Cambridge incident

The recent incident that took place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is illustrative of the yet and still incendiary nature of race in America even considering the tremendous strides that have taken place the past 50 years.  This incident is indicative of where the progress that has been made over this period leaves us now, here in 2009.  It doesn’t leave us in a post-racial era as many have theorized after the election of the country’s first multiracial (but black in appearance) President.  Neither does it leave us in a society where race is strictly seen in terms of black and white because race in the 21st century has taken on all the dimensions of the color spectrum given the influx of new immigrants experienced by the country over the last several decades.  The dilemma of race in America has taken on a whole new meaning and the only way you can appreciate the subtleties of the difference is when incidents like the one in Cambridge arise.

Recently, the Advocacy Committee for Racial Ethnic Concerns studied the implications for the church and society of this newest manifestation of America’s racial dilemma. One of the references the committee used was the book Racial Paranoia by John L. Jackson, Jr.  In his book Jackson summarizes the current dilemma in this way:

The country’s history of racial oppression has created a “culture of racial paranoia” at the heart of contemporary American life.  It’s difficult for descendents of past victims (and perpetrators) to believe that they are truly safe from racial hatred and discrimination today, even and especially when they can’t see it.  Race-based paranoia becomes a simplistic “racism detector” that attempts to see past superficial racial egalitarianism and into the hidden heart of de cardio racisms that may never see the light of day. 

For Jackson the country has progressed from an era of de jure racism (based on the law), to de facto racism (in reality or fact), to de cardio racism which is much more subtle but no less real or effective and the country’s response is racial paranoia.  Incidents like the one in Cambridge provide revealing examples of this new racial dilemma.  A study outline and discussion starter for this timely book is provided here for your reference.

Study and conversations on the subject of race are important for the church. A pastoral letter called “Sacred Conversation on Race” to the constituents of the United Church of Christ offers this observation:

There may be those who would object to these conversations, who would cry “peace, peace,” when there is no peace — and who would insist that the civil rights movement leveled the playing field years ago or would contend that we now live in a “post-race” society.  This reasoning denies the deep racial divisions that still exist in our country and trivializes the pervasiveness of contemporary racism.  If we fail to acknowledge honestly these racial tensions or to examine their underlying causes, the anger, backlash, and misunderstanding that are resident in our communities will only go underground and fester.  We will continue to be susceptible to the tactics of those who wish to keep us racially divided and distracted from addressing the issues we share in common.

The Advocacy Committee for Racial Ethnic Concerns sees its role as helping to facilitate such conversations and in so doing assist the church to work towards resolving the racial dilemma that confronts it and the broader society.

Read news coverage of the Cambridge incident.

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