I am a sojourner. I grew up in Alabama in the 60s and 70s, during the time of forced bussing. There were around 60 students who were bussed into my suburban middle class high school every day. I am sure most, if not all, of the African American students forced to do so did not want to be there.
I also played varsity basketball and there were four African American students who were part of the teams in those years. They became my friends. But I knew nothing about their lives or their challenges of being black in the American South. I wasn’t even sure where they actually lived. Christmas Eve my senior year, I and a few of my white teammates were invited to one of our black teammate’s home. I was shocked. I had never personally experienced such poverty. I felt uncomfortable, out of place. I was never afraid, just bothered. I knew something was wrong, but it was difficult to define. I look back now and I think that was my small beginning towards understanding diversity.
Now, I am forty years removed from that small step. I am still a sojourner, still learning what I don’t know. I will never fully grasp my white privilege. But it is real. I will never fully comprehend the sense of safety and security I have experienced just because I am part of the majority culture. But it is true.
I serve on an executive team for an effort that is part of a multinational organization. But our American effort is extremely white. There are a handful of ethnic minority leaders within our entity and I am trying to learn from them. They are extremely gracious and patient, but it is not easy for them. They often feel like a bridge that has merely been walked on to peer over into the other side, rather than a conduit for real change. In the past 12 months, we have made becoming an ethnically diverse organization a priority. We have a long ways to go. But we are making progress in understanding.
Last spring our team invited a number of our ethnic minority leaders to Chicago just to listen to their stories. We wanted to hear what it was like to be an ethnic minority leader within the boundaries of our organization. Those may have been some of my quietest days in my personal leadership history. I had nothing to say. I simply listened. There were stories of hurt and pain. There were tears that revealed deep wounds. There were emotions of feeling misunderstood by the majority culture and their culture. There was learning. We also spent a day on the south side of Chicago dipping our toes in the common, natural waters of many African Americans. I was uncomfortable again. I was bothered, but I began to understand why.
I want to invite you into my learning. Let me quickly say how little I know and understand. I still feel very much on the front end of what God wants me to grasp. Here are three things I am learning and one leadership imperative.
Structural Violence There is a literal violence built into some of our American systems that the majority culture knows little of and that people of color know all too well. I heard about it, I saw it, and I could not believe it. But I promise it is real. Some of it is born out of ignorance. Some of it is born out of fear. Some of it is very intentional. Structural violence is when a social structure or social institution may harm people by preventing them from obtaining their basic needs. This can range from basic needs like healthy food and clean water to injustice. There were also real stories of death and mayhem that I chose not to share here. It was the system in place that was the catalyst for harm. This is the breeding ground for classism and racism. This is where ethnic stereotypes are fashioned and applied to all within the same ethnic reality. This is where brutality catches fire. This is where, in some cases, those who are suppose to protect you actually do great harm to you.
Historical Woundedness The events of the last several weeks remind us that we are all prone to rash conjecture. Pundits on both sides offer conviction level opinions about what is “true.” But there is a deeper narrative for the African American community (and most other minority peoples) just below the surface. I work with African American leaders who have been pulled over just because of the color of their skin. Some of them have had different mortgage interest rates quoted to them just because they are black. In one case, I have a friend whose grandmother had her house burned down by the Klan. I have had three different African American men explain to me that they must train their sons to act in a certain way when (not if) police pull them over in their cars. The incidents involving Michael Brown and Eric Garner are tragic and sad in their own right. They are also flash points for a history that has been repetitive and predictable. It is easy to say that people of minority status should just work harder or take advantage of what is provided for them. But there is a real powerlessness that exists and carries deep wounds. The outcome from hard work towards the American Dream is far from certain.
Total Depravity What is also obvious to me is that people are flawed. All of us are broken, and therefore, every system we create breaks down as well. Michael Brown and Eric Garner had records. They were not model citizens and they were known to police before these terrible tragedies occurred. The police officers in both situations over acted in their duties. One over reacted out of perceived fear. Both of them applied way more force than the situation required. They may have been within their legal limits, but their judgment was certainly marred. I know nothing of their motives or their biases. They, too, are broken individuals, as you and I. There is a great need to embrace our depravity if we are to create moments of true understanding. If someone else is always the problem then we will never understand their reality and perspective. That requires grace and mercy for all.
Practice Hospitality This is the leadership imperative. To show hospitality is to create safe space. When you practice hospitality within your home that is what you are doing. You are creating a safe, warm place for others to enter in and enjoy relationship. But leadership hospitality is not bound by the home. A leader can create a safe, hospitable place anywhere they have influence. If you are a majority culture leader reading this post, you have power and influence you will never understand–just by being a majority culture leader. Use your power to create safe space to engage with a leader who does not look like you. Let me suggest how. Invite another leader of color to grab coffee or lunch with you. Ask them what it is like to be them. Ask them what it is like to lead into and within a majority culture context. And just listen. Don’t offer up solutions to what you hear. Don’t counter the narrative you will encounter. Just listen. Listen with your ears and your heart. Listen for elements of the three learning pieces above. Listen! Enter into relationship. Do the same thing again in a few days or a few weeks. And listen some more. This is how you will grow and this is how you will give voice to others.
I read both of the following passages today during my devotional time. The first, in Habakkuk, reflects exactly how I feel. How long–will you not hear–“Violence”–justice goes forth perverted. The second passage in the Psalms was my comfort for the day. There is a God who hears and who is sovereign. He does hear our pleas for mercy. He is just, even when we are not. They both point to the need for a Savior, personally and corporately.
Habakkuk 1:2-4
O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not hear?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
and you will not save?
Why do you make me see iniquity,
and why do you idly look at wrong?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
So the law is paralyzed,
and justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
so justice goes forth perverted.
Psalm 116:1-2
I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
I am a learner along the way. What are you learning?
Be sure and take a look at what my friend Brian Virtue published on The Gift of Hospitality in Multi-Ethnic Contexts.
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