When we just accept racism \u2026 don\u2019t recognize it \u2026 turn our deaf ears and blind eyes away from it, we allow this ugly scourge to perpetuate in our society.\u00a0 Our silent refusal to transcend racism ensures its continuation.\u00a0 That thought drives the rest of this.\u00a0 A couple of things have come across my path since that commentary a few weeks ago.<\/p>\n

\"White-Obama\"<\/a>

If Obama were white …<\/p><\/div>\n

First up was one of those ubiquitous Facebook posters.\u00a0 That this one was shared by only one of my friends was one of the surprises.\u00a0 But perhaps others are as reluctant as I am to share it because of the firestorm that will surely erupt.\u00a0 The poster features this photo-shop version of Barak Obama\u2019s official presidential photo. (I do admit it would have been more effective if the artist had chosen a more age-appropriate white male hairstyle; what\u2019s in the picture is reminiscent of Justin Bieber.)\u00a0 As used in the poster by Occupy Democrats, \u00a0the picture is accompanied by some points as to what would be different in people\u2019s reactions to Obama if he were white and not black \u2013 starting with “there would be no questioning of his birth or his patriotism or his faith.”<\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s true.\u00a0 A lot of the negative reaction that Obama has endured has to do with race.\u00a0 But how can he say that without being accused of self-serving whining?\u00a0 Yet, the examples are many.\u00a0 For example, there was the outburst of \u201cYou lie!\u201d from Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina during the President\u2019s address to Congress on September 9, 2009 (a breach of protocol for which the congressman was subject to a Resolution of Disapproval that passed on essentially a party line vote).\u00a0 There was Arizona Governor Jan Brewer wagging her finger in the President\u2019s face as she \u201cgreeted\u201d (if that is indeed the word) him on the tarmac at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix on January 10, 2012.\u00a0 The President of the United States of America actually had to \u201cshow his papers\u201d because of the endless \u2013 and needless! \u2013 questioning of his birth in one of our 50 states.\u00a0 (To my knowledge, no one has ever questioned that his mother from Kansas was a US citizen \u2026 so does it matter where he was born?).\u00a0 There was Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell explaining that the top legislative priority for Republicans after the election in 2010 would be \u201cto make sure Obama is a one-term president.\u201d\u00a0 (So much for working for the good of the country \u2026)\u00a0 Although there was some criticism about this from some conservative commentators and even some within the GOP, the criticism was quietly and softly done. \u00a0\u00a0In all fairness, there also have been a number of times when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Representative Nancy Pelosi (whether Speaker of the House or House Minority Leader) have presented themselves as though they were ultimately \u201cin charge,\u201c more so than the President.<\/p>\n

Now leaders among the Republicans are claiming the President owes them an apology.\u00a0 An apology for what?\u00a0 For giving Mitch McConnell no other option but to set the President\u2019s defeat in 2012 as a top priority?\u00a0 For yanking the words \u201cYou lie\u201d out of Congressman Wilson\u2019s mouth?\u00a0 For having his black face in front of Governor Brewer\u2019s wagging white finger?<\/p>\n

Or is it for trying to lead?\u00a0 For all that he is the President of the United States \u2026 for all the votes he has won \u2026 for all that he has achieved, he is still a black man.\u00a0 And a black man is automatically inferior to a white man \u2026 to any white person \u2026 or so goes so the subtle (ill)logic of racism.<\/p>\n

But who should say this?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Word<\/a>

Word & World – Winter 2013<\/p><\/div>\n

I was going to keep quiet \u2026 but then some more things happened.\u00a0First, I finished the Winter 2013 issue of World & Word<\/i>.\u00a0 (Here\u2019s the link to that issue<\/a>.)\u00a0 Among the book reviews was Clint Schnekloth\u2019s review of The Cross and the Lynching Tree<\/i> by James Cone<\/a>.\u00a0 I read the book with a group this past summer and I recommend it just as much as Schnekloth does it.\u00a0 To echo Schnekloth: \u201cif you read only one piece of theologically informed nonfiction this year, make it this one\u201d (if you haven\u2019t already).\u00a0 One of the strong points Cone makes in his book is the failure of theologian Reinhold Niebuhr to see the connection between the lynchings so common in those days and the cross that stood at the center of Niebuhr\u2019s ethical thinking.\u00a0 (If you aren\u2019t into books, here\u2019s a link to some YouTube videos<\/a> of Dr. Cone discussing the book)<\/p>\n

We discussed this point in the group with whom I read the book.\u00a0 I wondered if perhaps Niebuhr didn\u2019t say anything because he didn\u2019t really see anything.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t have to.\u00a0 As a white male of privilege, he didn\u2019t have to see all the lynchings \u2013 or even think about them \u2013 unless he wanted to.\u00a0 That\u2019s true of those of us who are white; we do not have to see racism unless we choose to.\u00a0 But when I do look and do see it, it is not my responsibility to say something? Being reminded of Niebuhr\u2019s failure caused me to consider where my own silence might be a similar failure (even if a much smaller in range of impact).<\/p>\n

Then there was the March 16th<\/sup> \u201cGod\u2019s Pause<\/a>\u201d devotion from Luther Seminary.\u00a0 Dr. Paul Sponheim (one of the teachers I am most fond of from my days there) had been writing that week.\u00a0 The devotion for that Saturday was on the spiritual \u201cWere You There\u201d \u2026 and in his brief prayer, Dr. Sponheim used the word lynching<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Since I\u2019ve been working on this post, there have been public comments that the actor cast as \u201cSatan\u201d in The Bible<\/i> miniseries bears some resemblance to Barack Obama.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen the pictures \u2026 and I can see a resemblance.\u00a0 But I\u2019m not sure I would have noticed it myself.\u00a0 What I did notice is that the producers chose a dark skinned actor for the part.\u00a0 Why not a gorgeous dreamboat of a white guy?\u00a0 Why someone who has one of the darkest complexions in the cast?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s racism \u2013 whether we say so or not.\u00a0 I frequently drive by the airport where there are signs all over the place reading: \u201cIf you see something, say something.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019m seeing something here; so I\u2019m saying something.\u00a0 I can be silent no more.\u00a0 Back in the February 20, 2013 issue of The Christian Century<\/i>, Peter Kane (responding to a small news article about petitions for states to secede) wrote in his letter: \u201cThe time is long past to name the behavior of certain members of Congress and their talk radio pals for what it is\u201d [\u201cit\u201d being racism].\u00a0 I agree.\u00a0 And I\u2019m saying so out loud and in public.This is racism.\u00a0 It\u2019s ugly.\u00a0 It does no favors to any of us.\u00a0 Our silence only feeds it.\u00a0 We owe it to mainstream society to transcend it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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This post started with a commentary in the Minneapolis Star Tribune by Brother Ali (a local hip-hop artist \u2026 but, if you\u2019re not into hip-hop, don\u2019t let that lead you to underestimate him; Brother Ali is very wise!).\u00a0 The commentary had to do with the recent arrest of MC Hammer …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events-topics","has-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94,"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions\/94"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maybegoosefeathers.com\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}