If you don’t know my friend Rachel, you probably should. You can read some her blog about her teaching adventures in Chicago, and might catch a glimpse of the heart and love she puts into the children that she serves. I was reading a recent entry of her’s and was touched by how much she cared for the kids she worked with, and wanted to pat her on the back with a nice little comment: “it’s so great the work that you do and that you have such a heart for those kiddos.” And then I realized I was slipping into the dangerous place of vicariously serving, and also missing the whole point of Rachel’s heart.
What I’m trying to say is that way to often in our society, and particularly in Christian churches, there is a tendency to sit back apathetically and do pretty much nothing, and not do much of anything to address the social injustices (actually doing more to contribute to them). And the worst thing is we don’t even feel guilty about it. Instead we watch a movie like Dangerous Minds, Lean on Me, or Coach Carter, and we shed a tear and say things about how wonderfully selfless those teachers are. We give front line teacher’s like Rachel and Nate pats on the back, and we do nothing to address the cries of injustice that pour out through their experience.
Rachel writes:
why has no one helped danisha before now? why has she not received counseling for the death of her brother, the death she witnessed? why has no one been listening to me about the letters she has written when she says she is ready to die? why has she been in our school for five years without anyone doing anything about the fact that she obviously exhibits signs of sexual abuse? why am i the first teacher to realize that she has a boyfriend who is in and out of jail, who beat her, and that this might be a problem? why was no one available to take her in the office an hour earlier when i had tried to prevent something like this fight from happening?
And that folk’s is where you come in, because of a lot of the answers are: The reason nothing was done is because nobody who can really do something about it (you and I) really bothered to. We’re too busy telling our friend’s to check out Gridiron Gang. We should be going to school board meetings, voting for election candidates that actually care about addressing our unjust school system, and demanding the discrimination, racism and oppression that exist in this country be changed.
I’m all for tutoring programs and summer programs for kids, but the churches need to stop putting mediocre bandaids on this injustice and start addressing it.
That’s my rant. Please help.
This is one of the best blog entries I’ve ever read.
This is what I left on your blog… or what I would have said if it would have let me post a comment. Thanks for the shout out. And thank you for caring. Your blog reminded me about one of my favorite Dorothy Day quotes that says, “Don’t call me a saint. I don’t want to be dismissed that easily” I think a lot of times, maybe especially as Christians, it is too easy to pass the buck to the next person, assuming that something isn’t our calling, or being impressed by what seems impossible to us. But the fact is, all I’m doing everyday is getting out of bed. And it’s mostly not glamorous. And it doesn’t make me a saint. And, perhaps most importantly, the only hole that I am filling is the one that is shaped like me. I can’t fill the Ariah shaped hole, I can’t do the work of ten people. I can just do my work. Which is why it is so important that EVERYONE works. All that to say, thanks for the encouragement and for spreading the message I want to share to even more people. It makes a difference for Danisha, too. Thanks Ariah. I appreciate your ongoing support.