Black History month has passed. Like our Christmas decorations, we stow these stories of history away not to be brought out again until February 2023. The media will cover current issues of race, of course. Yet back we go to the usual cast of characters and events of history ignoring or glossing over many who were highlighted this past month.
I remember the first Black History month. I was a high school sophomore. In our American history class we spent some time watching film strips depicting mostly non-controversial figures like George Washington Carver who fit nicely into White, middle class values and stories of history. Missing was much in depth conversation about Reconstruction, peonage, Jim Crow, segregation, the KKK and lynching. Slavery was mentioned, denounced as a bad thing, but none of its cruelty and hardships were dealt with in any detail or depth. Martin Luther King Jr, who had recently been assassinated, was not even mentioned. In all it was a version of Black History sanitized for White consumption.
This raises the question: How can history be helpful to us if it is scrubbed clean of its dirt and presented as window dressing? I am glad we have been able to get some of racism’s evil out of history’s closets and into history books and classrooms. It needs to happen if we have any hope of overcoming racism in our culture. Ask any 12 step member you know if they could be in recovery without putting their deepest misdeeds out in front of them and of others.
Germany worked hard to denounce the evil of Nazism. Initially this was forced on them. General Eisenhower would parade entire towns through liberated concentration camps forcing the local citizenry to see first-hand the evils of Nazism. It made some ill, a few faint, and the many disgusted and burdened with at least some degree of guilt. Difficult as this was for them, there was no way to rationalize, soft-pedal, or deny the reality. Germany continued for some time to deal with this. There are no monuments to Nazi “heroes”, places like Hitler’s bunker remains unmarked and paved over by a parking lot so as not to become a shrine for neo-Nazis and others. (See Susan Neiman, “Learning from the Germans”)
What are we afraid of in confronting the entire story of African-American history? I suspect we may be afraid of ourselves and the vestiges of racism remaining deep inside. That racism will remain there, percolating out at times in ways of which we are not even aware unless we confront it and deal with it. Odd, but some of the most racist folk I know are those who most loudly proclaim themselves to be free of racism. If only they could hear and see their own words and actions.
Here is where above all you and I need reminding we are Christians. Christians, people who cling in the hope of grace, can be most honest with ourselves and each other. We might even say this is the purpose of grace. Grace removes any need at pretense. We can be honest with each other and with ourselves. Twelve step presentations begin with the words, “I am” followed by “an alcoholic, or drug addict, overeater,” etc. Imagine saying to a group, “I am a racist.” First, we may need to say it to ourselves. I know I do.
Fear not, we hear in one way or another in scripture and from Jesus. Strangely, we too often are more afraid of ourselves than of some other. Burying the truth does that to us. Let’s not be afraid of getting some dirt on us. Christians clean up well. The ashes of Ash Wednesday are more than symbolic. They are a form of reality, a form of recognition. People who cling to the hope of grace can wear ashes. They need not fear ugly truths. There is a power much greater than those.
