LET’S TALK ABOUT RACISM*

Written by Blessing Asebiode

There’s an elephant in the room. We’ve somehow danced and tiptoed our way around it hoping it would go away, but it hasn’t and now, it’s time to face it.

George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Elijah McLain. I’m sure the majority of people have heard those names circulating over the last few months, and if you haven’t, these are just a few of the names of innocent black men and women that have had their lives taken unjustly. The issue of racism, stems not from within the last few years, but has in fact been ongoing for hundreds and hundreds of years. For me, watching the video of George Floyd’s life being taken hit me in a way I’ve never experienced before. It was not just a wave of grief but a righteous indignation and anger at what I just witnessed. Personally speaking, I think I’ve just learned to adapt and navigate a world knowing that there were people that did not like me because of the colour of my skin. But that video of George Floyd shook me to my core because I was jarred out of what I had normalized as the way the world would always be.

As a black woman I’ve experienced many forms of racism. Whether it be the “little” micro aggressions, such as being followed around in a store but not being offered help, or having someone clutch their purse and look at me suspiciously to the more aggressive forms of being berated in public and called the N-word. As a human being, I want to respond with anger and tell the person why they are not only incorrect but extremely stupid. And being honest, I have done that. But as a Christian, what should my response be? Jesus said in Matthew 5:44 “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. I’ll be transparent with you — I’m not sure if I’m there yet, but I’m allowing the Holy Spirit to transform my heart and lead me to this place of radical love and forgiveness.

In our Canadian context, I know we like to believe that we’re all nice and things here are just fine. The truth is that things are not okay. While we as Canadians should be proud of our country, we should also understand its history and those who have been directly impacted by it. We have a beautiful indigenous population that have been dealing with trauma for generations. Are we listening, looking up resources, in relationship with them? Jesus commanded us to “love your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12:31), and “weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). If the world is to know that we are His disciples by our love, then we need to learn how to love. We have a golden moment here in front of us to demonstrate that love. If you’re not sure where to start, I implore you to pray. Some practical things you can also do in this fight against racial and cultural injustices, is to do research, read the books, have difficult conversations, ask uncomfortable conversations, volunteer at relevant organizations — the list goes on and on.

When this year started, I’m fairly certain very few of us knew what it would hold: from a global pandemic to a world wide uprising against racial injustice. As heavy as it all is, there is a beautiful opportunity for us to step outside ourselves, and into the shoes of another. This is a moment for us to stop, listen, learn and move forward with a deeper love and understanding of our brothers and sisters.

*A note about the term “Race” and “Racism”. If you look up the wikipedia definition and history of “racism”, you will see that “Race” was a construct developed to discriminate in the early 19th century: “Early race theorists generally held the view that some races were inferior to others and they consequently believed that the differential treatment of races was fully justified.” So that is why we choose to talk about: “Racism” not “Race”. We are ALL God’s children and of equal value! Thank you for reading and thank you to Blessing for contributing this blog. You can hear Blessing sing at our upcoming Inspire Our Nation Conference: www.inspireournation.com - Kelly Schuler, Associate Director of Inspire Our Nation