I haven't blogged in a very long while ... there are a multitude of reasons for that ... but this weekend, I was honoured to be asked to preach at the Sunday Gospel Service that was part of the Emancipation Festival in Owen Sound.
As a white over-middle aged male, it was a humbling privilege to speak in such a context, and the topic I chose to preach on was racism ... I used the words of my colleagues, The Reverends Adam Kilner and Paul Walfall, both articulate, passionate and deeply committed activist preachers who dare to envision a world free of the many ism's than run amock in our society.
The following are my written reflections delivered in the Barn at Grey Roots Museum ... my actual spoken words differ slightly because that's just what happens:
Opening Prayer
Let us pray.
You, whose love is reigning over us,
come
sit with us awhile
and
sow seeds of unity
deep
within the soil of this earth.
God, we are earth-dwellers
whose
story is that we
are
human clay,
sculpted
from the earth itself.
One day we shall return to the earth,
just
as our ancestors have.
Today we stand on complicated land.
Land originally stewarded by Indigenous peoples.
Land colonized by British settlers.
Land on which ex-slaves from the United States
would
later build their lives.
To slaves in the United States
this
land, Canada, was called
“The
Promised Land”
evoking
that “land flowing with milk and honey”
described
to Israelites enslaved in Egypt
longing
for a place to live as free people.
Come and sit with us
O Holy One,
as we pause to remember those who lie
in this place.
Sit with us as we
recall their lives, their stories, their community.
Sit with us as we
give thanks for this place and this people
And the stories they have still to
tell.
In our remembrance
may there be a commitment to fulfill that hope
of the Promised Land, the land flowing
with milk and honey.
From the roots that
run deep beneath this sacred ground,
nourish our tomorrows, and fill us
with joyful hope
as we strive to build the land that
those who lie here longed for
Sit with us, and work
with us as we arise seeking to change the world
by sharing our faith, our hope
and the stories of those who would
otherwise be forgotten …
Thanks be to you O
God for this time and place and this people.
Bless us in the work we have before
us,
and walk this journey with us
as our brother and our friend. AMEN.
I asked my colleague and
friend, The Reverend Adam Kilner to help me with a year ago with the service at
the Durham Rd Cemetery near Priceville by composing tha prayer that I just used - Adam is a dynamic,
passionate and intelligent young black United Church preacher in Sarnia, and is
beyond driven when it comes to lifting up the awareness of Afro-canadian issues
within the United Church. He happens to be running for the NDP in his Federal
Riding this fall as well …
A year ago, when the
General Council of the United Church of Canada met for the 43 meeting, Adam was
one of the voices coming from the black caucus of ministers challenging us to
see the systemic racism that is part of our nation, our communities, our
churches, and sadly often without even realizing it – ourselves.
Adam wrote much of the
prayer we began with, and as part of what was a much longer prayer offered the
following:
… Canada, too, had been a place of slavery
for
two centuries prior to 1833,
when
the British Empire abolished it.
Former slaves would come to Canada
with
only the clothes on their backs
and
immediately have to face the harsh
Canadian
winters.
Those who found work in Canada
often
weren’t paid enough to replace
all
of the clothing and items they left behind
when
they were enslaved.
In the 1830s Blacks were generally
welcomed
into Canada
but
in the 1850s fear arose within the mainstream population
of
Canada.
Newspapers printing racist opinions of Whites
about
Blacks.
School systems being used to claim
that
Black children are inherently the least
intelligent
of all the races.
In 1941 the United Church of Canada
ordained
its first Black minister,
yet
couldn’t find a church
to
welcome him.
In 1943 Dresden native Hugh Burnett
informed
the Justice Minister
that
a Black person in uniform
still
could not be served in any restaurant
in
that town.
He was shocked by the Deputy Minister’s reply
“stating
that racial discrimination was not illegal in Canada.”
The prevailing attitude among Canadians seemed to be that
blatant
racism was “an American condition”.
The general dismissal of racism has remained
in
our country.
People
even denying the 2 centuries of slavery
in
Canada saying that it only happened in the United States.
If we as human beings are to have hope
it
is in acknowledging that we as individuals
and
we as groups and organizations
are
capable of compassion and understanding
We are capable of listening to the pain others are experiencing.
We have the power to change the narrative of inequality
and
tilt it toward just relationships.
We live in a Canada where racialized Canadians earn 81 cents on every
dollar
that
non-racialized Canadians make.
We live in a Canada where racialized immigrant women earn 48.7%
of
the employment income that non-racialized immigrant men earn.
We live in a Canada where 18% of racialized men report
experiencing
discrimination or unfair treatment with police or courts
compared
to 5.8% of non-racialized men
We live in a Canada where race and ethnicity is the cause
of
most police-reported hate crimes in the country.
In 2010 52% of the 1401 hate crimes reported
were
motivated by race or ethnicity.
271 incidents of hate committed against Blacks in Canada.
Blacks accounted for 4 in 10 racially motivated incidents.
Black males living in Toronto are three times more likely
to
be carded by police than the rest of the population.
Meanwhile 55% of Canadians believe that we have overcome
racial
discrimination.
If we are looking for a Canada that is a “Promised Land”
our
hope lies in trusting one another
to
be allies and advocates.
Our hope lies in believing our marginalized
sisters
and brothers, who are simply trying to live.
The colours of our humanity should not define our relationships
to
one another.
Love, empathy, kindness, and compassion should.
They say, “Love is a beautiful thing,
it
takes a heart and lets it sing.”
Let love be the song of our humanity.
Let it be the song that connects us to who God is.
Amen.
To return to the prayer that begins with the words:
You, whose love is reigning over us,
come
sit with us awhile
and
sow seeds of unity
deep
within the soil of this earth.
As I read
Adam’s painfully honest words and reflected on a world where young black men in
the US and Canada have to fear for their safety AND their lives when they get
pulled over by law enforcement and we’ve been witness to video after video of
violence inflicted simply because of skin colour … a world where people are
being suspected and abused and harassed because they have brown hues to their
skin … a world where a black athlete has become the lightning rod for division
because he has chosen to kneel during his nation’s anthem, and those defending
the status quo fear his gesture … a world where leaders have inexplicably begun
to think that it is okay to offer racist posts and tweets and proclamations as
a means of rallying their base … a world where the stories of our non-white
brothers and sisters have been expunged, overlooked and forgotten BECAUSE of
their skin colour … a world where almost
every day we hear of abuse, violence and death resulting from racism and fear –
the litany of cities and places grows every single day … in THIS world, the
idea of ‘come and sit with us awhile’ has great appeal for this moment and this
place …
Come and sit
with us awhile as we remember the souls who we honour this weekend and who we
remember and celebrate for their contributions to our community and our
country.
Come sit
with us awhile, as we recall the community of men, women, boys and girls who
called this home, and who yearned for a promised land where they could be free
… truly free …
Come sit
with us awhile, as we not only dream of that promised land, but work diligently
and unceasingly to remember the sins of the past, BUT more importantly, work to
create a better today and even better tomorrow …
As I read
Adam’s words las year, I was excited because he shared a vision of that
promised land that drew people up to this area – a promise of freedom.
Sadly,
though it was a promise that was unfulfilled … a promise that remains
tantalizingly close at hand, but still largely unfulfilled …
We hear over
and over leaders saying “I’m not a racist … I’m not a sexist … I’m not a
homophobe … or whatever …” and then they say “some of my closest friends are …
black, Arab, women, gay, transgendered … whatever …”
I cringe
when I hear those proclamations … they are ALWAYS offered in a defense of
something … and they are seldom meaningful nor substantive. Instead what we
need to admit is that deep down, many of us struggle with an upbringing that is
thick with the various ism’s we struggle against today.
I look back
on my journey and I know I have struggled against many of the ism’s that ebb
and flow through our society … I was raised in a different time, with a vastly
different world view … I grew up steeped in those ism’s … and by taking time to
‘come and sit with us …” I’ve moved into recovery.
I was tempted to begin today by saying
“Hi, I’m Shawn, and I’m a racist, a homophobe, a sexist, and so on …” Because
that is the context in which I was raised – I come from an amazing and loving
family, but we were very much the product of our times and held many ism’s that
fortunately have ebbed away as we’ve grown and matured and evolved …
I do have
friends who are every hue of humanity’s rainbow of skin colour … I have friends
across the spectrum of sexualities … I have friends men and women who are
members of every faith and spiritual expression imaginable … and sitting with
them has changed me – I’ve grown, evolved and moved from what my roots had
erroneously taught me …
Last summer another
Black preacher from within the United Church delivered an amazing and scathing
reflection on the final night of our General Council meeting – The Reverend
Paul Walfall offered a challenge to the Church and to our society about the
insidious nature of racism and the necessity of embracing a path of
reconciliation not unlike that we’ve embarked upon with our First Nations
sisters and brothers … I recommend highly that you find Paul’s words online and
listen …
But for now,
I would like to offer his ending reflection – after lifting up examples of
unintentionally racism experienced within the church Paul offers this:
How do you cook chicken, my friends? I asked
this question to a study group at St. Paul’s United Church in Edmonton. When I
cook chicken — and I am no great chef — the first thing is that the chicken is
seasoned. I would add the garlic, thyme, onions, green onion, pimento, paprika,
black pepper and some soy sauce. If I was going to jerk the chicken, the
mandatory jerk seasoning is added. All this is done from the night before I
cook it and the chicken is left to marinate in the refrigerator. When I cook, it will taste different to the chicken you cook. But you see, I offer this cooked chicken to you not because I believe that mine is superior to yours and neither do I believe it is inferior to the chicken you cook. All I know is it is different and I offer it simply asking that the different way I have done it be accepted and respected. All I ask is that you take my chicken and your chicken, and the chicken cooked by the indigenous, by the Korean and the Chinese and the many other cultures of people and let us share and delight in the differences and declare that is all good.
Let us take all the chicken we will cook and let us sit at the table of the church together. Let us ensure that the people who sit at the table are there not as guests but as valued members of the family. It is then that we will be able to look through the intercultural lens and have clear vision because we would have: Questioned our biases, challenged our assumptions, noticed who is missing, valued all voices, aimed for equity, and with a deep breath we would have lived out our commitments. Thank you
To return to Adam’s words - may we dare to
Let love be the song of our humanity.
Let
it be the song that connects us to who God is.
Let us then, sit for awhile, and further dare to share a
meal at a table where ALL are welcome, ALL are valued, and all are present …
let us draw a deep holy breath and in the presence of all those who have gone
before us, sit together at table … this is the promised land these folks came
to find - let us finally make it happen for them & for us.
And to
close, I want to share the words of the Rev. Paul Walfall, who in a pastoral
letter to his congregation in Alberta marked the anniversary of Emancipation by
writing:
On Thursday August 1st
2019, we marked the 185th Anniversary of the ending of slavery in Canada as the British Abolution of
Slavery Act came into force that day in
1834. For 400 years conservative figures estimate the approximately 15 million men, women and children were the victims
of the transatlantic slave trade. … The
celebration of the ending of slavery is neither to make persons feel guilty nor
a premise to bludgeon persons
about racism. For me it is an opportunity to humbly
acknowledge our history and to resolve to make a different and better tomorrow. The poet Maya Angelou reminds us
“History, despite its wrenching pain
cannot be unlived, and if face with courage, need not be lived again.”
Let us rise from this
place and go into the world daring to come and sit with each other awhile and
tell our stories, share our histories and dare to live that incredible vision
that brought so many northward – that vision of a promised land … that vision
of justice and equality … 185 years on, let’s recommit ourselves to making it
happen, and driving back the darkness of hate and ism’s that lessen the value
of our sisters and brothers … let us sit at table and share a meal and build
the community that has long been dreamt of, and that drew generations towards
the promise of freedom … let us face our history with courage and create a
better tomorrow!
Let us face
the present, and its chorus of suffering and violence and death, with the song
of love … Let us sit down together and break bread and share a meal and
celebrate our differences and show the world a better way … let us sit at table
AND build a better community and a better world …
Thanks be to
God, let us pray …
