I have been totally immersed in watching and listening to the accounts of the mass murders of nine innocent church goers in Charleston, South Carolina last Wednesday night. They were at bible study. I literally broke down and cried when I first heard the news. I could hardly believe it. This cannot be true. Not in 2015. Somebody could actually harbor so much hate for a group of people that he would slaughter them? Gun them down in cold blood?
The alleged shooter (who has confessed to the heinous crime) is only 21 years old. Where does a 21 year old learn these ideologies? Why would he study the history of this particular church and target these particular people on that particular day? So many questions are going through my mind and a roller coaster of emotions. At first I was just so profoundly sad for the victims and their families…then came the anger that this could really happen in 2015; that no place is safe if you are black in America. Next I felt frustration. I wanted to do something. Take some action. Show my support. I was not able to go to Charleston but it was gratifying to see that thousands of people did go from all over the world to show their support and to send a strong message that hate will not win.
The alleged shooter said that he wanted to start a race war with his actions. It appears that the opposite reaction happened. It seems that more than Ferguson, more than Baltimore and the other race-related incidents over the past few years, this may be the one that gets a meaningful response that is not forgotten when the next big news story hits.
There are so many complex and interrelated issues that Charleston brings up for our country again from gun control to White Supremacist groups. In the immediate aftermath it is heartening to see that we are at least addressing symbols like the Confederate flag. There seems to be a groundswell of support to finally admit that it perpetuates a racist message and has no place in modern day America. As a matter of fact, the Confederate flag was resurrected in the 60’s as a way to protest the Civil Rights Movement.
However for me the major lesson was the response of the families of the deceased. At the arraignment proceedings last week, one after another, even in their profound grief, offered a message of forgiveness and love. At first I was shocked to hear these heartfelt words uttered from people who had just experienced such tragedy. After thinking about it for a bit, I realized that this is what I was taught in the AME Church where I worshipped as a child. If we profess to be Christians (Christ-like), we would indeed forgive.
I have to admit that forgiveness was not foremost in my mind. When I heard one of the family members say: “Hate won’t win”, I knew that I had to get myself together, to get my thinking right. The best way that I could help, is to deal with myself…to realize that if I continued to be angry, I would not be able to support my friends, family and clients in having meaningful conversations about race.
Hate won’t win.
What is the inclusion solution? Continue to promote positive messages of acceptance and yes love; the kind of love that Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr and Mother Theresa and Pope Francis and so many others throughout history have and are advocating for. Our acceptance must be accompanied by action such as the removing of the Confederate flag from flying over any skies ever again.
