2.20.21 What is a Racist?

Borrowed from a friend:

I recently posted my sorrow over the death of a public person whom I deeply respect. One of the comments, which I deleted, said that any death is sad, BUT, the person I had posted about was a  racist. 

So what does that mean about the deceased person? Does that mean he indeed was a racist just because the charge was lobbed at him? Does that mean his lifestyle was hateful towards any and all non Caucasians? Or does that mean he said things that a person from an opposite world view can only interpret as racist; and yet from his own world view it was anything but racist? Does lobbing the word, “racist” around mean that because, in our opinion, the person had some thoughts we couldn't think through or interpret correctly, we should decide that person isn't worthy of life? Does calling someone racist cancel them out as a person no matter what other positive things they said or whatever good they may have done in this world? Does that mean our association with them by default is racist? Are we setting ourselves up as the almighty god of this world in our mostly unfounded criticisms of others?

And how does one come to the determination of someone being defined as a racist? or as a “hateful” person? What does being a racist mean? How does one really define it? It seems to be an all encompassing term for anything that doesn't agree with the common narrative of being “luving”. No, not “loving”, but luving.....a squishy and  another nebulous idea. In this world we have “thought police.” If one commits the sin of noticing differences and remarking on them, he is called a racist. If one commits the sin of empathizing with the wrong people group, he is called a racist. If one commits the sin of using the common pronouns he or she; or horrors, using the pronoun “he” to cover the genders as I am dong, that is hate speech. Really? How have we come this “far”? 

Those who lob the term racist at other people think they are defending a people group. And yet all too often the term is lobbed ignorantly and the lob in itself is sent out as a negative pronouncement on another people group....the people group who don't think the same way the lobber thinks. So in the end, lobbing the term racist and/or hater around actually means the lobber also is racist against a certain group of people or is hateful towards a certain type of people. 

Going back to the original paragraph.....where the person I was mourning was called a racist. Did the lobber even know anything of that person's life? Did he know that that person's closest friend and co worker was non Caucasian? Did he know that that person had many influential non Caucasians informing his life and whom he had employed? Did the lobber look at all the words spoken or at least consider the greater context of those words to inform the lob? Or was the lobber schooled by sitting in front of the TV for 4 hours a day his entire life listening to the  broader media telling him what to think about everything and more specifically, what to think about this person's character? Was the lobber informed by family members who disagreed with commentary by the person being mourned?  Had the lobber ever taken one minute to think about the deceased person's world view and taken the time interpret what he said through a prism he wasn't familiar with? 

It is easy to lob globs of monikers at people and it is a lot harder to really examine what a person is trying to say even if we think we disagree with it. It is a lot harder to take a step out of our own boots and step into the other person's boots and try to understand them. It is a lot harder to look at the other person's life and see if what we understand as hateful or racist is lived out consistently with the way we have chosen to interpret their words. It is a lot harder to take into consideration the broader context of what someone has said over a lifetime. And if we do that, if we examine their life and find it inconsistent with the way we've interpreted some of their words, do we give them grace or has the sin of the idea we have in our heads of what racism or being a “hater” is, erased all grace? 

It is also easy to listen to the media's interpretation of people and their words. But do we ever do our own research? Almost everyone here knows that recently someone I dearly love was smeared by the media and so by extension anyone who associates with him has been smeared. And yet, has anyone taken the time to research the “quotes” attributed to that despicable hateful racist? (You know, the “quotes” which were words strung together and taken out of context so that they became egregious? The “quotes” that weren't even quotes but something that person had quoted and said he disagreed with? Yes, those “quotes”.)  Has anyone looked at his life and seen the overall kindness and charity he extends to all people in all walks of life? Or does the term “hateful” and “racist” now cancel out everything he has ever said and all has ever done? Does the media get the final word on who this person is and who his acquaintances really are? Friendships are severed because people cannot think independently but must be informed by the broader culture we live in and the media has a party because they have done their dirty work and harmed another soul, possibly many souls, through their lies, lobbing of undefined and yes, “hateful” terms, and shoddy journalism. Is that not the hateful behavior they accuse others of? 

What kind of a world do we live in where someone is mourning the death of a person and someone else intimates that that life was worth nothing because in their unfounded opinion he was a racist? What kind of a world are we living in when we call for the embracing of diversity but at the same time hate those who might not think the same way we do? This world is upside down and it is up to us to start using our God given brains and think through the words that are lobbed around with the same hate the lobbers say they despise. It's our choice to jump on the bandwagon of hating the accused “hater” or to take a step back and ask questions and extend charity. If we despise those who in our estimation commit the sin of hating and judge that hatefulness without context, then we despise ourselves.