I watched a disturbing video over the weekend. The scene was a black pastor standing in a city square in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The pastor had a megaphone and wore a mask. In the video I watched, the pastor was decrying racism and calling for reparations in memory of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre where by some counts well more than 100 black people were slaughtered by a white mob.
I don’t know how long the pastor stood there preaching into the megaphone before and after the 3-minute video was taken. I can imagine the loud booming voice coming from the megaphone might have been a bit annoying and seemed inflammatory to the crowd. And I suppose some could take intellectual issue with what the pastor was saying.
What was shocking and gut wrenching for me, though, was watching the white crowd of at least 50 – almost none wearing masks – mocking the black masked pastor. One man walked right up close to him and offered him a dollar bill, saying “how much you want? Is this enough”? Two other women then approached him, coming up very close to him, and started stroking his arm in complete mockery. These women were unmasked, clearly violating safe social distancing to make him uncomfortable about COVID-19 transmission. Several of the white crowd carried signs and shouted “USA! USA!” and “Freedom! Liberty!”. Another shouted at him “do you believe in Jesus”?
You might disagree with someone or even completely oppose their words or actions, but does it really warrant – ever – this public mocking, this ganging up on someone? This open mocking of another person is inhumane and even worse when crowds feed on each other to treat another human with such vile contempt. I have been asking myself when did we get this mean with each other? What is it about the upbringing of that crowd of mockers that made them think their behavior was ok? Did they think about whether they were setting a good example for their kids of treating people with dignity? Do they treat their family and friends with contempt? Strangers? Anyone with whom they disagree? Maybe the individual cowards in the crowd felt at ease behind the power of 50:1 odds.
Of course, mocking crowds are not unique to Tulsa white people, or even white people in general. For all recorded time some human beings have treated other human beings as if they were less than human, with shocking and utter disdain. But in “Christian America” where we supposedly follow a Savior who preached peace?
Lest you think I am missing the “timber in my own eye,” the video brought back a memory to me of which I am not proud. I remember being an undergraduate at my University. There was a fiery preacher who stood in a main gathering area almost every afternoon with his microphone and speaker, preaching for us college students to repent, that our judgment day was coming. And as you might guess, I and many others walking by would laugh at him and mock him as we walked into the bar next door.
And speaking of timbers in your eye, where were the Christians when the black pastor in Tulsa was preaching? Were some, perhaps many, of the crowd practicing Christians? Who came over to stand with him? Who stood up to call on the crowd to be more civil and humane? How many of those 50 white people mocking the black preacher on Friday were going to be in church on Sunday singing praises to our Lord and Savior? I wonder.
It made me think of when Jesus was captured and was being tried. He was put in front of the crowd and they mocked him. As he carried his cross, the crowd mocked him. As he hung being crucified, the crowd mocked him. Even for those who didn’t grow up or are not believers in the Christian faith, the mockery of the black preacher as he stood alone should be sickening, and the ganging up on someone should be an affront to all decent people.
11 “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12, RSV)
And for the current Christian church, do we look into that black man’s eyes just above his mask at see the face of Jesus? Where are we? What are we doing if we are not standing with the persecuted? Maybe we are part of the crowd mocking, just as Jesus’ followers did to him. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus also said:
16 You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. 18 A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will know them by their fruits. (Matthew 7: 16-20, RSV)
Where was the American version of the Christian church during the United States’ dark time of slavery, during the Jim Crow era, during… now? American Christians were trees bearing “evil fruit”, either by actively using religion to oppress or simply with our complicit silence.
And with the Tulsa example, it seems as though the Christians in the crowd are again not bearing fruit. When will we bear “good fruit”? If I sit idly by, am I just one of the mocking crowd too? I don’t have answers today. Just questions. And what I am searching for is a reason to not give up on organized American Christianity.
Not that my personal opinion matters, but yes I think standing idly by makes a person complicit. There is a great theological movie from the 90s called “American President” The protagonist Andrew Shepard states (I am paraphrasing) that we need to fight for someones right to stand on a street corner proclaiming a stance, that we would spend a life time opposing. Therefore, I believe that pastor had every right to proclaim whatever he wanted.
He doesn’t deserve to be mocked. Nobody does.
As far as dehumanizing black and brown bodies, I think our country has a long history of doing just that. I don’t know if our country ever “became” that way. Unfortunately, I think it has always been present… it’s just now being filmed. Lynchings have been photographed and referred – I often wonder if the cruxifixction were on a camera phone… would we stop and notice? would #JusticeforJesus trend on Twitter. Then would the hashtag fade into the background as new hashtags replace it???
Hi Chris, We are living in an intolerant time. People are not listening with their hearts. It’s like living in a hornet’s nest. As Christians we are called to love and accept others. If we are in the midst of strangers who do not accept us, Christ told his disciples to shake the dust off of their feet and go to another town to tell the “good news.” I had a unfortunate time in my university where I was involved in a student religious organization. Things happened where I was ostracized. I never lost God but I lost my taste for organized religion. It was about 10 years before I knew that organized religion is filled with sinners like myself who are trying to follow the Lord. I think when groups are led by petty, biased, and mean people like what happened in OK, they get brave and do things that individually they would never think of doing.
Chris I appreciate this “call to conscience” very much, your voice is important in this time. Let’s keep
hearing it.