How to Be an Interrupter. What a provocative title. An article with this title (found at this link) was sitting in my Facebook newsfeed. The words, thoughts and feelings jumped out at me and caused me to do some reflecting on my life and my relationship and experiences with my whiteness and how my views and passions have been shaped.

Kevin was my best friend. He was the one who taught me how to ride a bicycle. He was our neighbor. I never thought about the color of his skin. Our parents had raised us that people of all colors were equal.

It never occurred to me that I should not be friends with someone who was black. As a child, I did not know the history of the KKK. I did not know that Indiana was such a breeding ground for the Klan. When I was little, the town where I was born did not have very many people of color. One of the stories in our family is of the first time that we met someone who was black. My parents said that we stared and that they were embarrassed. My dad's coworker (the family who we were meeting) and my parents had us get out of the car and sit together (might have been at a picnic). Each party knew that it was the first encounter and they wanted it to be the beginning of inclusive and accepting eyes. Perhaps that is how Kevin got to be my friend. Perhaps it was those early days that formed me to believe all of God's people are precious in the eyes of God and in mine.

My experience with the Klan in West Virginia is what prompted me to assist with what used to be called the Klan Watch (located in Atlanta). Taking pictures of their activities and reporting them helped the organization know who some of the major players were. It taught me that this white girl could not and can not tolerate bigotry of any kind.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and God created human kind and called us all Good. All precious in God's eyes. As a creature of God, I have a responsibility to care about all of God's people. Our own baptismal covenant asks that we respect the dignity of every human being. We are asked to work towards justice and peace for all.

So many actions from the last several years have proven that racism is alive. Our systems are stacked against our brothers and sisters who are black. We need to rise up and make this a matter for all people and make some decisions about how we are going to act for all. We can not stand behind our white privilege. If Jesus were in his grave, he would be rolling over in it.

I am thankful that the Grace community has been willing to speak up against racism. I am eager to see what we will do next.

You will be hearing more from me about the actions of our churches General Convention, and what we had to say about the work the Church has to do for the rights for all people.

Are we ready to do a little interrupting?

-Shawn  

shawnschreiner@sbcglobal.net