Racism is still a Cancer in American Culture!!!

Dear Saints of God:

I greet you in the name of our Risen Christ. He is ALIVE! Alleluia.

I hope that you are still living into the joy and power of Easter. It is at this time that we are particularly reminded of God’s power, power to overcome that which so many still fear - death. God through the resurrection shows us that He is a God of hope and life. He wants us to live in eternity with Him. This is possible for us as Christians through our faith is Jesus who is the first-born from the dead. It is with this faith that we understand the love of God for us, a love which demands of us to treat other human beings with respect and dignity.

Racism is the opposite of respect and dignity for each other. It has the effect of a cancer that eats away at the moral fiber of a person and a nation. It was the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who said, “For too long the depth of racism in American life has been underestimated. The surgery to extract it is necessarily complex and detailed. As a beginning it is important to X-ray our history and reveal the full extent of the disease.” The X-ray results are in and show clearly that we in the 21 st century must no longer underestimate this cancer in American culture, but must with radical surgery seek to remove its dehumanizing impact upon civil society. For me, it was certainly not a total surprise, that the recent outcry in our Nation in response to Don Imus’s racist remarks evoked such a swift response by his superiors with sufficient consequences to demonstrate to those who would seek to promote such racist tendencies that the 21 st century will be intolerant to such repulsive behavior. I dare say that this is not just a position which must permeate secular institutions, but must be championed within Christian communities where racism still challenges authentic witness. The Christian message on racism must be clear and emphatic…it will not be condoned!

Certainly, the controversy stirred by Don Imus in his Radio/TV broadcast with respect to his racist remarks about the Rutgers Women’s Basketball team was exposed in the way it was because technology helped to provide instant and sharp critique to what would have normally been a laughing matter in a board room or some other private arena. Racism is no longer a laughing matter. It is a beast that must be silenced and destroyed. It is a cancer that unlike other cancers, this one has a cure. The cure is LOVE and RESPECT for each other!

It is my hope and prayer that as we have witnessed the fall of Don Imus from his tower of repugnant journalism that the Christian Church, in particular, we in the Episcopal Church double our efforts to deal with the sin of racism among us and in the name of our resurrected Christ, stamp it out from communities of worship where its covert nature hinders all of God’s children from truly serving Him and each other in unity, constancy and peace. Good Lord, deliver us!

Together, sharing the Gospel

Fr. Trevor+