The Dumbfounding Rise of What We Thought We Were Better Than
At an NCAA Women’s Basketball Regional, the University of Utah team was getting pelted with so many racial slurs that they changed hotels. News reports said that the athletes feared for their safety.
What we thought we had grown past had grabbed hold of our ankles and worked its way into our lives and our language. Racism is as firmly planted in our culture today as the Celtics are planted in the Boston Garden. In the freedom of our nation, many have felt the freedom to be racists, sexists, and uncontrollably nasty.
Interestingly, this topic came to me today on the 56th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. It wasn’t planned that way…or maybe it was, but not by me! Dr. King paved the way for what we should have already known: Everyone has value and should be treated with respect.
Recently, at our middle school, the principal has talked to all of the students about the rise of racial slurs during the school day. Things said at a lunch table that is meant to get a reaction have done just that—a bad reaction! Many will look at those situations and think, “Kids will be kids.” Actually, Kids will be reflections of their culture. What they experience around them at home, in media, in music, and in things said in casual conversations get soaked into their minds.
We thought we were better than that. We thought we had evolved. We were wrong. One of the main ingredients in our cultural stew of chaos is racism. It pours salt in the wounds, spice into heated situations, and leaves a bad taste in the memories of those affected.
Although segregation has been outlawed, it still exists. Judgments are made based on a person’s ability, intelligence, and competence based on their skin color or background. It’s nothing new. Going back to Genesis 46, when Joseph brought his family to Egypt, he asked the Pharaoh if they could settle in the region of Goshen, “…for all shepherds are detestable to the Egyptians.” (Genesis 46:34)
The Apostle Paul made a sweeping statement in his letter to the churches in the region of Galatia. In Galatians 3:28, he said:
“There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.“
We are to see each other with equal regard. Such words, however, lost their meaning in a historical period of minimizing. As we sink deeper into the racism abyss, the meaning of the bracelet that many of us wear or wear…WWJD…What Would Jesus Do?…is clouded in a fog that leaves us guessing.
And so, a group of college women’s basketball players, 18 to 23-year-olds from a variety of backgrounds, races, and nationalities, feared for their lives even though all they were doing was eating dinner together in a restaurant.
That’s messed up!
Explore posts in the same categories: Uncategorized
Words from WW Blog 
Leave a comment