As we ponder the real and unconscionable life expectancy gap between white and Black communities in Chicago elucidated in the opening article for this issue of the Chicago Leader, I cannot help but look at a similar inverted gap in the ‘eternal life expectancy’ of those who live in the Black community, those in solidarity with them – the gap between them and those who continue to turn a blind eye to the education, health, housing and economic gap that continues to diminish – physically, emotionally and spiritually – the Black communities on the west and south sides and in some south suburbs.
Cardinal Francis George, former Archbishop of Chicago, in a speech to a group of wealthy businesspeople in Chicago, said it very bluntly: The eternal salvation of the souls of those of you who are rich is directly related to your generosity of care for the poor and disenfranchised!
So, where am I going with this? First, I want to say very clearly that the Black community has an incredible gift to offer all people in this city and country: the gift of African American spirituality. I have had the privilege of witnessing and benefitting from this in my congregation here at St. Agatha and in many families and members of the North Lawndale and westside community. Gifts of perseverance, resilience, the unrelenting fight to hold families together throughout a history of slavery, daily threats of lynching, daily threats of dangerous and life-
threatening encounters with some police or vigilante citizens.
In addition, there are the daily challenges presented by the deliberate tearing apart of the Black nuclear family by the forces of politics, government, and a jail/prison industrial complex that relies on a steady supply of mostly Black and brown people to be ‘networked’ through the police to lawyers to judges to jail/prison personnel, all to benefit each of those levels and especially those who build and supply jails/prisons.
One more spiritual gift that I find incredible in the Black community is the ability to not hold in contempt every single white person who consciously or unconsciously supports this system. Just the opposite, I find most of my friends who are Black manage far better than most of us white people to be quite forgiving and quite discerning in knowing who the bad guys are.
Thank God for all of us; this is true!
But let me get to the heart of the ‘eternal life gap’ that I’m referring to. I believe wholeheartedly that our redemption as individuals and as a country is directly related to the level of kinship we continue to build with our Black sisters and brothers.
Let me be clear: This is not us as white people simply saying, “We’re sorry,” expecting Black people to say, “You’re forgiven,” and then us white people saying, “Great, then let’s just all get along from this point forward.” There is one missing step before we get even close to the latter response: What are we willing to do to repair the harm of the past, to make up for the economic, emotional, and spiritual losses experienced by the Black community – a time gap of at least 188 years (1776 – 1964) – where the white community was able to build generations of family equity, institutional, educational and political superiority, all on the backs, the hearts, the minds, the spirits, and the dead bodies of Black Americans? And all during this time, Black people and some white allies were constantly fighting for reparations and equal rights.
Our eternal redemption as the white community here in the United States is directly related to those who are poor, disenfranchised, and discriminated against – who are mostly poor Black, brown and white people. (Sadly, so many poor white people are naively convinced by those white people in power that they are still better than the richest Black person.)
Thankfully, many white people are beginning to recognize our complicity in perpetuating systemic racism and are willing to stop our “I’m not a racist” protestations in favor of becoming actively anti-racist. Our redemption in the eyes of God is found in our openness to educate ourselves in understanding, appreciating, and incorporating for ourselves the rich spiritual and cultural history of the African American community.
To do so, I must add, requires us to also come face to face with the horrors of slavery, the lynching tree, Jim Crow, the ongoing ‘lynchings’ of the deliberate infusion of drugs and guns into the Black community, and incarceration and mistreatment by a dysfunctional police and criminal justice system.
Our working on this ‘eternal life gap’ will significantly impact the temporal gap in life expectancy. But, as with all things, we must be convinced of this. And the only way to really be convinced is to listen to two things: first, the voices of the prophets who always preached against the idolatry of greed and power over others (manifested today in racism, sexism, selfish individualism, arrogant nationalism) and preached for the preferential treatment of God’s poor; and second, the voices of the prophets of the past and those of our day who call us into relationship/kinship with Black, brown, and other brothers and sisters of color who can share their stories of how the forces of greed and ‘power-over’ have sought to limit them and so many others, as well as stories of resilience, survival, and thrival.
Opinion by Fr. Larry Dowling
Featured, Top, Second Image Courtesy of Tim Mossholder’s Unsplash Page – Creative Commons License
First Inset Image Courtesy of TNS Photography – Used With Permission
Third Inset Image Courtesy of Romain Vignes’ Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
