I was alerted to the news in Charlottesville yesterday afternoon, and I have been thinking about my own response. I think that it is almost too easy to blame neo-nazis and white supremacists for this horrific violence and hatred. They are a pretty easy target. And while overt racism is obviously alive and well, I find it important to search out my own part in the pain of humanity.
In 4th grade, I was already super interested in history. It was around that time that Ken Burns documentary on the Civil War came out, and I remember sitting and watching it with my dad. I found myself amazed at the military capabilities of Robert E. Lee. The guy was a military genius. That year I had to do a report on a famous American, and I chose Lee. I even dressed up like him in full confederate garb for my report. In my small, rural, almost exclusively white elementary school, nothing could have been less controversial.
It was an innocent ignorance. There was no hatred in my heart, no connection in my mind to inherent racism, and that I know of, no one personally offended.
But things change. I grew up, my worldview expanded, I met more and more people of color, and I began to understand the deep wounds still carried by today's generation. I began to see that innocent ignorance can be as painful to someone as intentional ignorance. I sought to have more and more conversations with people who had a broad range of life experiences, so that I could better empathize and remove the possibility of "simply not knowing" that what I say or do could cause someone pain.
So when Charlottesville decided to remove the statue of Lee from their town, 4th grade me would have been confused. But today I see and know that while it may stand for some as a symbol of military genius or honoring forefathers, for many more it is a reminder that a nation was willing to go to war to defend its right to oppress and hate enslaved people of color. And so we have to reconcile that our past selves may have caused both intended and unintended harm. That the right of another to not be exposed to hatred and violence is stronger than our desire to keep the status quo. And that the same Jesus we are going to worship this morning walked right through the land of Samaria where he was unwanted and unwelcomed, and it was there that he healed and had conversations with those who were on the opposing side. white evening dresses
Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Let us go and be light.