I’m positioning myself as a Note-Taker right now. After all, as discussed in this podcast, I want to be an ally to my brothers and sisters of color. And an ally doesn’t show up and take over. They show up and follow the lead of those who already know what they’re doing.
So, in case you want to take a peek at my notes, here are some things I’m pondering after Charlottesville.
- First, Tasha Morrison – who has so much cred doing the hard bridge-building racial reconciliation work on and offline – telling us what we must do: “Friends when standing against white Nationalist, I need you to use words that condemn racism and white supremacy. Say the name.” No generalizations. White nationalism is diabolical.
- Second, get honest with myself. There are times when I genuinely feel superior to others. This is no different. If we don’t respond with repentance, we will be moving forward with hypocrisy.
- This educational Twitter thread by Brittany Packnett. This is a system, a moving walkway. We have to collectively move against it. And this tweet from Jose Antonio: “Dear Well-Meaning White People Who Want Nothing To Do With Alt-Right: We, people of color, cannot carry this burden. You must engage.” So we engage. Call elected officials, join a non-violent protest, get to know your neighbor.
- Remember our history. This is not okay. This is from the pit of hell.
- And finally – and probably most importantly – we do this in a spirit of non-violence, as agents of the Gospel of Peace. We lay down our lives as we bow to the Ultimate Authority. As Christina Edmonson wrote: “Nothing offends the unrepentant like self-sacrificing non-violence. ‘How dare you not hate me, like I hate you?’ Grace is scandalous.”
Grace is scandalous. Let’s figure out where we are on this walkway, friends. And then let’s not take over. Let’s be like the group of white allies that stands in the front of a people of color’s non-violent protest and says, “You have to get through us to get to them.”