It's one of those things we just don't talk about enough. The racist past of my church, my state, my country. Not to mention the current racism that exists in all those places.
Growing up in the deep South, Mississippi, I was aware of slavery...I was aware of our ugly history of lynching and human rights violations... I was aware of segregation, forced in the past and the current cultural kind. The whole thing made me sick. How could these things happen? How could anyone justify the things they did or watched happen? I thought, "I'm not that way, not in the least bit." I would get indignant at any over racist statements and try to call people out on them. Although I thought myself more progressive than our prior generations, I was living in the bubble of a private Catholic school where black kids my age were easy to befriend and popular. We grew up with a black housekeeper who kept our home two days a week and we loved. Outside that bubble, there was anger and prejudice in my community. There was racism mixed with poverty, cultural barriers between blacks and whites, and fear.
When I went to college, my surroundings changed significantly. Overnight, I was around well-educated and intelligent people of all races/ethnicities all the time, compared with the desperate poverty and racial divides I saw in my hometown growing up (like black-only neighborhoods). Basically, everyone was similar to me. At the same time, I started an in-depth and wider education of disparity and differences (which continues today and largely drives all that I do in my community). It changed my perspective. When I returned home for breaks, I noticed it...My own racist thoughts...I saw that I looked at blacks differently there than I did in college. Not necessarily mean, but just dismissive. Like the thought, "Of course I don't know them. We're not the type of people that talk to each other." My black friends in college were just more like me, so it was no problem to talk and bond. With the majority of blacks in my hometown, I just didn't talk with them on that level. The whole realization caused me to reexamine my personal issues with race, the ones taught to me by society, by oft-repeated prejudiced statements, by the media. Today, I do not say I am not racist, I say that I am always trying to become better and leave my judgements of others behind. It is a constant process.
As I learn more about my country's racist past in bits and pieces, I am appalled. Recently, we've watched a documentary about the Freedom Riders and The Help, and I read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - all amazing and striking a personal chord in my heart. Slavery has lead to an awful cascade of social, emotional, and financial repercussions for black Americans ever since its inception. How can non-blacks judge black Americans without having the same knowledge of institutionalized and overt racism that they deal with their whole lives, and to a higher degree in the South? It makes my head spin to think of it. My life as a middle class white American woman just isn't the same.
When I learned about the LDS church's racist past, particularly the banning of people of African descent from the priesthood and the temple, I was troubled. I learned about it a little at a time, most striking from this article and this podcast. Both are highly recommended! I believe that podcast inspired me to be more honest about these type of issues, and opened my eyes to what it is like to be a black Mormon.
Within the church, we don't talk too much about our former race-based theology, and outside the church, lots of folks tend to cite this theology like a gut-punch. I think it is something we can (and likely should) educate ourselves on, to ensure that it isn't repeated and just for the sake of honest discussions and healing.
The up-to-1978 priesthood ban has been in the news lately. A well-liked religion professor at BYU made some speculative and demeaning statements in the Washington Post, sparking bloggernacle threads to light up. The LDS Church quickly made a statement denouncing his remarks. Online, there have been calls for a disavowal and denouncement of the ban itself, and many folks talking about their reactions to the current discourse. Noteably, Joanna Brooks released a beautiful blog post incorporating her own scholarly study of racism and its harm. I was also touched by Sistas in Zion, who responded with honesty and forgiveness to Bott's hurtful statements.
It is another layer. It is sad to learn about the church I love with a dirty past regarding racial equality, and it is sad still to see these dirty mindsets persist in some leaders and older generations. Would things change if a official disavowal was made? I think the church's statement this past week was a step in the right direction.
I do have hope, that hope grows as we continue to have frank and open discussions about how to heal and purge out personal and institutional racism. How will we know it still exists if we don't ever talk about it?
2 comments:
We have a book that I think you'd like. It's called, Thoughts and Reflections of a Black Mormon, by Keith N. Hamilton. Would you like me to send it? It has great insight into his life and how he feels about the gospel pertaining to the pre-1978 restriction on the priesthood.
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