Tag: Black lives Matter

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A Nice Hill To Die On

Millennials are terrible at picking causes. We just throw our attention and energy into the next cause that walks by, because we have been fed the idea that all causes are important. This is entirely understandable. There are so many things marketing to our desires and ideals. Even good social movements use viral marketing and attention-grabbing techniques, trying to persuade us that they’re worth our blood, sweat, and tears. It’s hard to discern what’s worthwhile for a generation that desires to make real change in the world. We are driven and compassionate, and we want to change our broken systems, broken politics, and broken ecology. We wish we could change it all.

Someone once told me to think carefully about what hill I want to die on. By this, they meant, “You only die once; where would you be satisfied dying? What would be okay to sacrifice for?” This metaphor provides some much needed perspective on decision making. There are many things I disagree with in my environment, but I have limited energy and time to change those things. Finding the right hill to die on is important.  

Our generation has a tendency to choose causes poorly. Therefore, I want to leave you with a few things to keep in mind when you select a cause to champion.

First, keep in mind that not all causes are created equal. A Kickstarter campaign to make a giant potato salad and Black Lives Matter are about as different as campaigns can be. One changes lives and the other changes a moment on the Internet. There is no comparison. This is why Black Lives Matter makes history and a supermassive potato salad does not.

Second, apathy is a trap which deeply believing Millennials can easily step into. Taking part in too many causes wears down our ability to care. We only have so much energy for caring, and if we join too many causes that caring energy will soon be depleted. This is how being human works. No one wants an apathetic supporter. In fact, apathy will discredit the importance of the cause. Don’t become a part of something you don’t fully believe in. If you don’t fully believe in it, it’s simply not the hill for you.

The third thing to consider when choosing a cause is whether the cause hurts people. How many people are being hurt by the words and actions of that cause? Think about it long and hard. Is it worth it? If you do join a cause that hurts people, don’t expect those who are hurt by you to understand your actions. Don’t expect anyone outside of that cause to understand. Never put your causes before people, even if it seems like those causes are for people. Find a better solution.

Finally, keep in mind that making no decision is still a decision. You’re still giving an answer. Saying nothing is most definitely saying something. Choosing to not participate in a cause shows others that you don’t value something. This is not a call to reject all causes. On the contrary, the drive to change things in the world may be the single best attribute of the Millennial generation. I want to encourage you to find something bigger than yourself to pour into and to make better. It would be such a waste to be divided and disconnected. So please, be thoughtful and real and find a hill where you can firmly plant your roots and grow into someone who changes the world.

Ian is a senior majoring in communication and theology.

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Let’s Talk About Whiteness

Race is on our minds. The Black Lives Matter movement has brought Afro-American interests to our cultural consciousness, especially ones relating to our police force and courts. Some people are not a fan of this movement’s ideas or practices, and have tried to instead bring “All Lives Matter” or “Blue Lives Matter” to the forefront. Meanwhile, the recent election highlighted an important political line in the sand; that is, between white people (who made up a huge majority of votes for the Republican Party) and people of color (a huge majority of whom voted with the Democratic Party). Of course, race is sometimes an uncomfortable topic, and these things can be hard to talk about. However, in my experience, an important part of these discussions is left out far too often: whiteness.

Photo by: Nate Moore
Photo by: Nate Moore

It is widely accepted that racial categories, including that of “white,” are arbitrary distinctions that are sociocultural, not biological. Still, race is real. That is, since we all perceive people to be of different races (“black”, “white”, “Asian”, “Hispanic”, etc.) and treat them as such, it is an undeniably real part of each person’s experience of their life. More than that, we are all socialized by mass media, public education, and even each other to think and act like others of our race.

Many people of color I have spoken to about race can speak deeply and eloquently about their experience as a member of their race. For example, one black person I have known for years has many stories from her life that she uses to describe her own racially defined life. She shares them with humility, hoping to help people of other races to understand what it’s like to be a black woman in America. This is the case with almost all of the people of color I have close relationships with: they know what it means that their lives are racialized.

In contrast, I know very few white people who can do the same. For some reason, something in common with nearly all of the white people in my life is that they think and talk very little about their own racial experiences. This is a problem.

There are many things that white people have in common. White people all tend to have a Euro-centric view of the world, Germanic-Latin first and last names, similar hair and beauty products. Personally,  it’s rare for strangers to be afraid of me, or for law enforcers (police officers, judges, security guards, etc.) to be suspicious of me. In fact, I’m automatically trusted in almost every context. I suspect this is also true for the white people reading this. As members of an individualistic culture that originally came mostly from individualistic cultures, it is easiest for us to see how we are each different. In reality, however, sharing a racial category gives us many experiences in common, for better or worse.

These experiences, and many others, have socialized us into a white worldview, one which is full of contradictions. We have been taught that American history is mostly the positive history of white Americans discovering land, creating many things (including democracy, airplanes, and nuclear weapons), and upholding freedom. Meanwhile, we all but ignore the fact that white Americans have consistently enslaved, murdered, deported, and imprisoned Americans of other races. We as white people live mostly in segregated communities and attend mostly segregated churches, and still think we are objective in our analyses of racial issues. We worry about Muslim terrorists, without doing much about white supremacists. The list goes on. White people, myself included, cannot help but see things most easily from a white point of view. We need to recognize and discuss whiteness for this reason.

michaelquoteIn suggesting that we talk more about whiteness, I definitely do not suggest that we move the focus of every conversation about race onto white people. In many cases, that sort of “but what about me/us/white people?” is distracting and unhelpful. I am simply suggesting that whiteness is an important aspect of American culture that we must confront.

So what, realistically, should white people do? We can spend time reading and listening about the life experiences of people of color – there is much about this online – and comparing it to our own. We can talk with one another about ways that our whiteness leads us to believe partial truths (as all racialized people experience to varying degrees), and humbly ask people of color to speak truth in love.

Historically, whiteness has largely been used (and continually redefined) in America to separate “white” from “non-white” in very concrete ways (e.g. “master” from “slave”, “legal citizen” from “illegal immigrant”, “nice schools” from “bad part of town”). Inheriting whiteness from those who have gone before leaves white people with a great responsibility: leaving a better legacy than the ones who gave us the name. We can only do that if we know exactly what it means to be white.

Michael is a senior applied design and visual communication major.

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Hunter Gregory // On Black Lives Matter

When many people think of police officers, they think of violence, hate, and racism. When I look at my father and all of the other officers I grew up around, I see humility, compassion, and courage. I see men and women of all races and backgrounds leaving their families and risking their lives to protect their communities only to be met with curses, protests, and sometimes even murder. I do not support Black Lives Matter (BLM) because it targets honorable people like my father by turning a bullet of self-defense into a racial issue. This not only increases the racial divide in our country, but also leads to a detrimental lack of respect for law-enforcement.

Photo by: Nate Moore
Photo by: Nate Moore

BLM claims to be a peaceful movement, and this idea is even backed by our president. The title of the movement is rather clever. After all, no one would want to say black lives don’t matter, right? Even I was hesitant to openly say I didn’t support the movement with the impending label of “racist” looming over my head. That is, until the Dallas police shootings. That night left my family in tears, fearing for my dad’s life who was to work a BLM protest the following day. We could picture ourselves in the place of those families who lost a father. This event was followed by several other shootings and mass protests claiming to be avenging the losses of young black men at the hands of corrupt and racist officers.

How legitimate are the BLM claims against police? Some claim most of the fatal cop shootings this year have targeted African-Americans. This is simply not true, since 54% of these shootings were at whites as of July (according to the Washington Post). People would still argue that the ratio of black deaths to the black population is still proportionally biased, but these numbers still say nothing about crime. Just because someone was shot by a police officer, does not mean the split-second decision was based on race. You can’t prove systematic racism with these statistics or out-of-context accounts or videos.

One of the main factors fueling the anger of BLM toward police is an ignorance of what the job of law enforcement entails. Officers ask people to do certain things (like raise hands, stop moving, get on the ground, etc.) because these ensure the officer, who has a family to return to, is safe. If someone disobeys an officer’s request, he or she, regardless of ethnicity, runs the risk of the officer taking precaution. Of course, an officer’s goal is never to shoot. Not only do they have to go through weeks of investigation and administrative leave after a shooting, but they also wrestle with the guilt of having ended a human life. The use of a gun is serious and is handled seriously each time. In the end, an officer makes the call he or she feels will uphold justice and keep everyone safe. There is no other group more actively fighting for black lives than the police. Of course mistakes are made, sometimes tragic mistakes, but this does not mean that there is systematic racial oppression embedded in our justice system. If anything, the fact that a movement such as BLM can get away with shutting down highways and looting stores and still get “condolences” from President Obama shows that there might be some racial bias, but not in a way that is ever talked about.

BLM isn’t unifying America, but rather dividing us by race. Many white families, especially cop families, now fear large groups of black people. Many black families fear officers and white people in connection with them. Neither one of these fears are Godly. The only one who can fix racial issues is the Holy Spirit, who enables us to love one another. As Christians we should not assume that every social movement is God’s will for justice. We should carefully discern everything so that we do not waste our efforts on endeavors that promote neither love nor Christ’s gospel.

Hunter is a senior music composition major with a minor in Islamic studies.

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Joe Miner // On Black Lives Matter

I am about to make you uncomfortable in three words. Black lives matter. Perhaps you are already prepared to dismiss this article. When I say black lives matter, you envision riots in the streets. You may hear drawn out criticisms of the police in America or you may see a gang of mislead teenagers assaulting an innocent man on a bus or in a store. For a moment, take yourself out of that context. Forget about the civil rights group, forget about the protests, and forget about the debates you partake in on social media. Right now, we’re talking about black lives, and why they matter just as much as the white ones.

Photo by: Nate Moore
Photo by: Nate Moore

You may be thinking, “Black people do matter, just like white people, Hispanic people, orange people and blue people.” And maybe in your mind, they do. Maybe to you, black lives actually do matter. But, let me challenge you with this: if you actually believe that black lives matter just as much as everyone else, then why does no one mourn with the mourning?

When I hear about an unarmed black teen being gunned down, I think about my 12-year-old nephew, and how in a few years, he has the potential to see the same fate as Treyvon Martin saw a few years back. I think about how even though my nephew has a loving family, good grades, and a delightful personality, he could still end up as a statistic on the nightly news. When I see an unarmed black adult being gunned down, I worry for my own safety. I wonder whether or not going to McDonald’s after midnight is worth it.

So why does this matter? It matters because I mourn. I mourn the loss of another minority, and I am saddened over the apathy that much of the church has shown about this issue. It’s not fair that I see more people sharing links on Facebook about God’s Not Dead 2 than I see about the black men and women who die every day. It’s not fair that so much of the church is outraged about something a presidential candidate has said, but not show any compassion to their black brothers and sisters who are stopped and questioned by police for no reason. How is it that we can be outraged by wage increases and hour reductions, but no one cares that many African-Americans are afraid to go to Dollar General by themselves at night?

It would be very convenient if racism no longer existed and if black teens truly had an equal opportunity to live long, healthy lives. It would be convenient if minorities didn’t feel underrepresented and mistreated, and it would be convenient if we could all come to an agreement on social issues. However, Christ never called us to a life of convenience. The Bible shows us how to work through conflict, not avoid it. It teaches us to call out injustice, rather than blindly follow.

In a perfect world, race wouldn’t matter. No one would care who is black or who is white, and no one would have this inner fear and turmoil whenever they saw someone who is darker than them. In a perfect world, young black men would not make up the majority of prisoners in America, but the minority on a college campus. But we live in fallen world where race matters regardless of how much or how little you acknowledge it. We cannot get over race and we cannot simply see past it. No issue is resolved by ignoring it.

So what can you do about it? Stand by the side of your black brothers and sisters here at Houghton. Listen to their hurts rather than assuming that they’re being too sensitive. You do not have to go in the streets and protest. You don’t have to give up your guns or become a raging liberal in order to stand with someone who has been looked down upon by society because of the color of their skin. Don’t let us stand alone to be victimized by a system of oppression. Stand with us to show the world that in the Kingdom of God, there is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, man or woman, and no black or white. Let’s show the grace, kindness, compassion and intentionality that America is unfamiliar with these days.

Joe is a junior communication major with minors in business and Bible.