August 12, 2021
#BlackLivesMatter
My Dear Doubters of Great Faith,
As most of you know, your Vestry voted in 2020 to erect a sign along Inwood Road staking a bold claim about the sentiment of this parish, St. Thomas the Apostle, regarding the sanctity of human life represented in Black and Brown bodies. While some feel this is an inflammatory claim to make, seeing that all life is sacred (a fact which I completely agree), we know that for many, many years people of color have NOT been afforded and accorded the equal benefit of full participation in the rights and respect of humanity. Black and Brown lives have NOT mattered in the same ways that white lives have.
I have just finished reading author Jim Schutze’s “The Accommodation,” written in 1986. It details the state of race relations in Dallas, Texas, particularly how and why things developed in our city the way that they did, and it offers clues as to why things operate the way they do. Although Dallas certainly had its share of ugly collisions, through many well-orchestrated accommodations, always coming at the expense of the Black community, horrors that boiled over in other parts of the United States were largely avoided in Dallas. That doesn’t, however, mean that people were treated any better, or any more justly. As a matter of fact, the Black community endured all the same hardships, horrors, and subjugation. Their response to all of that was in large part silenced, “accommodated away.”
It’s a fascinating book, and I commend it to your reading list.
The reality is you simply cannot “accommodate away” the sub-human treatment of another human being without “accommodating away” your own humanity. As Christians, we know this. Everyone has a basic need and right to be seen, to be acknowledged, and to be treated as human. Being told “get over it, move on, that was in the past” does not make right those injustices. Systemic racism must be boldly addressed. Systems of injustice must be challenged and changed.
And so, our signage went up along Inwood Road, on the edge of Highland Park, at one of the major intersections of the great City of Dallas, #BlackLivesMatter! And the responses began to flow, a conglomeration of threats and slurs, eventually being vandalized with spray paint. Mark Ramsay, member of Church of the Transfiguration, contacted me about funding a replacement of the damaged panel, because he felt strongly about supporting St. Thomas’ message, and that panel has now been produced.
And today, Pam Liles, Parish Secretary, went out, in the early morning of the rush hour commute, to put the new signage in place. The comments, racial slurs, epithets, and threats, that she received as she bolted the “#Black” panel into its holder, demonstrate why this sign, and our work in this city, and in the world, are so completely and totally necessary, in 2021.
Accommodation does not work. Accommodation does not allow for true, complete, and lasting reconciliation and healing. Accommodation does not address the real sickness that dwells at the heart of the matter, racism.
This Sunday, we have the distinct joy and privilege of participating in the baptism of Emmett Sanchez-Brown. We will witness Emmett’s parents and godparents take on the baptismal vows for baby Emmett, and more importantly, we will be reaffirming our commitment to our own baptismal covenant. If we take those vows seriously, as I hope and pray that each of us do, we owe it to Emmett to insure we are doing every single thing that we can to eliminate the scourge of racism from the human heart.
“Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?”
Yours in baptism,
Fr. Christopher+
