In this series I’m exploring how Words and Story define and impact how we live our lives, see our culture, and tell our history. Winston Churchill is attributed with saying “History is written by the victors.” That may or may not be entirely true. What certainly is true is that those in power put their own ‘spin’ on the way history is told. And the powerful can ban, erase, cover up, or ‘put a spin’ on parts of history.
Banning books is one way that the power structure works to
preserve the ‘proper’ societal history. Books like To Kill a Mockingbird,
Catcher in the Rye, The Giver, and even Harry Potter are just a few
books banned regularly. Even parts of the Bible have been banned at times.
We don’t have to look far to discover places where history
has been re-written or to use a current term ‘cancelled’. (see the graphic from
Facebook showing some ways truth is ‘cancelled’) Sometimes these come to light.
In the last few weeks, buried (literally) parts of the total, real and messy, parts
of history have emerged into the headlines. The anniversary of the Tulsa Race
Massacre of 1921 and the discovery of over 200 children buried on the grounds
of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia both
highlight how much of the total Story of our broader culture is barely known,
or not known at all.
The destruction of a Black community on a pretext, the incarceration
of Japanese-Americans during WWII, the treatment of migrant farm workers, the legacy of multiple Indian Schools
that attempted to eradicate Native culture are just a few of the stories that
have been buried, re-written, and covered up.
These are parts of the cultural story that must be heard
and honored. These stories cannot be dismissed as ‘just the Native
American’ or ‘just the African American’ Story. They are a raw and horrible
part of the White Story in North America, too long hidden and denied. “White
privilege” and power have succeeded in cancelling many of these stories from
our cultural identity and our history books. We cannot claim to love our
neighbor if we do not listen to her story, to his experience, to their history,
and to our cultural impact on their story and history and culture.
Yes, it is painful. Until the boil is lanced, and the poison
drained, the abscess will continue to fester and cause harm. We have to broaden
our definition of Story to hear the voices of the Indigenous, the African, the
Muslim, the Hispanic, the LGBTQ+, all who are unseen and disenfranchised in
some way. Each of us has a story to tell and really hearing one another will
enrich our understanding of who we are as co-residents of not just the USA, but
of the world.
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know where to start. I just know it needs to be done. It is so much easier to keep our head down, or even buried in the sand, than to look at the disparities, the hidden truths, and to listen to another. We may feel fearful or defensive or even in denial about what we hear. I also know God can help us listen with Love and be open to learning. Last week I suggested talking to a shut-in friend about their real lived experience now that we have lived a year of being virtually shut-in, too.
My chat surprised me, because the woman I thought had been living in isolation had, in reality, been able to gather with a couple other people who had already been exposed to COVID. I guess that's a lesson in not trying to tell someone else's story for them... The way to build up community and combat a 'cancel culture' is to really stop and listen to each other. Our true stories are so important.
Maybe if we start small, with friends we know who have lived
with racial issues, we can start to learn by listening and begin to understand,
or at least empathize. Susan Goldberg, editor of National Geographic
magazine notes, “these complicated [race] conversations [are] everywhere—across
dinner tables, at workplaces, in civic and faith organizations, and even with
ourselves.”
One part of this conversation, highlighted by Canon Jan Cope
in her June 6 sermon at Washington National Cathedral, is the Race Card project. For over a decade, author Michelle Norris has invited people to share
‘six words on race’. So far, more than 500,000 have responded from across the
country and world. Norris told National Geographic, “I had no idea that
there were so many people who were so eager to talk about race and identity
that they would share their thoughts with a stranger.” The comments are
thought-provoking and span more than just African or Indigenous racism. You may want to take a moment to read through some of them.
Goldberg concludes her National Geographic article by asking, “So, what’s my race card? This is a hard exercise, but reflecting on the difficult past year, on our fraught politics, and so many conversations I’ve had with friends and colleagues, for now I’ll leave it at this: “White, privileged, with much to learn.”” I can relate to Goldberg’s words.
“Listen with Love, Hear with Understanding” might be my six words. What are your six words?
