Getting back to the BYU volleyball game, I remember seeing some comments that the game should have been stopped, by either of the coaches or by the officials.
I didn't go into that much. I felt like handling it well would require researching NCAA policy, and would there be a point in that? Regardless, it leads to this week's post by raising the question of how mad people would have gotten if the came had been called.
(And if they had gotten mad for a women's volleyball game, imagine for a televised football game!)
But fighting racism is worth making people mad.
I have written about dealing with the discomfort of doing the right thing (especially regarding bigotry) many times, most specifically here:
https://preparedspork.blogspot.com/2019/02/sitting-with-uncomfortable.html
I am not going to do a full recap of that, but I do want to get into some reasons why we should be embracing that discomfort.
Usually when I am writing about accepting this discomfort, it is for our own learning. That is true for the changes that we need to personally make, as recognition and remorse are necessary steps in repentance.
It is also helpful in recognizing things that are bigger than us. If we only think of racism as people either being racist or not being racist, we miss all that happens and is reinforced via systemic racism. That prevents progress, not just because there are too many unrecognized parts of the system, but also because when you put everything on the individual it feels too mean to call someone that you like "racist".
Saying that something is wrong is important, but before you can say it you need to know it. Feeling that something is not right and exploring that feeling can be the first step.
And then saying something can be really uncomfortable, especially when you are telling that person that you like that something they are saying or doing is racist.
It is needed for their learning too.
Our church specifically emphasizes that we are here to help each other, with one part of that being "perfecting the saints". We believe in being a light on a hill, and not a light hidden under a bushel. We are told those things are right, but I hope we also have some love for the people around us, wanting them to do well, and become better, and wanting conditions to improve for those who are suffering from society's wrongs.
We should not be ignoring evils like racism.
Let's think about that person whom you care about, that you do not want to call a racist; you don't think they really actively are, but they sure say some things that can't be right.
A lot of that may just be habit, but it's a habit that makes them feel good. When they feel like they are not going to have that option anymore, they get unreasonably angry because that feels like they are losing their place.
Yes, I write this thinking of Ralph Nader talking about how ethnic jokes used to relieve tension, but I also write this as the daughter of a man who once was physically assaulted for not letting go of the Polish jokes with someone of Polish background. It was the other guy who got punished, because verbal assault is legal and physical is not, but I still have sympathy for him.
Don't be fooled: that "release of tension" comes from the high of feeling superior to someone else. That is very natural man. In addition, that superiority that you derive from the color of your skin or your gender or other things that are simply how you are, and not a matter of the choices you make and the things you do, are delusions. They hold you back from improving. They put other people in danger. The best-case scenario is that the worst thing it makes you is a jackass.
For all of those people coasting on their higher position in the patriarchy, there are others who are actively promoting it, working to spread racism and to be abusive. There are some horrifying examples that we may very well get to in other posts.
So this goes back to our responsibility to others: we need to make things unpleasant for them because otherwise we are creating a safe space for abuse.
When you ignore the things you can ignore, and try to quietly shush the things you can't ignore, the message you are sending is that abuse is fine. Whether that is child abuse by respected leaders, or police brutality, or wage theft, you are saying you would rather not deal with it, especially if it isn't hurting you directly.
That keeps the abuse flowing downhill, because those with the least means to fight the exploitation are going to receive the brunt of it.
No follower of Christ can accept that.
Did any of this make you uncomfortable? Good. Focus on that.
See where it leads.
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