Guest commentary by Charles Holmes
The conjoined twins of racism and politics, connected via several points along their central nervous systems, have become the focus of our attention again. This poor misshapen conflicted creature exists only to cause pain and promote animus and irreparable damage to every facet of humanity. Not hyperbole.
This time the twins have chosen a familiar form: blackface. I will not provide y’all with background information about the aberrant practice because I don’t want to, I don’t have to and if this is a brand-new subject for you then you are new to the planet. Please, allow me to escort you to our leader. But first I think I need to assay the line of accession for both federal and state governments. It shouldn’t take long.
It is not possible for me as a marked minority to endure the twins and their pernicious impact on my life for long spans of time without experiencing noxious anger and hate for the white people who consciously and unconsciously pamper and nurture the twins. As an African-American man, a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) elder, a true son of the Deep South – raised a mere stale biscuit’s throw from the banks of the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge, Louisiana – and a 30-plus year resident of Virginia, I am forced daily to try to assuage my hate and my pain by taking what the twins and their supporters force upon me and make racism-aid. Racism-aid is a concoction I mix as a means of keeping sane. I’ve made many pitchers but refuse to take a sip.
When I finish making a new pitcher of racism-aid, I pour it all out where I stand and it kills every living thing it touches. And if you’re wondering, the amount of sugar needed to make a single glass of racism-aid go down exceeds that of a lethal overdose for the average 180-pound human being.
The first step of my racism-aid making process is to seek solace from Scripture. I rely on the following:
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
“Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 8:12)
“So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. The joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 8:15)
These verses buoy my existence and make it possible to walk among those who choose to resist the very edicts of God and rely instead on the twins of racism and politics to ensure their position over people like me.
Can anything be done to help white people regain the ability to blush? To have shame? The reoccurring call whenever racism and politics enters the zeitgeist is “let’s sit down and talk about it.” Talking about the confluence of race and politics is tantamount to trying to separate potable water from a container of deadly poison. Difficult, but not impossible — a task requiring fortitude, access to power and a full measure of respect for all of humanity. At one time I thought “talking about it” held the potential to pursue better. I don’t think that anymore.
In order to optimize the potential impact and influence of sharing my thoughts, I must declare that I do not speak for all black people. Having a single voice articulating a consensus regarding available individual fixes and collective solutions would make it easy for white people to do something meaningful. It would make too easy the first step of a continuing multi-step panacea to racism and all of its as problematic “-ism” siblings and first cousins, designed to make them so small they can never again hold peace hostage just because they were allowed to do so in the past. And please do not wait on relief via the cinematic trope of a magical black person who can fix all problems and happily maintain the familiar social order. But know this: There is work for us to do together if better is desired. And I want better for me, for my family, for people I’ve never met.
As a recipient of blackface derision, I don’t expect some new age of enlightenment to follow the latest minstrelsy and racist acts of men of good character who hold elected office, or who are ordained church officers, or who are white people at large. The political machinations of those holding the high ground and calling for resignations and wielding the threat of articles of impeachment is old salt that has lost flavor. Their calculations to reset the racism smell test to a new minimum without having to make a hollow promise for better and not concede partisan ground to the opposition are nearing completion. These people who have direct access to the power and the ways and means necessary to implement change (if unheeded history is to follow course) will wait for the news cycles to wind down and the dust to settle and look forward to Halloween or the next theme party to blacken up again.
The way to keep the twins at bay is in our hands, Christians hands — the purveyors of change and rebirth. Worship of the past is why racism is so pervasive in politics yet that same past holds the best models for change. I recommend the writings of Anicius Serinus Manlius Boethius in his book “The Consolation of Philosophy” as the basis of teaching a cleaner line of Christian thinking. This book suggests a way to reconcile human thinking and the divine mind of God and establishes a path to a collective turning to better: Change the way people think and you can change how people act.
I am not asking white people for anything, but I know y’all can change. History documents it. I just won’t hold my breath while y’all ponder your next steps. I don’t think y’all can ever stop doing things like this if something inside y’all does not change. Now. Maybe then we can stop making racism-aid and instead drink living water together.
CHARLES LEE HOLMES serves as an elder in the Presbytery of the James in central Virginia. He believes everyone deserves a full measure of respect all the time and the benefit of the doubt most of the time.
