He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
I have this terrible habit. I call it “waking up in the middle of my story”. In the hard things in life, it’s when I finally realize the truth of my circumstances and wonder how in the world I got there.
Recently, I’m waking up in the middle of a new story. When the reality I’ve been living doesn’t stack up to the truth, I wonder where I could have gone wrong. Why didn’t I see this before? Where was I?
When I wake up to discover that our Constitution which states “liberty and justice for all” doesn’t really mean “all”, I’m waking up to the nightmare that is everyday reality for people of color. When I realize that police kill Black people without justification and with impunity, I’m waking up to the horrible reality of police brutality and the injustice in the “justice” system.
Systemic racism in the U.S. is real. It has not been eradicated, despite numerous Constitutional amendments, laws, and litigation.*1 Yet, white Americans may view events in the news as racist without seeing the interconnectivity of these events as part of the bigger picture of systemic racism.
Nikole Hannah-Jones, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, puts it this way: ”There is a collective grief that Black Americans feel [that] where white Americans have often used these as individual incidences, Black Americans understand that this is part of a collective history and when we see this, we always know that this can happen to our own communities.” She adds, “There is a sense that white Americans will tolerate so much pain, so much suffering, the lack of Black Americans having their civil rights and full citizenship, until something so egregiously horrifying occurs that they can no longer be in denial about that. And I think we're just tired of having to prove our humanity only when the most inhumane thing happens to us."*2
While white people may react defensively, we who live in this society are complicit because we are part of the same community. To paraphrase Tim Keller, author and pastor, the biblical concept of community means that by being part of a community, you share in its responsibility. In a powerful example, Keller says that because no one resisted the Nazi regime, it was successful in killing Jews. Everyone in that society was part of the system. They supported it by participating even when they didn’t know what was happening or when they looked the other way. They were all responsible for it.*3 We are all collectively part of the same society and bear responsibility. And we cannot afford to be silent to injustice. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
In our key verse, the prophet Micah does not remain silent about things that matter by calling out the sins of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, specifically the sins of abuse of power, oppression, and injustice. When the leaders ask Micah what they can do to move back into God’s good graces, Micah tells them what God requires of them. Note that he does not say the following is optional. They are commanded “to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Over the next several posts, we’ll unpack this particular verse. For today, let’s start with the first command. What does it mean to act justly? Justice is truth in motion with a sense of fairness. In order to act with justice, we must first become informed. Just as a jury must hear both sides of the case before making a decision for justice, so should we open-mindedly become informed of the facts.
In this digital age, we are bombarded with news on every front. By choosing reputable news sources (and not believing everything we read on social media), we become better informed. By reading books and articles written by sociologists, activists, and other experts, we become particularly informed on the issue of racism and how it has become institutionalized in many parts of our society. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo is a good place to start. Choosing books by Black authors broadens our perspective. I highly recommend When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele. Click here for a downloadable list of suggested readings, videos, and resources.
When we seek the truth with an open mind and heart, we realize that the very whiteness of our skin determines in many unjust ways our quality of life. “White privilege” is not so much about what you get as a white person as much as what it protects you from. While white privilege absolutely opens the door to opportunities for education, employment, and wealth creation, it also protects white people from fear of police brutality, from fear of being incarcerated for having done nothing wrong, and from fear that you or your loved one could be shot and killed at any moment for no good reason.
Becoming informed is an ongoing process, but just knowing the truth is not enough. We must act on it. Just as faith without works is dead (James 2:26), knowing the truth and not putting it into action is useless. A good place to start is to give your time and resources to organizations that are making a difference. Click here for suggestions. Dr. King said, “Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment.”*4
Liberty and justice for all isn’t a zero-sum game. There is enough for all to live in this country with dignity, respect, and yes, even dreams. The dream of a young, Black pastor assassinated in 1968 for daring to speak up still lives on in this current generation. May we act justly as we work urgently to implement needed changes. And may we all wake up soon in the middle of a new story, one of reconciliation, peace, and liberty and justice for all.
Lord, You are always on the side of the oppressed and their cries for justice do not go unheeded. Help me remember we all are created in Your image, God, and we are all Your children. Give me eyes to see injustice, the motivation to change it, and the will to act justly in all I say and do. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
NOTE 1: These include the 13th amendment to abolish slavery, the 14th amendment granting citizenship to former slaves, the 15th amendment granting voting rights to Black men, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Fair Housing Act of 1968, litigation such as Brown v. Board of Education (outlawed segregated schools) and Loving v. Virginia (allowed interracial marriage), plus the Civil Rights Movement itself.
NOTE 2: From Own YouTube Channel, 6/9/20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Le2IQh1uGw
NOTE 3: From Racism and Corporate Evil: A White Guy’s Perspective
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhJJcTKTVGo
NOTE 4: From Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I Have a Dream…” speech, 1963
Want to subscribe to future posts? Click here.
Text and photograph copyright © 2020 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of the sands at low tide behind Le Mont-Saint-Michel, Normandy, France.
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
I have this terrible habit. I call it “waking up in the middle of my story”. In the hard things in life, it’s when I finally realize the truth of my circumstances and wonder how in the world I got there.
Recently, I’m waking up in the middle of a new story. When the reality I’ve been living doesn’t stack up to the truth, I wonder where I could have gone wrong. Why didn’t I see this before? Where was I?
When I wake up to discover that our Constitution which states “liberty and justice for all” doesn’t really mean “all”, I’m waking up to the nightmare that is everyday reality for people of color. When I realize that police kill Black people without justification and with impunity, I’m waking up to the horrible reality of police brutality and the injustice in the “justice” system.
Systemic racism in the U.S. is real. It has not been eradicated, despite numerous Constitutional amendments, laws, and litigation.*1 Yet, white Americans may view events in the news as racist without seeing the interconnectivity of these events as part of the bigger picture of systemic racism.
Nikole Hannah-Jones, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, puts it this way: ”There is a collective grief that Black Americans feel [that] where white Americans have often used these as individual incidences, Black Americans understand that this is part of a collective history and when we see this, we always know that this can happen to our own communities.” She adds, “There is a sense that white Americans will tolerate so much pain, so much suffering, the lack of Black Americans having their civil rights and full citizenship, until something so egregiously horrifying occurs that they can no longer be in denial about that. And I think we're just tired of having to prove our humanity only when the most inhumane thing happens to us."*2
While white people may react defensively, we who live in this society are complicit because we are part of the same community. To paraphrase Tim Keller, author and pastor, the biblical concept of community means that by being part of a community, you share in its responsibility. In a powerful example, Keller says that because no one resisted the Nazi regime, it was successful in killing Jews. Everyone in that society was part of the system. They supported it by participating even when they didn’t know what was happening or when they looked the other way. They were all responsible for it.*3 We are all collectively part of the same society and bear responsibility. And we cannot afford to be silent to injustice. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
In our key verse, the prophet Micah does not remain silent about things that matter by calling out the sins of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, specifically the sins of abuse of power, oppression, and injustice. When the leaders ask Micah what they can do to move back into God’s good graces, Micah tells them what God requires of them. Note that he does not say the following is optional. They are commanded “to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Over the next several posts, we’ll unpack this particular verse. For today, let’s start with the first command. What does it mean to act justly? Justice is truth in motion with a sense of fairness. In order to act with justice, we must first become informed. Just as a jury must hear both sides of the case before making a decision for justice, so should we open-mindedly become informed of the facts.
In this digital age, we are bombarded with news on every front. By choosing reputable news sources (and not believing everything we read on social media), we become better informed. By reading books and articles written by sociologists, activists, and other experts, we become particularly informed on the issue of racism and how it has become institutionalized in many parts of our society. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo is a good place to start. Choosing books by Black authors broadens our perspective. I highly recommend When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele. Click here for a downloadable list of suggested readings, videos, and resources.
When we seek the truth with an open mind and heart, we realize that the very whiteness of our skin determines in many unjust ways our quality of life. “White privilege” is not so much about what you get as a white person as much as what it protects you from. While white privilege absolutely opens the door to opportunities for education, employment, and wealth creation, it also protects white people from fear of police brutality, from fear of being incarcerated for having done nothing wrong, and from fear that you or your loved one could be shot and killed at any moment for no good reason.
Becoming informed is an ongoing process, but just knowing the truth is not enough. We must act on it. Just as faith without works is dead (James 2:26), knowing the truth and not putting it into action is useless. A good place to start is to give your time and resources to organizations that are making a difference. Click here for suggestions. Dr. King said, “Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment.”*4
Liberty and justice for all isn’t a zero-sum game. There is enough for all to live in this country with dignity, respect, and yes, even dreams. The dream of a young, Black pastor assassinated in 1968 for daring to speak up still lives on in this current generation. May we act justly as we work urgently to implement needed changes. And may we all wake up soon in the middle of a new story, one of reconciliation, peace, and liberty and justice for all.
Lord, You are always on the side of the oppressed and their cries for justice do not go unheeded. Help me remember we all are created in Your image, God, and we are all Your children. Give me eyes to see injustice, the motivation to change it, and the will to act justly in all I say and do. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
NOTE 1: These include the 13th amendment to abolish slavery, the 14th amendment granting citizenship to former slaves, the 15th amendment granting voting rights to Black men, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Fair Housing Act of 1968, litigation such as Brown v. Board of Education (outlawed segregated schools) and Loving v. Virginia (allowed interracial marriage), plus the Civil Rights Movement itself.
NOTE 2: From Own YouTube Channel, 6/9/20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Le2IQh1uGw
NOTE 3: From Racism and Corporate Evil: A White Guy’s Perspective
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhJJcTKTVGo
NOTE 4: From Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I Have a Dream…” speech, 1963
Want to subscribe to future posts? Click here.
Text and photograph copyright © 2020 by Dawn Dailey. All rights reserved. Photo of the sands at low tide behind Le Mont-Saint-Michel, Normandy, France.
All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
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