Today I share with you another post that I wish I did not need to write.
I believe wholeheartedly in the power of bringing things into the light that have been held in the darkness.
Renowned theologian and professor of systematic theology, Dr. James Cone, writes in The Cross and the Lynching Tree (2011) a very painful and important book that is a must-read for anyone unaware of this part of America’s history.
This is hard reading. It is devastating and heartbreaking. It describes acts that should never be done by a human being to another human being.
But I believe we need to know this history and let our hearts be moved by it.
“Though we are not fully free and the dream not fully realized, yet, we are not what we used to be and not what we will be.”
My African American brothers and sisters, friends and family, and neighbors and co-workers already very painfully know this part of the American story.
White people such as me might be learning this history for the first time. If so, let this truth touch you. Let it impact you. I think one of the hardest things for white people is to admit that this is not just ancient history. The ramifications, echoes, and direct impact of this history reverberates today in every part of our country. It involves us.
Brothers and sisters, friends and family, neighbors and co-workers of all backgrounds, let’s read and learn. Let’s commit ourselves to be people of love, people who honor the image of God in one another.
“We are not what we used to be and not what we will be.”
About: Jenny Switkes is a professor of mathematics at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where she has the joy of mentoring many first-generation college students from diverse backgrounds. She also serves as a volunteer pastor at Rise OC Church in Costa Mesa, California.
Photo by Cody Board on Unsplash