As our annual “feast of freedom”—July 4—comes around again,
we find that many U.S. citizens are not happy with their
slice of the freedom pie. One does not have to look far
to see stories about racial unrest in our midst. This is
certainly true here in Cincinnati. We are painfully aware
of the need for racial reconciliation.
But where to begin? One could do worse than start with
the famous dictum of the late Brazilian educator, Paulo
Freire: The oppressed internalize the image the oppressor
has of them. To be set free from oppression, it is obvious
that oppressed people need to become aware, first
of all, of their oppressive situation and how their self-image
was formed.
Minority groups commonly find themselves “buying into”
the image that the dominant culture has of them. In his
recent pastoral letter on racism, Dwell in My Love,
Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago addresses this point.
In a segment entitled “Internalized Racism,” the cardinal
writes: “Many blacks, Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans
are socialized and educated in institutions which devalue
the presence of people of color and celebrate only the contributions
of whites....Thus, people of color can come to see themselves...primarily
through the eyes of that dominant culture....Seeing few
men and women from their own culture or class in leadership
roles, they begin to apply to themselves the negative stereotypes
about their group that the dominant culture chooses to believe.”
Given this indoctrination from above, oppressed persons
have to adopt changes in attitude and action to correct
the “negative” stereotypes they have absorbed. It’s equally
important for the dominant culture, in similar ways, to
correct its internalized image of superiority.
A Threat to Power Holders
Typically, when an oppressed group becomes more active
and confident in its struggle for dignity, equality and
rightful status in society, the tendency of the dominant
class is to feel threatened by these changes and to resist
them.
A political cartoon published in The Cincinnati Enquirer—in
the wake of the racial unrest that recently shook the city
where I live—cleverly conveyed this truth. The cartoon shows
a top white city leader facing a well-known local black
religious leader and saying: “Of course we want change—but
not if it upsets the status quo.”
Cardinal George’s pastoral on racism is a useful guide
for all those who wish to help build a world of racial justice
and harmony. We are called to this ideal, not only on the
basis of our national tradition, but also on the basis of
our biblical tradition. At the creation of the world, God’s
plan was that all peoples—indeed all creatures—should live
in harmony and communion with each other.
Biblical
Vision of Unity
Our biblical tradition holds up before us the dream of
racial unity and reconciliation. As the cardinal writes,
“The Book of Genesis reveals God as the Creator of a vast
universe teeming with a rich diversity of plants and animals,
surrounded by the sea and sky.”
We learn that “the culmination and high point of God’s
creative energy is the creation of the human race on the
sixth day: ‘God created man in his own image; in the image
of God he created him; male and female he created them....’
“Though God intended that all creation live in the harmony
and love that unites it as one, human beings, exercising
their free will, defied the will of God and replaced the
divinely willed unity with conflict, the divinely intended
community with fragmentation.
“One form of human division, conflict and fragmentation
is racism: personal, social, institutional and structural.
Racism mars our identity as a people, as the human race
made in the image and likeness of God” (Genesis 1:27).
But hope has arrived! “Jesus...entered human history,”
affirms the cardinal. “Jesus gave us the means to find our
way back to the Father....We are to walk in unity as one
people....
“Jesus...transforms everything that divides the human community
(Galatians 3:28). He calls us back to a communion with one
another.”
Shortly after the racial unrest and street violence in
Cincinnati, I came across a hopeful and healing symbol rising
from the ashes, so to speak. It was a brightly colored painting
on a boarded-up store window less than a block from where
I live. The store had been vandalized and badly seared by
fire. The mural-style painting by young artists from the
inner city showed a circle of young children of different
races holding hands—with the words: “Unity in the community:
We are the people; together we grow.”
The painting mirrored perfectly the biblical “dream of
communion” that is God’s desire for the whole human family.
May this dream inspire us to join hearts with one another
and place our feet firmly on the road to racial reconciliation.—J.W.
Cardinal George’s pastoral on racism, Dwell in My
Love, is available in print from the Archdiocese of
Chicago’s Office for Racial Justice, phone 312-751-8336.
The complete text is online at www.archdiocese-chgo.org.
Also, Catholic Update has published “Racial
Reconciliation: Cardinal Francis E. George’s Pastoral on
Racism, Dwell in My Love, in Condensed Form”
(C0701). Individual reprints can be ordered by sending $1
and a self-addressed envelope to Racial Reconciliation,
St. Anthony Messenger, 1615 Republic St., Cincinnati, OH
45210. Bulk discounts are available by calling 1-800-488-0488
or on this Web
site.
