I Love Alton (My Thoughtful Response)

When I saw the Alton Sterling headline, then video, then second video, I was in waves of deep sadness and truly pissed off both at the fact that it happened and at what I knew it would painfully mean for so many people I care about.

First….. I love Alton

Let me convey my feeling and deep conviction that the lost life of a Baton Rouge man, a father of five, and a bearer of the image of God is heart breaking, harsh, and disturbing to say the least. Alton Sterling was about 1 year older than me and had one more child than me. One of my favorite guys at our church is named Alton. I love Alton. I can only imagine the pain.

Second….. The Crazy Cycle

Let me point out something really important that I see and I will call The Crazy Cycle.  In these events of race-involved violence there are two things that happen: (#1) the response to the event itself and (#2) the reaction to everyone else’s reactions. Most of what we see on social media (and sadly most of what we do) is #2…reactions to people’s reactions, and it often spins out of control with many people making “a point” with their words and few people “making a difference” with their words. That is the crazy cycle. I hate it.

Words For Different Groups:

An Encouragement to ALL Christians regardless of background: 

• Believe the Gospel you believe. We serve the True God of Elijah at Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18) who is real, alive, and active in our communities and lives. We do not serve the aloof, unresponsive, false god of the prophets of Baal or of today’s agnostic moralism. We know and have seen God’s incredible love and perfect justice on full display at the cross of Christ where Jesus died in our place (Rom. 5:8). We know that we will see the risen Christ return and make all things right and all things new. We believe the Word of God that declares, “It is God who works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed” (Ps. 103:6). For all of us who have put our faith and hope in this Gospel, this country (even a utopian America) is not the home our hearts long for.

A Word to white friends 

• Respond.
  • Respond to the event by being genuinely angry and grieved. Try not to react to reactions, because no good ever comes from that.
• Acknowledge.
  • Acknowledge the feelings of those hurt and angry by events like these.
  • Acknowledge that you do have it easier being white (i.e. majority culture).
  • Acknowledge that there are real problems with racism and racial injustice in our country.
  • Acknowledge the ridiculousness of discussing a deceased person’s record of criminal offenses unrelated to the situation at hand.
  • Acknowledge that you don’t have all the answers and that you don’t know what it feels like to be non-white.
  • Acknowledge your cross cultural incompetence (i.e. you think saying “I’m color blind” is a helpful statement, but it’s not).
  • Acknowledge and agree that a long silence is not a good and supportive response to any problem.
  • Acknowledge that everything I just listed out to acknowledge is legitimate and realize that you lose little and gain much by being quicker to acknowledge these realities.
• Listen.
  • Find an African-American friend and listen to their feelings and perspectives on these events with no agenda other than understanding them. Don’t just listen to the news, social media, and definitely not just your own hunches.

Word to African-American friends 

• Don’t assume.
  • Don’t assume that silence on a complex issue means that your white brothers and sisters in Christ are heartless or racist. Many white Christians are fearfully walking on eggshells in the race conversation right now because they are afraid of saying something unhelpful and, to be honest, they are afraid of being blasted with a reaction similar to that which they are frequently seeing and reading everywhere on social media. Please note, this ‘fear’ does not excuse the silence, but it is a much more accurate explanation for the silence. Baiting our white brothers and sisters in Christ to speak up through caricaturing them as heartless and racist (which they know is not true) will not prove to be effective.
• Press in.
  • Press in to the multi-generational and multi-cultural body of Christ. As legitimately tempting and difficult as it may be, do not retreat from your non African-American circles of friends and especially your local church. This robs them and you of friendship, perspective sharing, and growth, and it functionally puts racial identity above identity in Christ.

Word to Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and others

• You have a right to feel ignored.
  • You have an important story and a very valid minority experience and that fact is often overshadowed and rarely acknowledged to the degree that it should be by both whites and African-Americans.
• Embrace the story and your possible part in it.
  • This white/black racial tension around us is part of the American story past and present and that makes it your story too. Embrace your neighbors and don’t be indifferent or resentful toward these issues. You may be able to play a key third-party role (Phil 4:2-3) in bringing about healing and unity.

Committed to: feeling, praying, listening, thinking, responding, speaking, leading, acting, hoping, & believing.