Say I Won't Say Thank You
I watched a video posted by Lecrae on facebook. The tagline was "Say I won't go into this police station and say thank you." It was a young Black male who entered the police station, and simply said "thank you." I think we have forgotten to say thank you. From my own perspective, I am grateful for the law enforcement system that we do have in this country.
When you live in a country for some time with a corrupt law enforcement system, it seams quite simple to appreciate what we have here. It is impossible to promote justice and equality when corruption is so engrained in the system. Laws are usually broken through bribery. No one can actually afford to obey the laws, so bribery is what rules the law enforcement. Many times, the enforcement of law is taken into the people's hands because the actual law enforcement system is unreliable. For example, if someone is caught stealing, those who caught him will beat or flog that individual. We need to remember to say thank you to those working in the law enforcement system, for risking their lives day to day to protect us.
The other day, I was substitute teaching in a kindergarten class. A little boy, who was Black, asked me why my skin is White. I told him it is because my Mom and Dad are both White. Then I presumed to ask him the same question. I asked him why he is Black. And he told me it was because his parents are Black. If only it were that simple. Race is a piece of our society that has suffered deep wounds for hundreds of years. We have tried to cover up these wounds. We don't talk about it. We are careful when we speak of race. We dance around words, trying not to sound "racist."
The Ferguson incident and those that followed have infected these deep wounds. When an entire Nation takes notice of an incident, when protests happen, not just amongst a specific race, but when all walks of life, all races, come together to say "something is wrong," clearly something is wrong. We have a deep history of racial superiority or hierarchy engrained in our social system in this country.
When I went to a slave castle in Ghana, there was a church above the tunnels were Black slaves were kept, waiting for the slave ship to come carry them to America. While they waited in damp, cold, dark tunnels for weeks and months on end, the White people were "worshipping" God directly above them. Racial inequality is not something new. It stems from a painful history.
A common thought I have heard over and over again in response to racial inequality, is that we can clean this wound by listening. We all come from different races and different cultural backgrounds. It is difficult to put myself in someone else's shoes, so therefore, it is important to listen. To listen, to discuss, to ask questions, to observe. It is not easy to understand people's stories who grew up differently than I did. But we can do this by listening, listening to stories of people who are from a different culture, a different race than my own.
After we listen, the challenge is then to do something about it. Which, for many of us, will take us beyond our comfort zones. It will push us into uncomfortable situations. But, God has created us to be uncomfortable. These situations are where we see His glory and His power.
Law enforcement makes mistakes. We live in imperfect world. Injustice happens. We mourn. We mourn for the families who have lost loved ones from encounters with law enforcement. We mourn for police officers who have lost their lives keeping our streets safe. But we need to learn from this situation. We need to listen. We need to say thank you. We need to work together. We need to be uncomfortable, to create a more just society.
When you live in a country for some time with a corrupt law enforcement system, it seams quite simple to appreciate what we have here. It is impossible to promote justice and equality when corruption is so engrained in the system. Laws are usually broken through bribery. No one can actually afford to obey the laws, so bribery is what rules the law enforcement. Many times, the enforcement of law is taken into the people's hands because the actual law enforcement system is unreliable. For example, if someone is caught stealing, those who caught him will beat or flog that individual. We need to remember to say thank you to those working in the law enforcement system, for risking their lives day to day to protect us.
The other day, I was substitute teaching in a kindergarten class. A little boy, who was Black, asked me why my skin is White. I told him it is because my Mom and Dad are both White. Then I presumed to ask him the same question. I asked him why he is Black. And he told me it was because his parents are Black. If only it were that simple. Race is a piece of our society that has suffered deep wounds for hundreds of years. We have tried to cover up these wounds. We don't talk about it. We are careful when we speak of race. We dance around words, trying not to sound "racist."
The Ferguson incident and those that followed have infected these deep wounds. When an entire Nation takes notice of an incident, when protests happen, not just amongst a specific race, but when all walks of life, all races, come together to say "something is wrong," clearly something is wrong. We have a deep history of racial superiority or hierarchy engrained in our social system in this country.
When I went to a slave castle in Ghana, there was a church above the tunnels were Black slaves were kept, waiting for the slave ship to come carry them to America. While they waited in damp, cold, dark tunnels for weeks and months on end, the White people were "worshipping" God directly above them. Racial inequality is not something new. It stems from a painful history.
A common thought I have heard over and over again in response to racial inequality, is that we can clean this wound by listening. We all come from different races and different cultural backgrounds. It is difficult to put myself in someone else's shoes, so therefore, it is important to listen. To listen, to discuss, to ask questions, to observe. It is not easy to understand people's stories who grew up differently than I did. But we can do this by listening, listening to stories of people who are from a different culture, a different race than my own.
After we listen, the challenge is then to do something about it. Which, for many of us, will take us beyond our comfort zones. It will push us into uncomfortable situations. But, God has created us to be uncomfortable. These situations are where we see His glory and His power.
Law enforcement makes mistakes. We live in imperfect world. Injustice happens. We mourn. We mourn for the families who have lost loved ones from encounters with law enforcement. We mourn for police officers who have lost their lives keeping our streets safe. But we need to learn from this situation. We need to listen. We need to say thank you. We need to work together. We need to be uncomfortable, to create a more just society.
Thank you for sharing, Sarah.
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