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Thoughts on Ferguson and Michael Brown Friday, November 28, 2014 Rabbi Mark Shapiro
This is what has occurred to me of late: We take a great deal for granted. I'm not referring here to the standard Thanksgiving mantra that reminds us how "thankful" we ought to be for the blessings of family, friendship, and the very simple fact that we almost never need to go hungry.
For us, stuffing isn't only the tasty mixture we devour on Thanksgiving. Stuffing is what we are able to do almost any day of the week. We ought not to take for granted how we are mostly able to stuff ourselves any day of any week. Everyone knows this, and, at our best, we know we should be thankful for the plenitude of America.
What has occurred to me of late about taking matters for granted, however, goes elsewhere.
But here's what occurred to me as I thought twice about God's command to Abraham: Lech Lecha... Get up and go.
Get up and travel. What did that really mean? In a world without Holiday Inns... in a world without MapQuest...
in a world without highways... in a world without electric lights or restaurants... in the ancient world where most
people probably didn't journey more than ten miles beyond their birthplace in their entire lives!
We ought not to take this story for granted.
This time around it is Abraham's grandson, Jacob, who heads off on a journey. Having swindled his brother, Esau, out of their father's blessing, Jacob has to run away from home and Esau's anger. That is why, at the beginning of this week's Torah portion, Jacob finds himself alone in the desert as the sun sets.
Again... no GPS... no motels... no roadside diners... no electricity to light up the night. Jacob is alone... and it occurred to me of late... Jacob must be terrified. The Torah has already told us he is a homebody. In last week's Torah portion, we've learned that he rarely went out into the world. Now he is in the middle of nowhere, which means that if we read the story seriously, we need to imagine how uncertain and alone Jacob must truly feel.
In that circumstance, then, I read the promise he received from God in a dream with much greater sensitivity.
Suddenly, I realized how significant the words of God are for Jacob.
That is what I realize this week of Ferguson, demonstrations, and memories of Michael Brown we take for granted.
African Americans do not have this luxury.
They do not hear Jacob's blessing about protection.
Members of the African American community know this.
That is why they don't speak about DWI... Driving While Intoxicated. They speak and laugh ironically about DWB... Driving While Black or WWB... Walking While Black.
This past Tuesday I participated in a conference call organized by the Reform movement's, Religious Action Center out of Washington DC. A representative of the NAACP spoke and explained how much we whites take for granted.
He told us about the difference between the messages received by white and black children.
Living like this and raising our children like this is, of course, contrary to what we do as white parents and white people. We take for granted how safe and how privileged and how white our world is.
And that's what I take away from this sad week of politics and grand jury decisions this week.
Regardless of the details in the Michael Brown case, there is something wrong in America. What we need to do is hope and pray and advocate so that our African American brothers and sisters can believe in fairness and safety.
The real Thanksgiving promise isn't that we can eat a lot. |
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