I haven’t posted on my blog for a while. At some point I ran out of energy. Stopping wasn’t really a decision – it just kind of happened. A couple of people mentioned that they hadn’t seen anything for a while and asked if I had stopped. A couple of others have said that given the political and social atmosphere these days the stories I have to tell need to be told. That may or may not be true. What I think is not important. Some of the issues are. What has been on my mind most recently has been directly related to the context I am grateful to be in – Trinity Lutheran Congregation in the Minneapolis neighborhood Cedar-Riverside, aka Little Mogadishu. I have been pondering my privilege particularly in the midst of racism and Islamophobia. I just finished a book, So You Want to Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oulo. I encourage others to read it. This book has touched me and I can’t get it out of my head. And I have seen Facebook posts that I have not been able to ignore. I have posted responses and those who know me well would know that is just not like me. But I can’t not. One post was racist and I commented. None of the responders to my comment agreed. Some of them questioned either my intelligence or sanity. Some of them were sure I was racist. In that racism is systemic I agreed that I was by virtue of my white skin. That’s where the writer stated that I sickened her. To me those seemed like some pretty strong words about someone she had never met. It also made me think I had struck a nerve. Given the atmosphere of the times, though, those words could have been much more offensive. Another post was anti-Muslim. The person who posted it on Facebook claimed to have been looking for more information that would prove that the topic of an article was not true. The Title of the article alone, however, was meant to further misinformation, fear and hate. Judging by the initial comments, it did just that. That is all it takes and then it gets shared. The article was about a radical group claiming to follow Islam. Once again the words ‘disgusting’ and ‘horrible’ were used regarding Muslims. I am quite sure that those who wrote those words know little or nothing about Islam and have never talked with any Muslims. The Muslims I know would never condone anything that the article was talking about and would be equally disgusted by it. One thing that I noticed was how strongly this post hit me. It was almost as if it knocked the breath out of me. Not because of the content. That article had made the rounds some time ago; I had read it then. I told Bob that this hateful article about a radical group was suggesting that all Muslims would engage in what this article was about. That meant those reading the article would knowingly or unknowingly be including my friends and colleagues – Fardosa, Wali, Sharif, Nadifa, Abdisalam, Ayan, Fayo, to name just a few. My privilege here is that I don’t have to live with the hate and fear every day. I don’t have people telling me to go back to where I came from as I walk or at the store. I have never been yelled at for wearing a ring with a cross on it. There aren’t people who hate me simply because I’m white or Christian. So, if I want to, I can ignore all of it. Too often I do. But my friends can’t. They have to live with it, day in and day out. Waiting for a bus. Shopping. In public speeches. I cannot fathom this reality at the moment. I don’t know where this pondering will all go for me. Perhaps nowhere. But it has been on my mind and heart and whether it is obvious or not, something in me has been changed, again. Original Journal Entry: 8/26/19 Copyright Jane Buckley-Farlee 2019 All rights reserved.
10 Comments
Tom Morgan
8/30/2019 10:05:02 am
Jane, as a person who is also the beneficiary of privilege due to nothing other than being encased in white skin, I am deeply grateful for your thoughts and words. As I walk daily through the neighborhood I think often about our Muslim sisters and brothers and the verbal (and sometimes physical) injustice that they face due to nothing other than ignorance. As you mention, I too can walk about in my white body without drawing any unwanted attention. All to often, I lose sight of this simply because I can.
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Jane Buckley-Farlee
8/30/2019 11:34:46 am
Thanks, Tom. It's just true that being in the neighborhood has an impact on us all whether we know it or not.
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Nancy Maeker
8/30/2019 12:25:46 pm
Thank you, Jane.
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Nancy Maeker
8/30/2019 12:29:13 pm
...sound a lot like...
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Jane Buckley-Farlee
8/30/2019 02:33:43 pm
Yikes.
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Barbara Johnson
8/30/2019 04:14:26 pm
Jane, Thank you for your honesty and deeply felt reflections. It takes a ton of energy to engage online with people like those you describe. I will look for the book by Ijeoma Oulo
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Rudy Mueller
9/2/2019 07:57:12 am
Thanks for the post Jane. Yup, our white skinned privilege is inescapable. And I think we can and do easily get numb to it. I appreciate your honesty and integrity. Sorry, I guess I have not seen your FB posts, but consider this a like (I agree) with your comments. When I consider that our ancestors built this nation by destroying people and cultures that were already here, enslaved others, and despoiled (and continue to do so) the environment I am stopped in my tracks. And then I feel like the Moody Blues -- Don't tell me. I'm just a singer in a rock 'n roll band. I don't preach often these days, but when I do I talked about these things in light of the cross and resurrection. And I don't live as though I'm "just a preacher". Keep up your good work and words and know that you and Bob are kept in prayer.
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Patrick Cabello Hansel
9/3/2019 03:00:01 pm
Thank you, Jane. And keep "can't notting"!
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Kathy Weber
9/7/2019 12:38:56 pm
Thank you for sharing your pondering with all of us, Jane. I had been missing your thoughtful musings. You call us to better things.
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carla
9/13/2019 04:11:37 pm
Jane, I have so missed your written word! Thank you for being willing to start up again. Yes, it is time. I count myself lucky, (and graced) to get to hear you at community meetings when you do raise questions that others don't want to say. But they need to be said. We share similar role model(s)...It will never be easy to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable;" knowing that we are not mean spirited when we stand by spiritual Truths.
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AuthorAt less than 4'11'' a pastor and the congregation she serves practice radical hospitality in a primarily Muslim neighborhood. Archives
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