Open Letter following Baltimore 2015
I wrote this to be used as an open letter, emailed from the Dean to students, following the police incidents in Baltimore, May 2015.
The media spotlight is beginning to fade in Baltimore, just as it faded in South Carolina, and New York, and Ferguson, and (23 years ago) in Los Angeles. And it might be easy for us to sigh and think, “well, that’s over,” and act as if nothing has happened.
Until it happens again.
Because it will happen again.
No one likes to think of themselves as broken; yet Scripture clearly says that we are. No one likes to think that their culture is broken, especially we here in the U.S., who have so often been a beacon of hope to the world. But a nation of broken people will, despite the good they have done, inevitably produce a broken culture; a culture that is self-involved, unequal, and where “the dividing wall of hostility” (Eph 2:14) is still alive and well. *
At its core, that “wall” is the assumption that some lives matter more than others, and that some lives don’t matter at all.
But that is not how God sees human lives. Paul says “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26ff). In Revelation, God wants us to know that His Kingdom is “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands” (7:9).
How can you help tear down that wall? Maybe you can’t change the world, but you can change you, and therefore some of the people around you. I have a few suggestions:
Pray. For justice, and repentance, and forgiveness. And pray that God will soften hearts…perhaps beginning with yours. This is no small thing; if our entire campus were to pray for reconciliation, I believe we would see miraculous things.
Listen and learn, but be wise in who you’re listening to. In our media-saturated world, it is easy to fill your Facebook page and twitter feeds only with people who agree with you and reinforce your own viewpoint, to the point where anyone who responds differently must be demonized or ridiculed.** Spend some time learning about other points of view, and with people who feel differently.*** Just last week, we had Cornel West and Robbie George here, men who could hardly disagree more politically, but who continue to respect and listen and learn from each other. Who is the Cornel West in your life? Who is your Robbie George?
Act, don’t bury your head in the sand. It may be easy in suburban La Mirada to think, “Not my problem. Not my job. Not my circus, not my monkeys.” But it is our job; our brothers and sisters in Christ (and those who still need Christ) will continue to suffer even as the media spotlight fades. Bryan Loritts is a pastor in New York City, a Talbot grad, and a member of the Biola Board of Trustees, and he says, “It’s not good enough to just not be racist. You have to be anti-racist. If you’re around someone who makes an off-color comment, don’t be a ‘safe place’ for that—be willing to have an awkward moment.”
And as a college student, you know that change and growth and learning takes effort and intentionality. So changing relationships and attitudes won’t happen ‘organically’ or naturally either; hundreds of years of intentional segregation and discrimination will not be overcome without intentionality in the other direction. Be intentional about getting out of your personal ‘bubble’ and reaching out to befriend people who don’t act, think, or vote like you. If you already have friends of other cultures/ethnicities/backgrounds, learn to be a safe listener; they’ve probably got stories you’ve never heard…stories they’d like their friends to hear. Become part of a multiethnic church. Worship at an MEPD chapel, or attend some events at the Mosaic Center (or just hang out there for awhile).
We will talk about this again. Let’s commit to make some progress by then.
Daniel D. Paschall
Chief Student Development Officer & Dean of Students
Division of Student Development | Biola University
* While that divide most often appears in racial terms, it is not exclusively racial; like the victim, three of the six police officers charged in the Baltimore incident are African-American. It is also about social, cultural, and economic inequality, and about power and powerlessness.
** And beware forming your opinions from news headlines and video; our news media will always emphasize conflict and violence, and has little use for the quiet behind-the-scenes work that creates reconciliation. There were lots of people peacefully protesting in Baltimore, but peaceful people don’t get headlines. And most news media will try to make the story and the characters as simple as possible; good and evil, black and white, heroes and villains… don’t let them fool you into thinking that it’s simple.
*** Read some books that will broaden your views, like these:
· Promoting Diversity and Social Justice: Educating People from Privileged Groups by Diane J. Goodman.
· Radical Reconciliation: Beyond Political Pietism and Christian Quietism by Allan Aubrey Boesak & Curtiss Paul DeYoung.
· Bridging the DiversityGap: Leading Toward God's Multi-ethnic Kingdom by Alvin Sanders.
