Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

Saturday, as you probably know, George Zimmerman was acquitted for the murder of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager. Since then I’ve been unable to think about much else. I feel saddened and frustrated about the trial and what it means for the state of racism in America.

But that’s all kind of abstract. As a relatively privileged, white person (well, half white and half Hispanic), I have not experienced much racism in my life. What can and should I say? What can and should I do?

First, I’ve realized I should listen. I’ve read a lot of very angry, painful reactions to the trial verdict, especially on social media. Sometimes it’s tempting to tell people who are angry to calm down, or to try and get people who are in pain to see their experience in another light, but that seems to me to be a mistake, another way of telling someone that their experience is not legitimate.

This article by Ed Stetzer, says that those of us who are privileged Christians should remember there are multiple realities in America, and that we should listen and learn:

“Oppressed people have a unique view of the world and possess important insight that is otherwise unavailable to privileged people. If oppressed people are angry, they have good reason to be so. If oppressed people perceive an injustice, they have a good reason to do so. If oppressed people make a connection between race and a particular incident, it's because they know something about race that privileged people don't know.”

In other words, we must honor the experiences and feelings of those who are oppressed, whether it’s the victims of racism or sexism or homophobia or something else. They, the oppressed, have experienced and understand things I do not. I did not have the same visceral reaction to the verdict as others did, for example (though I found it upsetting), but that doesn’t mean they are wrong.

I’ve been reading James Cone’s God of the Oppressed with my church’s theology group. He places the experience of the oppressed at the center of his theology: "What has the gospel to do with the oppressed of the land and their struggle for liberation?” he writes. “Any theologian who fails to place that question at the center of his or her work has ignored the essence of the gospel."

Whatever your feelings about James Cone, it does seem to me that God calls his church to speak out against injustice and speak for the oppressed. All of us in the church are theologians, and just as Jesus did, we are called to work on behalf of the meek, the downtrodden, the oppressed, just as Jesus did. For those of us who experience privilege due to our race, economic background, sexual orientation, etc., it may not always be clear what we should do or say. Praying for, loving, and listening to those who have actually experienced oppression is the first step.