A solution is supposed to match a problem. You take acetaminophen for a fever; you put on a coat when it’s cold. Today, America seeks a solution for a problem that haunts our past, present, and potentially our future.
Racism.
Currently, our solution for this problem has been geared toward addressing the history of racism. We have recently striven to remove its stain from our public spaces, from tearing down statues to editing old children’s books. For example, at Baylor, there was a Commission on Historic Campus Representations, where 26 people—students and regents included—discussed the statues and names of commemoration on campus. This commission is an exemplar of a constructive means toward addressing our past, with civil discourse and meditation gearing our community’s next actions. If we are to focus our energy on speaking of what and who we would like to commemorate, then this kind of deliberative commission is a reasonable way to go about it. However, I argue that this hyperfocus on the landmarks of the past shows that we, this present people, are focused on the wrong problem.
The problem I would think that is happening in America today would be the idolization of bronze-plated men. Because erasing those things appears to be our solution. But, I am confident that no one wanting to discuss the removal of statues and books would say the problem that America has right now are those things.
Again—the problem is racism.
Racism is not contained within a metal mold or the pages of a book. It wasn’t held within the Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond or held in any page found in Dr. Seuss’s “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street.” Racism is contained within the human heart. Our central problem is contained by people not things.
So why are we focusing on those things?
I think it boils down to the premise found in Matthew 7:3-5, as cited below:
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
I’m convinced the racism problem is a people problem; so let’s talk to people and let’s assess the systems that people made and perpetuate. We can’t talk to a statue; we can’t talk to the people who erected these statues; but, we can talk to each other.
I’m a hypocrite. I’m the first to jump up and point out what someone else is doing wrong while I ignore that my critique applies the same to me, if not more so. And I hear myself in the voices calling to tear down statues and erase the racism of the past. I hear my own desire to focus on others’ problems instead of my own, and I’m tempted to say to History: “Let me take that speck out for you.”
In no way am I calling the evils found throughout history anything less than evil. But, it is hard to get close enough to operate well on someone else’s eye when there is a whole plank in between you. A speck, or any obstruction, would be far better removed by someone with eyes that have no obstruction in them at all.
Have we become the perfect generation? Have we rid ourselves of racism? The truthful answer is no. There is a reason why people are hurting, and why people want to talk about the horrors that lie behind the markers of the past. It is because in the past we see all the moments that have culminated into this moment right now. We are in a time where millions of people are calling out that our society does not treat minority lives as if they matter. We are in a time where people feel as if they have to prove that they are not racist. We are in a time where we have a whole plank to deal with on our own. It would be prideful of us to turn our obstructed vision on the past, when we need to first be able to see that we have a problem of our own to fix.
It is painful to face our own evil. It means admitting that we are wrong, right now, not just in the past. Pointing at the past feels better than pointing at ourselves. We can feel superior to the evil slave owners when we move or remove their statues, comfortable in the idea that we would never support slavery like they did. But, what are we supporting right now? That conversation might be far more uncomfortable, because then we have to talk about our society. We’d have to talk about potential issues with the police, with prison systems, with school systems, with complex issues that don’t have a simple solution like tearing down statues and editing children’s books. As long as we remain focused on the past, we can feel like we’re doing something without having to put in too much effort. Because being focused on the present would involve tearing down policies and editing ideologies. Policies and ideologies take a lot of time to change. It involves listening and convincing and coming to continued disagreements and caveats. It takes working with real, live people who can actually talk back. It’s not simple at all. It’s complex.
A solution is supposed to match the problem. And I’d venture to say that the racism problem is a complex problem. So, let’s start talking about complex solutions.
There are two solutions that I advocate for, individually and structurally. First, if the problem is our hearts, then the solution involves changing our hearts. A heart is fundamentally changed by Jesus alone, and He speaks into this problem by calling for the unification of believers. If you are a Christian, seek out others and learn their heart posture toward white people, black people, all people of any race. Sit down and be willing to speak for hours at a time one-on-one with people, even if their words or deeds are marked by racism. If you are worried about racists, then find a racist and understand him. Is that scary, time-consuming, and emotionally draining? Yes. But, we are called to be bold. The only thing you need to do is listen so that you can pray for them better, even if they are angry. Then, you live out your call as a Christian and love that person. This solution takes humility, acknowledging that you do not know what the other person thinks until you ask, and that a racist is someone who is broken…just like you and me.
The second solution involves looking at the manifestations of the heart. Heart postures lead to actions that can affect a society for decades and centuries. Past racism has led to generational poverty, undeveloped school systems, and broken family structures that we must address. Let’s take a page out of Baylor’s book and apply it nationally, present-day. If we can construct commissions to address the past, we certainly can have them to address the present. Let’s form commissions to look at how best to restructure these specific systems that are affecting minority groups in disproportionate ways. We need to identify structures that are reinforcing the effects of racism. From there, different campaigns, programs, and restructuring agendas can be established.
I’m convinced the racism problem is a people problem; so let’s talk to people and let’s assess the systems that people made and perpetuate. We can’t talk to a statue; we can’t talk to the people who erected these statues; but, we can talk to each other.
