A Drop In the Bucket...

The following are a collection of thoughts inspired by the events in the USA this week. I'm not an expert nor am I claiming to have all the information and authority on these issues, but I think that whatever voice I have I need to use to bring these issues to the light. Feel free to make up your own mind and do your own research, but don't just scroll on as if nothing is happening. This one goes out specifically to my brown brothers and sisters, we're not off the hook on this. 

I remember watching movies like The Help and Selma and thinking to myself, "I wish I had been there. I wish I could ride the bus with the Freedom Riders of Montgomery or refuse to give up my seat like Rosa Parks..." but those days were gone and there was nothing more to be done... or so I thought. 

Enter now the year 2020 and look around. I don't know that the story has changed all that much. And maybe, in some ways, things have gotten worse. Instead of seeing overt Jim Crow laws we see subtle, under the table discrimination. Instead of seeing violent and grotesque lynchings, we see police brutality and vandalism. Where there were once loud, angry racial slurs, we find "it's not a problem anymore" and "I don't even see color" silencing the very idea that racism is an issue in our country. The blatantly obvious and inhumane was replaced by the deeply systemic and unspoken, making it easy to think that this either isn't an issue or if it is it's not as big of a deal as it used to be. 

And then there's me... I'm not white or black. I'm in the brown community, those of us who's families haven't really been here all that long (and are preoccupied with fighting to stay here), who when we watch the movies about the Civil Rights movement none of the characters look like us. And that honestly used to bum me out because I felt like if I lived back then I wouldn't get to be one of the epic heroes of the story that started a revolutionary movement, but then again maybe this story really isn't about those kinds of heroes. As I look at the issues facing us today, I'm realizing more and more that the heroes we need are the ones willing to recognize there is a problem and take responsibility for bringing about real change.

Deep within the threads of hispanic culture we find that we too have been conditioned by our culture so see black as less-than, more dangerous, and/or threatening to us and our own. There's a really easy way to test the truth of this statement, the next time there is a black man walking towards you on the street notice yourself, are you holding your bag a little tighter? did your senses awaken and are you suddenly hyper aware of your surroundings? -- why did you just get nervous? would you respond differently if this man was white or brown? If the answer is yes, then you see we have a problem. 

I'm not saying this is on you or me, as in we may not have made a conscious decision to hate or fear a certain group of people, but we have become part of the system that perpetuates the dehumanization of the black community and our own biases and behaviors can continue the cycle or stop it. We may not have created the problem but that doesn't mean we get to stand by and do nothing.

I think we learn about this best from Jesus and how he chose to deal with the problem of our brokenness. While we were still enemies and doing all kinds of things against him, he chose to take on the responsibility for solving our problem. He didn't start it, but you can be sure he finished it. If we claim to be His followers then we aim to be just like Him, so in the climate of today with an issue that does not directly involve my people I can say, "I may not have started this, but I will finish it." I will partner with Jesus in bringing the restoration and redemption of all things and this is no different. If my black brothers and sisters are living anything less than the abundant life Jesus died to give them then my work is not done.

As a latina citizen of the USA I have the power to listen and choose to use my words to champion these unheard stories and open up these conversations. I get to engage in changing history by assessing my own biases and challenging those around me to do the same. A system of oppression may not change over time, but it can change one person at a time, so may it start with me and you, may we be brave enough to join the conversation even if all we do is listen. So this is what I got right now, just my drop in the bucket of social change, maybe together we can make a tidal wave.