Some hard observations tonight about race and how we, as
humans, mismanage our words while trying to develop relationships. We try, all of us, to make ‘politically
correct’ statements, to not alienate others, to keep our fears to ourselves,
but we cannot. We all bring our ‘social
locations’ to every conversation we participate in. We bring all our baggage and our experiences—those
good and those that were not so good—and try to be in community with people who
look or act differently. We tell jokes
that marginalize and put others down. We
describe others by race, creed, ability and sexuality. We try to be inclusive and open minded, but,
in reality, we fail; at least those of us who are over 25 years old seem to
fail. Our kids are our hope. Our kids,
who have been exposed to many cultures, colors and traditions, who eat together
and talk together and who, often, do not know of the segregation we older folks
have experienced.
We saw the Clybourne Park at the Guthrie tonight and left
with some harsh realities that we have not come as far as we think we have
regarding race. Jeff and I cannot change
the reality that we grew up in “white bread” communities, where people of color
were extremely rare and where neighborhoods were still segregated, for whatever
reason. How are we still complicit in
perpetuating discrimination? And more
important, how can we change the attitude of discrimination? These are big questions, and watching this
play, opened wide the conversation for us, probing us and making us take good
long looks in the mirror.
Dear God of All, you put creative ideas in the minds of
artists that provoke the rest of us. We are
challenged by the ideas that should not even be issues. Issues of equality: of race, of gender, of sexuality, are often
subjects of various works of literature and art, and they poke us and send us
seeking our deepest fears, driving them to the uncomfortable surface where we
must dissect them to understand who we are and how we need to begin to see the
opportunities we have to be instruments of change. Help us to see in the mirror the image of
acceptance, of intolerance towards bigotry and harmful discrimination, and
become more open and welcoming to those who, in one way or another, live
differently than we do. Help us find
opportunities to sit together and eat, sharing our traditions, our palates, our
customs and dining habits that help us learn to become the heavenly family you
created. Amen.