On Racism and Community
Three years ago, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., I had written a blog post calling for action “to safeguard our American ideals and to ensure our schools are bully-free.” The nation was then embroiled in turmoil over racist remarks made by President Donald Trump. At the time, worshipers at a Sunday service at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church “called the president’s remarks racist and divisive” and prayed “for his soul and our country in a national call to conscience.” That prayer has gone unanswered.
Putting politics aside, racism and hate should be condemned by both Democrats and Republicans alike. Each January, we enjoy a long weekend, not because we need time away from work or school but because we need this time for reflection on race and equality. When we talk to school children about his work, it’s a good thing that these children, born 40 years after his death, can’t imagine that people of color had different bathrooms, couldn’t sit at the front of the bus or went to different schools. We’ve come far, though not far enough.
I’ve written other blog posts on previous January weekends and each year, without exception, the news includes some topics relevant to race and discrimination. During my time in Leicester, headlines included a proposed registration of Muslim citizens. I fear for what future January news headlines will include if we all don’t take action.
Most discrimination, as well as bullying, stems from a lack of knowledge. Schools have an important role in educating our youth about other genders, religions and countries so that they are less likely to exhibit sexist, discriminatory or ethnocentric behavior. Our policies dictate that teachers present a balanced view, though this does not mean that white supremacy, Naziism, or other hateful ideologies should be presented with equal value, worth, or merit as do our American ideals.
While the unrest in Washington plays out on the national stage, Smithfield, as a microcosm of our nation, experiences acts of racism and hate. Recently, racist graffiti was discovered on the Stillwater Scenic Trail in Smithfield. Someone took the time to buy spraypaint and paint hateful messages on a beautiful public property in our community. The graffiti is ugly and its creators are cowards who hide behind anonymity, perhaps because they know their ideals have neither merit nor value in a democracy. The member of our community calling my attention to this travesty wrote, “Silence in the face of hatred and wrong-doing is complicity and perpetuates the lie that these attitudes and behavior are unimportant, can be ignored, are not a problem. Silence says these actions are acceptable. They are not. And the leaders in this community need to say this strongly, repeatedly and consistently.” I agree.
As I did three years ago, I close with two important quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr., which I hope will awaken a call for action to safeguard our American ideals and to ensure our schools are bully-free, not simply by punishing the bully but through education, for it is through ignorance that the bully is empowered.
We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
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