Three Evils

Some Things Will Never Change

The triple evils are racism, economic exploitation, and militarism. MLK, jr.

And he went on to say, "The great problem and the great challenge facing mankind today is to get rid of war … We have left ourselves as a nation morally and politically isolated in the world."

Has anything changed?

Racism

It is still with us. FBI data released in October 2023, showed there were 11,643 reported hate crimes in 2022. Other datasets show the numbers are likely much higher. The Bureau of Justice Statistics, for example, reported U.S. residents experienced about 246,900 hate crime victimizations each year between 2005 and 2019. (USA today) Statistics show most hate crimes are based on bias against people of color.

Economic Exploitation

The wealth gap continues to grow. This is from the Federal Reserve:

Black Families’ Wealth

• Black families’ median wealth was $45,000 in 2022, growing 66% from 2019.
• As a group, Black families owned 2% of total household wealth despite making up 11% of households.
• Black families had 16 cents per dollar of white median wealth.
• The Black-white gap grew to $242,000—up $47,000 from 2019

Income inequality is a global issue with several causes, including historical racism, unequal land distribution, high inflation, and stagnant wages. As gaps increase thanks to crises like COVID-19, the world needs to take action in education, labor market policies, tax reforms, and higher wages. (various online sources)

War

Of immediate concern to Dr. King was the percentage of African Americans fighting in the Vietnam War. According to the Library of Congress, African Americans made up 31% of the ground combat troops in Vietnam, while African Americans made up 12% of the population. Most of those fighting on the ground in Vietnam were draftees. Today's army is all volunteer.  

Big picture, there was concern funding for the war took funding away from social programs. In the 60's, the government spent on both the war and domestic projects. The economy over-heated and inflation went up. The increases in the cost of living affects the poor more.

Internationally, war affects women and children the most. It also displaces people, drives immigration,  increases poverty and suffering, and causes famine.

There are more conflicts now than at any time since the Second World War. "Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, stating that peace — the United Nations’ raison d’être — “is now under grave threat”, observed that people’s sense of safety and security is at an all-time low in almost every country.  Six out of seven worldwide are plagued by feelings of insecurity, the world is facing the highest number of violent conflicts since the Second World War and 2 billion people — a quarter of humanity — live in places affected by such conflict.  Recalling the Secretary-General’s words that “the world is at a key inflection point in history,” she underscored the need to rethink efforts to achieve sustainable peace." (United Nations)

Can things change? Yes! Will it be easy? No! Change I'll come about if we address the root causes of war. What? King would refer you back to the first two Evils on his list. West Point offers more perspective: Bumbling leaders, ancient hatreds, intransigent ideologies, dire poverty, historic injustices, and a huge supply of weapons and impressionable young men.

The Harvard Business Review (Ross Kanter) came up with ten reasons people resist change. The application was for business change, but I think the same reasons apply to social change.

Loss of control

Excess uncertainty

Surprise! surprise!

Everything seems different

Loss of face

Concerns about competence

More work

Ripple effects

Past resentments

Sometimes the threat is real 

Without change, there can be no progress. If there is no change, the number affected will climb beyond two billion. The world will be at war.

Things That Work / All who are hungry come and eat!

Generosity starts when you open the door.

There’s a dramatic moment in the Passover seder, in which we open the door and declare, “let all who are hungry come and eat!” ... Whatever your religion, I pray that the Jewish model inspires you. 

- Michael Rothbaum

What would happen if we took our generosity beyond ritual and made it our way of life? What if our political will was focused on systemic change to create a fair and just society?

There are solid reasons behind systemic change that benefit all of us.

According to the World Bank, Social protection systems help individuals and families, especially the poor and vulnerable, cope with crises and shocks, find jobs, improve productivity, invest in the health and education of their children, and protect the aging population.

You might not know it from our politics, but the United States is the third most generous country in the world, behind Indonesia and Kenya. That's according to the Charities Aid Foundation. Their report provides insight into the scope and nature of giving around the world by examining three aspects of giving behavior. The questions at the heart of the report are: Have you done any of the following in the past month? 

• Helped a stranger, or someone you didn’t know who needed help? 

• Donated money to a charity?  

• Volunteered your time to an organization?

Our politics set tribes against each other. We have politics driven by scarcity, fear, hate, sexism, xenophobia, grievances, homophobia, nationalism, and white supremacy. Politicians are adept at personal attack and character assassination. But what would happen if we discussed differences based on policies instead of personal attack?

To have generosity of spirit is to act with kindness, to be open and willing to share with others without any expectation of receiving something back in return. It means to celebrate the success and efforts of others without envy or resentment. -Wellington College Apr 27, 2020

Systemic racism and discrimination against the poor are the antitheses of the generosity of the spirit. More about this is made clear in the book of Proverbs.

One person gives freely, yet gains even more;

    another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

A generous person will prosper;

    whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.

—Proverbs 11:24–25

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord,

    and he will reward them for what they have done.

—Proverbs 19:17

 

Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor

    will also cry out and not be answered.

—Proverbs 21:13

The righteous care about justice for the poor,

    but the wicked have no such concern.

—Proverbs 29:7

A system that is based on respect for the other, is based on listening first, based on empathy instead of sympathy, based on action over words, based on helping over taking charge.

Hate the system that made your brother evil. It is the system we must destroy.
- Clark V. Poling

Debunking The Myths About Reparations

Think about racism as a systemic sin

Michael Woolf and Michael C.R. Neighbors, two pastors from the Illinois city of Evanston, are leading their congregations because they believe Evanston is prepared to talk about and carry out  reparations. The entire community has been working on issues of race and justice for years.

What I find appealing about their efforts is how these two pastors from Evanston use the bible to promote positive change and inclusiveness, and a just society, as opposed to condemnation and exclusion. Their efforts also take on the systemic racism that permeates our country. Click on this link to read the entire article in Sojourners.

How two pastors in Illinois have been addressing their churches’ concerns about reparations.


"When Jesus stands up to preach his first sermon in Luke 4:16-20, he asserts that he has come to liberate the oppressed; we believe reparations aid in the spiritual and economic liberation described in that sermon."

Are reparations actually in the Bible? Yes!

"When the Hebrews are liberated from their bondage under Pharoah, they receive gold and silver from their former oppressors as reparation (Exodus 12:35b-36). Likewise, later in the biblical narrative, Jerusalem receives reparations when the people return after exile: King Darius uses the royal treasury to fulfill the reparations even though he was not the king who forced them to abandon their homeland (Ezra 6:1-12). It was not King Darius’ personal wrongdoing that caused him to offer reparations. Rather, it was his recognition that his nation had committed a sin against the people of Israel. Repeatedly in scripture, reparations establish equality and enable new futures (Deuteronomy 15:12-15; Ezekiel 33:15; Proverbs 6:30-31; Luke 19:1-9)."

Aren't reparations the opposite of grace?

"While forgiveness and grace are God’s prerogative, such gifts do not free us from taking responsibility to restore broken relationships and systems (James 2:17; Matthew 5:23-24). To argue otherwise is to advocate for a cheap grace, which Dietrich Bonhoeffer noted is not grace at all. True grace is costly. Perhaps the best example of costly grace is found in the story of Zacchaeus who is so overwhelmed by the grace of God that he is compelled to make restitution with those he cheated (Luke 19:1-9)."

Their churches have played a part, as they've joined together in studying James Cones’ The Cross and the Lynching Tree, creating social programs, and leading community conversations about reparations. They are committed to continuing that work of repair through preaching and teaching in our churches, and developing long overdue initiatives that will promote equity among our people so that our children and grandchildren will see and live in a better world.

I find their use and interpretation of the Bible positive and life affirming. It is preferable to those who use the scriptures to condemn, discriminate, justify greed, slavery, and genocide and use the Bible to exclude people based on race and gender identity. 

Fighting Racism

You're a Racist!!!!

Uh...that might not work.

Even white supremiscists don't like being called a racist. Their rsposne might be, "you're a racist!" It reminds me of the second grade.

Standing idly by is not an option, but how do we approach this? How can we call people out without a confrontation? Perhaps, we need to start with unconscious biases and unintentional racism. And a great place to start might be ourselves. The first thing you should get over is an almost automatic response, "I haven't got a racist bone in my body!"

Last year, NPR's Eric Deggans came out with a post on Life Kit, 'Not Racist' Is Not Enough: Putting In The Work To Be Anti-Racist. You may know him as NPR's TV critic. He's also spent years exploring how systemic racism affects media and society. He's written a book about it, called Race-Baiter, and built a TEDx talk around how to talk about race across racial lines. Deggans says, "As a Black man who speaks often on these subjects, I find race, racism and anti-racism to be things people think they know but often don't – at least, not as well as they think they do."

Deggans came up with four tips to help us deal with these issue. 

If you have an issue with Tip#1, you have a lot of work to do if you're really serious about this.

Tip #1: Accept that we've all been raised in a society that elevates white culture over others. Being anti-racist will mean first challenging those notions inside yourself.

There's a whole political party that wants to keep you from discovering Tip#2. Somehow, learning the truth is anit-patriotic.

Tip #2: Learn the history of racism and anti-racism, especially in America, to educate yourself about the complexities of the issues you'll be confronting.

Broadening your experience, being open to new ideas (Tip #3), can be enlightening.

Tip #3: Seek out films and TV shows which will challenge your notions of race and culture and dive in deeply, learning to see anti-racism in new ways.

Instead of leading the charge, ask how you can help. Reinventing the wheel only /causes tjose wheels to spin.

Tip #4: Find local organizations involved in anti-racism efforts – preferably led by people of color – and help uplift their voices and ideas.

What is Systemic Racism?

Defining Systemic Racism in 12 Charts

Ending racism is not a matter of poor people pulling themselves up by their bootstraps. Its a matter of the system being stacked against African Americans, and more broadly the poor.

I'm summarizing the article from USA Toady dated June 18, 2020.

Glenn Harris, president of Race Forward says systemic racism leads to disparities in many "success indicators," he says, including wealth, health, criminal justice, employment, housing, political representation and education. 

Disparities start in the delivery room

Black women die 3 times more often giving birth

Pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 live births

Black Americans are dying at a disproportionate rate from COVID-19

Black Americans are also almost twice as likely as white Americans to lack health insurance, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, making it difficult to receive proper care. Disparities are seen across a number of chronic diseases, as well as in the current pandemic.

Black men and women live shorter lives

From the classroom to the C-suite ...

In schools, Black students face disproportionate suspension rates. For instance, Black girls often receive more severe penalties for the same behavior as white peers, experts say. They are nearly 6 times more likely to get out-of-school suspension. The disparities continues through graduation rates and college.

Black unemployment rate among highest

Four Fortune 500 CEOS are black

Black median household income trails other races

Black homeownership rates remain lowest in US

Black poverty rate more than double white rate

Criminal justice

Black men are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police than white men, according to a study from the University of Michigan, Rutgers University and Washington University. Bias has also been documented in plea bargains and sentencing. After decades of rising incarceration rates that followed the “get tough on crime’’ mandate of the 1980s, ’90s and early 2000s, the problem of mass incarceration is slowly declining, according to Pew Research data.Voices in Washington

Voices in Washington

According to Pew Research, African Americans view “political representation as a potential catalyst for increased racial equality.” However, voter suppression remains a critical issue. While there has been increased Black political leadership in the House of Representatives, the Senate only has three Black senators. 

All of this data is backed by decades of research.