Usually words come easily for me, but today I am struggling. The juxtaposition of the video of George Floyd struggling to breath under abuse of power and the video of Amy Cooper attempting to leverage fear of that same abuse were a combination that truly left me speechless, horrified, sick.
Racism is evil. To not speak out against it at this point feels like tacit approval. We each need to say it out loud - no matter how small or how large our audience. Yes, I must do something. I am aware that it is a small something. Please bear with me - so many words are fighting to bubble to the surface. I will say this awkwardly and without grace, because I am trying to say what should not ever need to be articulated; it is such plain fact - RACISM IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. THIS CANNOT CONTINUE.
Racism is evil. To not speak out against it at this point feels like tacit approval. We each need to say it out loud - no matter how small or how large our audience. Yes, I must do something. I am aware that it is a small something. Please bear with me - so many words are fighting to bubble to the surface. I will say this awkwardly and without grace, because I am trying to say what should not ever need to be articulated; it is such plain fact - RACISM IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. THIS CANNOT CONTINUE.
Because racism is evil - sinful- the only lasting answer comes from repentance, a change of heart. We can legislate and we can have better training and we can protest (and I am not denying the benefit or reality of the need for any of those) - but true change must be won in each human heart. Racism is a sin. It takes a change of heart to overturn that. People are made in God's image - the Image Dei - and to deny the stamp of His image on any of His children is to deny Him.
That said, I am appealing today to the moms and dads that make up the majority of my audience, mostly homeschool families, primarily Christian homeschool families. Friends - we need to address this in our homes. We must. We MUST talk with our children. It is painfully obvious that racism is a sin prevalent in the world, and just like any other sin we must lay a foundational understanding of why it is absolutely against God's design.
We hear a lot about how important representation is in books and movies and on TV. But, honestly, I wonder if we have been missing something in all that discussion. Yes, yes, YES - it is critically important to children of color to see themselves represented - to see both the beauty and the potential in their lives. But you know what? I think it is also critical that we see each other represented. Bluntly stated: white children need to see children of color represented in books as beautiful, as smart, as creative, as heroes, as full of potential as every human being is. We all - every family, every parent - need to make sure to lay the foundation in our home that every single human being bears the image of God and is intrisincally valuable, because as with many other values we hold, they will surely encounter its opposite in this world.
So, here is one small something we can all do to change the future: We should purposefully use books to reinforce the natural and obvious fact that all people are created by God in His image. As I read a picture book with a two or three or four year old, I can point to the child on the page and say, "Isn't she smart? Look how handsome he is! Oh, isn't her hair pretty? Wow, he is so brave!" and in doing so teach my child that race is no arbiter of beauty or intelligence or success or worth. Go to your home library, right now. Do you have picture books representing black children and adults as joyful image bearers of God? Make sure, right now. Here are a few for your consideration (I LOVE the Matthew Turner books - the illustrations are so JOYFUL!):
That said, I am appealing today to the moms and dads that make up the majority of my audience, mostly homeschool families, primarily Christian homeschool families. Friends - we need to address this in our homes. We must. We MUST talk with our children. It is painfully obvious that racism is a sin prevalent in the world, and just like any other sin we must lay a foundational understanding of why it is absolutely against God's design.
We hear a lot about how important representation is in books and movies and on TV. But, honestly, I wonder if we have been missing something in all that discussion. Yes, yes, YES - it is critically important to children of color to see themselves represented - to see both the beauty and the potential in their lives. But you know what? I think it is also critical that we see each other represented. Bluntly stated: white children need to see children of color represented in books as beautiful, as smart, as creative, as heroes, as full of potential as every human being is. We all - every family, every parent - need to make sure to lay the foundation in our home that every single human being bears the image of God and is intrisincally valuable, because as with many other values we hold, they will surely encounter its opposite in this world.
So, here is one small something we can all do to change the future: We should purposefully use books to reinforce the natural and obvious fact that all people are created by God in His image. As I read a picture book with a two or three or four year old, I can point to the child on the page and say, "Isn't she smart? Look how handsome he is! Oh, isn't her hair pretty? Wow, he is so brave!" and in doing so teach my child that race is no arbiter of beauty or intelligence or success or worth. Go to your home library, right now. Do you have picture books representing black children and adults as joyful image bearers of God? Make sure, right now. Here are a few for your consideration (I LOVE the Matthew Turner books - the illustrations are so JOYFUL!):
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As kids get older, make sure they read biographies of people of color, not because of the race of the protagonist but because these are people our children should know. If they don't know, there is a hole in their worldview. That is part of the point. There are picture books, chapter books, and award-winning biographies sure to inspire everyone from a budding artist to an aspiring engineer. The Harriet Tubman book "Moses" makes me cry every single time I read it, simply for the beauty of the faith etched in her face. Here is just a tiny sampling - check them out:
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Later, as teens, our kids are going to need us to help them procees the horrific struggle of Frederick Douglass, not that there are any good answers to those hard questions. They are ready to explore the staunch determination of Sojourner Truth, the modern narrative of Colin Powell or Ben Carson, the bigger story behind Martin Luther King. Maybe they will even want to discover the truly miraculous call on the life of Samuel Morris. These are people who have spoken and continue to speak into the history and legacy of our nation and the world, and it behooves us all to be listening:
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I started out by telling you what a small thing this was, and it is. I can't convict white supremacists of their sin. I can't turn the tide of racism or abuse of power. I can't, and neither can you. Only God can change such a hard heart.
However, just because we can't do those big things does not mean our small things are meaningless. Let's "do the next right thing" (as Elizabeth Elliot said decades before Frozen II was ever dreamed of). Let's make it a matter of importance to discuss equality in our family, with our children. Purpose to live lives that model respect for the image of God inherent in every human being.
Finally - the big thing - let's pray for an end to racism with this generation. Pray that God will allow His people to come together as a model of unity that will be a testimony to the nations. Will you commit to pray? To speak up? To use your sphere of influence to push back against racism? To lay that foundation for change in your own family? Let's do something.
Noli Timere,
However, just because we can't do those big things does not mean our small things are meaningless. Let's "do the next right thing" (as Elizabeth Elliot said decades before Frozen II was ever dreamed of). Let's make it a matter of importance to discuss equality in our family, with our children. Purpose to live lives that model respect for the image of God inherent in every human being.
Finally - the big thing - let's pray for an end to racism with this generation. Pray that God will allow His people to come together as a model of unity that will be a testimony to the nations. Will you commit to pray? To speak up? To use your sphere of influence to push back against racism? To lay that foundation for change in your own family? Let's do something.
Noli Timere,
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