The problem with neutral.

Some wise words from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I just read this from this article and it’s really challenged me. This excerpt in particular:

MLK wrote in The Letter from Birmingham Jail that the folks he was disappointed by weren’t the hate filled people who spat on him and jailed him, weren’t the people who hurled slurs at him and beat him, weren’t the people who sent hate mail and bombed his home. The people in whom he was disappointed were the white moderate. Here is just a portion of his quote:

“First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action;” who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a “more convenient season.”

Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”

Friends, may we learn from the pages of our history and determine not to be known as the generation that writes the sequel of that dark story titling it, “Neutral.”

Therefore…

May we renounce the evil of racism when we see it.

May we resist evil with our actions when we see it.

May we rebuild a future using whatever means the Lord has given us to create a world where equality is celebrated and any form of racism is condemned.

May we be willing to lay down our lives and our reputations for the sake of a brother and sister, for Jesus declares that true love is seen in our willingness to do so.

May we remember that before we are American, we are human, all of us created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27). May this be the starting point of every human interaction we have.

May white people do the hard and uncomfortable work of introspection to investigate our own biases that we are living with and have been unaware of.

May we lavish a scandalous level of grace on one another and especially to those who struggle to move forward in this journey towards racial reconciliation.

May we accept that we’re not just in a human dilemma, we are the human dilemma. May we see that what is needed most is not a new president, new government, or new programs — but a new heart. For the heart of the problem is the problem of the human heart. God, have mercy on us and change our hearts.

There are not many sides.

There are only two sides.

It is quite simple.

One is the side for racism and white supremacy

and the other is the side for equality.

And herein lies the problem with neutrality and the problem is that there is no middle ground between these two sides. Racism and equality are mutually exclusive agendas and will never and can never coexist. To condone one side at any level is to condemn the other side on every level.

And some things need to be condemned without hesitation and some things need to not only be condoned, but even more they must be celebrated without hesitation.

You don’t get to not choose what side you’re on.

So may you condone and celebrate only that which is true

righteous

honorable

selfless

loving

and anything else that will create a future and a world that the next generation will be thankful to inherit.

Let’s not write a sequel. Let’s write an entirely different and better story.