Rev. Ann C. Fox
(508) 992-7081
minister@uufairhaven.org
Unitarian
Universalist
Society of Fairhaven
The Subtleties of Racism
a sermon by Rev. Ann C. Fox
March 8, 2009
I must have been about nine or perhaps ten years old when I chanted, “Eannie, meanie, miney, mo, catch a…..,” and I caught my breath for my beloved Uncle Doug, whose father was from Jamaica, stood close by, so I repeated, “Catch a ninny by his toe, if he squeals, let him go…” and I think you know the rest. I have felt guilty all of my life about what I almost said that day and I have never told anyone about it until this minute. But I also remember thinking at that time: “That was quick thinking!” Perhaps that day was when I decided never to say anything like that ever again. Do you recall in your own life incidents of racism? Words of racism? I believe many of us carry such shameful things deep down.
One of my favorite movies of the 1970’s was “To Sir, with Love”. My favorite Scottish singer was in it, Lulu. I recall that Sidney Poitier was “Sir,” an inner city high school teacher in London. When he cut his finger, Lulu exclaimed, “Ooo, look, it’s red! His blood is red!” It was the innocent ignorance of a school girl. She soon realized what she said was somehow silly. The other kids were fascinated, too, and they laughed uncomfortably. In the end, they came to hold “Sir” in great respect and high affection—thus the then famous song, “To Sir with Love”. How many of you remember that movie (or song)? A movie series on this theme that I recall was “Planet of the Apes”. Remember those? (The reruns are endless!)
Do these things make us racist? Could I be a racist? This is the question Tahar Ben Jelloun’s 10-year old daughter asked him. (Ben Jelloun is a French-Morrocan writer, critic, and poet.) He replied, “Children aren’t usually racist by nature. No one is born racist. If your parents or the people around you don’t put racist ideas in your head, there’s no reason you should become so. But if you’re led to believe that people with white skin are superior to people with dark skin, and if you take this idea seriously, you might have a racist attitude. (Jelloun, p.13) Tahar wrote down his conversation with his daughter and her friends about racism, which he revised with them 15 times. It became famous throughout France, and then here, in the U.S. It is called Racism Explained to My Daughter, published in 1999.
The little girl also wanted to know whether Islam said that racism is okay. Tahar said that the Koran and the Bible were very much against racism. He quoted from the Old Testament, which he called the Torah, when he said, “The Bible says, If a stranger visits you, don’t harm him, he will be for you as one of your countrymen …and you will love him as you love yourself.” (Jelloun, p.33) The Christian Gospels also counsel acceptance of one another as a foundational teaching; this is ironic considering that slavery was institutionalized here when this was an almost completely Christian country.
Sociologists tell us that children in the U.S. become aware of racism towards themselves or others by the age of three, particularly in the Deep South. Even in well-integrated schools, by the time children are in junior high school, their birthday parties are segregated.
Experts tell us that even in these days of a heightened awareness of racism—thanks to the Civil Rights Movement—racism continues primarily because we have not jumped over the final hurdle of confronting the subtle racial barrier of the silence about racism. Some black writers say that this is because of white fear of black rage.
Do you think this is true that whites are afraid of black rage? I became afraid myself as a young woman after attending a student meeting with Black Panthers on Long Island in 1969. The language was foul and intimidating. And it didn’t help that they were waving machine guns around. I am not afraid now but I think that such open dialog could be awkward to say the least.
A few weeks ago, there was a cartoon in the Boston Globe (or the Standard Times). A black man asks a white man, “Can we talk about race?” The white man says, “Oh, sure.” There’s a silence. “Well?” asked the black man. “You first,” said the white man. Eventually, they both walked away. It is difficult to begin such a conversation.
In the last decade, there have been many attempts in our denomination to address racism. There is a UUA curriculum created long ago called “Beyond Categorical Thinking.” It challenges the assumptions we hold about race, class, and sexual orientation. Our UU ministers have held conversations about race in workshops; they were hard to relate to in my view. Perhaps the way the workshops were designed didn’t address racism in a way that was meaningful (or comfortable?) to us. We were supposed to talk about our experience of racism; I hadn’t remembered the story of “Eany, meany miney mo” at that time, or maybe it was deeply repressed within me. Before the workshop, we watched a movie called “The Color of Fear”. We certainly heard what it was like for a black American to live in our society. But, could many of us stand in his shoes? I don’t think so but perhaps watching such movies is a first step in trying.
I may have shared with you once that following 9/11/2001 that both of my dusky-skinned children who were then in their 20’s, were looked at with apprehension, no doubt being mistaken for being of Middle-Eastern origin; their father is East Indian. Since then, my son is always stopped and questioned by airport police unless I am in his car. He has certainly had a lesson in what it must be like for black Americans.
Some sociologists suggest that what is needed is for mixed-race intentional focus groups to meet periodically for several weeks to talk about race. Some groups would go beyond talking and would form problem-solving teams. (Cose, p. 216) Sports teams have certainly shown us how integration works well. Social experiments show clearly that when mixed-race teams work together, they focus on “them and us,” them” being the other mixed-race team. “If we can establish as ‘groupies,’ of being on the same team even artificially and temporarily, that begins to create a foundation on which people can have more personal, deeper discussions and understanding.” (John Dovidio, in Coss, p.241)
Surprisingly, the military has become a shining example of racial harmony. What we are seeing is that when people work together, they get beyond skin color. They get to really know one another as human beings.
The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. precipitated many changes. I graduated from City College of the City University of New York in 1972. By that time, there was a requirement to take a one-credit course in Black Studies. That was where I read Malcolm X and Native Son by Langston Hughes. Poetry and novels by black writers later became part of Basic English literature courses.
The wages of racism have been tragic in our country. Though most immigrant groups have eventually managed to integrate into society, this is not so for black Americans. The statistics show that for the first time in our history, most adults in America’s inner city black ghettos are without work and that was before the economic downturn. Cornel West, in Race Matters, says that we must do a “large-scale public intervention to ensure access to basic social goods, housing, food, healthcare, education, child care, and jobs.” He says, “We must invigorate the common good with a…blueprint that has never existed before.” Perhaps President Obama will make this happen when the economy improves.
My first teaching assignment was in Spanish Harlem and I witnessed first hand the “Black is Beautiful” movement and the beginning of blacks giving a “high five”, which later entered popular culture, as did much of the creative spoken language, and in music, that originated in the black ghetto. This was about the time when one of the first 18 black ministers entered our denomination. His name is Mark Morrison-Reed. I hope you will read his story called “True to My Lineage” in the UU World magazine that you probably received last week if you are a member. He grew up in an integrated UU church in Chicago. Mark recently retired after 26 years in parish ministry. I met him when he and his wife were co-ministers of the Toronto UU church. He now writes and conducts worship services and workshops that focus on racism. He clearly creates a comfortable space for this to happen. Perhaps we’ll have Mark speak here sometime. Meanwhile, perhaps we’ll show here the movie “The Color of Fear”.
The Bible counsels us to love our neighbor as ourselves and most of our seven principles call us to leap over this hurdle of racism. For some time now, I have wondered what it would be like for us to join together with a black organization in the area to work on a social justice project. There is the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church in New Bedford and also the NAACP. We would get to know them as human beings, perhaps even friendship would grow from it. What do you think? Could we do such a project? How many of you would like to do a project with these organizations. (Dear Reader, Most of the congregation raised their hands.)
The very least we can do is to begin a conversation on racism, perhaps as a result of watching The Color of Fear. In the conclusion to his book Racism Explained to My Daughter, Tahar Ben Jelloun says, “The fight against racism begins with language….It’s not enough to take offense to racist language or behavior. We have to speak up, never allowing a racist remark to pass.” Even Barack Obama took his own black minister to task for racist language. I hope you will read his entire speech where he talks extensively about Rev. Wright. I’ve put a few copies of it on the Information Table in the hallway. As if to assuage my guilt over my “Eany meany miny mo” slip up, in adulthood I have always spoken out clearly but gently whenever I heard a racist or prejudiced remark. I owe it to my children and to all children and also to be in integrity with our principles. Perhaps you do as well. May we have the courage and strength to be the person we were born to be before the culture got hold of us.
References
Cose, Ellis. Color Blind: Seeing Beyond Race in a Race-obsessed World, New York, N.Y.: HarperCollins Publishers, 1997.
“Racism Still Exists,” an article by Halford H. Fairchild, in Racism, Current Controversies, Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press: 2004.
West, Cornell. Race Matters. Boston: Beacon Press,1993.
© The Rev. Ann C. Fox