For quite some time now our country has faced a very large dilemma. There have been a great number of people who have been crying out for justice for themselves and for their children. Those cries have either gone unheard or have been ignored. These are people who are a minority in the midst of a powerful nation. A story such as this sounds vaguely familiar. In the Gospels, there are a group of people who are subjugated under Roman rule. They are taxed heavily, forced to give obeisance to the Empire and told to submit. This sounds a lot like what is happening to African Americans all across the country. This dies not mean that all African Americans are Hebrews or Israelites. This is just an example of a people who have gone through a systematic subjugation and told to just submit. If was not good enough for the people of the Bible then why is it good for the people in the United States?
Ever since Barack Obama became president of the United States, there have been heated messages from those in ministry who disagree with his policies which is nothing new. There is no president who can appease everyone but since he is the first African American president, there is no shortage of hateful messages that come his way. The media has tried and failed to claim that the United States is now living in a post racial society. The events that have been shown in the news recently show that America has a lot of work to to in order to heal the hurts of the past. Just because laws have changed does not mean mindsets change. African Americans are viewed as thugs and wild men who have no self control. African American men are looked at as deadbeats, who do not want to work and take care of their children. African American women are viewed as sex objects who do nothing but have children by multiple men while living off of the government.
While the news is filled with terrible stories of unarmed Black men and women being killed by police, it is the silence of ministry leaders that is even more troubling. Those who have spoken up have presented their true feelings concerning race and justice in this country. It is disheartening to see the lack of empathy and respect from Church leaders. Even Torah teachers who know what the scriptures say concerning justice and loving your neighbor as yourself. Remembering the stranger for you were once strangers in the land of Egypt. Ideals that the scriptures have commanded His people to do have gone out of the window because there are many who believe that Blacks are the sons (and daughters) of Amalek. Amalek is the grandson of Esau and chose to live a life of bloodshed. He chose to live a life opposite of his grandfather Abraham and his uncle Jacob. Amalek represents pure evil and it is this person that Black people have been associated to by some ministry leaders. These teachers of the scriptures have allowed this type of narrative to persist without condemning or correcting those who perpetrate this ideal.
There are bad and evil people no matter where one travels. It does not matter what color your skin may be or where you live, where there is good, there evil will be also.In Genesis 1, God spoke light into existence while in the midst of darkness. When light came forth, darkness did not just go away, but God separated light from the dark. To make the claim that there are a certain group of people who are a permanent part of that darkness is incredibly misguided. As believers of the Book, it should be known that Jesus died for the sins of the entire world. He became the scapegoat for justice just as Joseph's brothers who kidnapped him and sold him, took his coat of many colors and dipped it in the blood of an animal that would take the blame for Joseph's "death".
It is very unfortunate that there has been a lack of response from ministry leaders who teach Torah. The silence is deafening and shows that either they believe that the police killings are all justified, and some of them are but not every single one, or they do not understand the feelings of an entire community. In light of the latest tragedy in South Carolina I ask for these leaders to stand up! Stand up and speak out for the sake of righteousness. Either you believe what the scriptures say or you don't. No longer can you keep silent while standing on the sidelines. It is understood that you do not like the president and his policies but do not allow your dislike to become ignorance to an entire people. I implore you not to cover your eyes and pretend not to see. Please do not stand there with your eyes wide shut.
