When "Not Being Racist" Isn't Enough

There is a phrase I heard once, regarding a show I was in.  The show was called "Homeless: The Musical."  It was an off-color pop-culture humorous look at homelessness in America, and while I only appreciated it for its unique humor value at the time (admittedly, I was more stupid then than I am now) there came a point in the production where the director said he needed to change a line, because it apologized for the show.  "Art doesn't apologize for itself," he said.  And he was right.  It's a large part of why art is necessary in this world - because it doesn't apologize.  It forces us to encounter things - good things, bad things, things we've done right and things we've done wrong, and it doesn't apologize for making us face them.  It glorifies us and shames us, it celebrates us, and humiliates us.  And it should.  Why is this angle important right now?  Why am I bringing it up?  Because this morning I had an idea or two that I am not going to apologize for.

Autumn Leaves

as i went walking in the woods
i saw the leaves on the trees,
heard them rustling in the breeze,
and tried to listen to their voices.

i saw their many colors,
reds and yellows, ochres and umbers,
greens and scarlets, chartreuses and siennas,
and thought, 'how glorious this is!"

i reveled in the beauty of so much color,
making a mosaic all its own,
and i felt like it was here just for me,
for i saw no other creature,
heard no other beast,
and i was consumed inside my head.

the wind blew again,
i listened. 
the rustling leaves had a voice,
a whisper heard between the loud clack of branches hitting one another,
and though i tried to hear, i could not understand the language.

i walked onward,
never giving it another thought.
i appreciated the beauty,
enjoyed the picture,
reveled in my solitude,
and the voices of the dead and dying leaves fell upon my deaf ears.



There are a lot of folks out there contenting themselves with getting by, saying, "This doesn't concern me - I am not racist."  No, you aren't.  Participating in a system that is inherently unfair does not make you racist.  You aren't guilty of that.  There are a lot of others out there who like to paint with a broad brush and say things like, "If you support this or that, then you're racist."  That's not true.  But that does not make those of us who have remained silent "innocent" either. 

It's not enough to "not be racist."  It's not enough to put the problems off on someone else, or to let the law handle it.  We have seen what that leads to.  We have the evidence.  Good people stood by and did nothing but plead with the officer while watching him murder a man.  How many people were there?  Surely, enough to have done something to save a life.  But they weren't racist.  They just did nothing.  In the face of evil - and this act was EVIL - they did nothing.  I understand they were afraid - the cop threatened them and they were afraid and they froze.  How many times have we done nothing because we froze, too?  We pay lip service, but when it comes time to move, we do nothing.

We must do more.  We must be better.  And it's not about "those racist folks need to be better, not me."  No - it's about all of us.  It's about doing something.  All of us.  Donate your time, donate a little money, or some supplies if that's your thing.  (I'll be sharing some of my talents to help raise money for equality causes, for example)Talk to your neighbors.  If you must join a rally, PLEASE BE SAFE AND BE CAREFUL.  We must engage in conversation, share ideas, and work together, and never let up.  You can't do this once and think you've done your part.  It must be a constant thing, and until we do it - until it's always a conversation that we are actively participating in, we will be stuck here, in this place of anger and injustice. 

Actively pursue this like everything else.  For example, it's not enough to say "I am a Christian" and not actively pursue it.  Or "I am a nurse," and not pursue this.  We cannot say that we are free in this country, or that we have equality and not pursue it.  All of us, all the time.

I'm sure some folks hate this.  I'm OK with that.  We have to be ok with that.  We have to be ok with making people a little upset.  We SHOULD be upset that we still haven't figured out how to get this right.  I'm not sorry.

Thanks for reading.
Me