We Don’t Need Your Sympathy
As Black History Month in the United States comes to a close, I want to be clear about something. I recently posted an anti-Black experience my wife, Diane, had in Target last week. I appreciate the empathetic support for our family by folks both on social media and text messages, including many folks who are not Black. You did what we do—when we see someone in harm's way we come together!
However, if you are one of those persons who spoke up but haven’t even tried to begin the work of anti-racism in your body and mind, your encouragement rings hollow. If you are a Christian, it not only rings hollow but comes across as self-serving. You are falsely presenting yourself as a representative of Jesus. You are also falsely representing yourself as a decent person. I, as an African American, reject your overtures. They might play in your circles and might make you feel better.
I find zero solace in your words.
You might think me unreasonable, but the God you claim to serve knows exactly what I am talking about. This God once said, in the words of the prophet Isaiah,
“What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?”
says the Lord.
“I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of fattened cattle.
I get no pleasure from the blood
of bulls and lambs and goats.
When you come to worship me,
who asked you to parade through my courts with all your ceremony?
Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts;
the incense of your offerings disgusts me!
Accordingly, I am sick of your ways; I get no pleasure from you weighing in to show how outraged you are over the racist mistreatment of my wife. I want you to stop your meaningless blather. When you point out how horrible that employee was for disrespecting Diane, it comes across as a justification of the “Great Again” mentality by seeing the event as an exception, as unusual, instead of recognizing both the ubiquity and the rise of white supremacy in our society. It disgusts me.
I urge you to get help for that—this pathology of whiteness. And stop quoting Martin Luther King, Jr. to advance your nationalism. Whenever you become an anti-racist, we will welcome you with open arms. Diane and I want this.
