The “Why Now” Behind Meaningful Apologies

Photo by “My Life Through A Lens” on Unsplash

**If you haven’t already read my post, “To Anyone Who Has Ever Been Hurt by a White Person” you can click the link below.

To Anyone Who Has Ever Been Hurt By A White Person

**I am including the poem at the beginning of each post in this series of 3,

1)WHY,

2)WHY NOW,

and

3)WHY ME.

Meaningful Apologies:

To Anyone Who Has Ever Been Hurt By A White Person

I do not expect

a poem to erase the past.

But I do hope this poem

Leaves a beauty mark that lasts.

To the ones who have been hurt,

ignored or left behind

I want to say I’m sorry.

I want to just be kind.

If you were forced onto a ship

And brought here against your will,

Ignorance and evil

Were the ones who wrote that bill.

An apology won’t heal the wound

But I am so sorry anyway.

I won’t ignore the past.

How can I love you well today?

If your land was taken

By white men long ago

There’s no excuse. That’s abuse.

It’s time we let you know.

We’ve treated you as if

Your life was second best.

I cringe in utter horror

A history I detest.

Black lives matter.

Yes they do.

To the Native American community,

I SEE YOU.

The United States of America

Is divided to the core.

But it doesn’t have to stay that way.

God has something more.

Pride comes before a fall.

The fall we have perfected.

A humble heart bows down low

Before the ones they’ve neglected.

I’d like to make a vow

I’d like to start today.

I want to be your friend.

I want to hear what you have to say.

God sees us as family.

We’re related; I’m so glad.

Can we rewrite history,

Bringing good from all the bad?

God is in the business

Of making all things new.

Nothing is impossible;

I’m in.

Are you?

I LOVE YOU- I REALLY DO!

My “Why now?”

Have you watched the news lately? I am writing this post NOW because our country is in chaos. The band aids will not hold any longer  and the festering infection of racism is bleeding through the tattered gauze.

It is not just the news either. I recently saw the movie, Wind River. It is based on a true story and exposes some of the many areas in which our country has overlooked and mistreated the Native American community.

Lord, once our eyes are open to an injustice, how do we become part of a solution and express our sincere heart-break over the reality of what has taken place?

Literally from my daily reading TODAY! 

God continues to confirm that I am moving in the right direction, that I am taking MY next best Kingdom steps, as I use my voice, my writing and my art to love on those who have historically been oppressed.  God places the dots and He wants to connect them too. If you follow this blog you know that I am also a painter.  Below is one of my watercolors. It is my visual representation of COMPASSION.

Compassion

The very day I sat down to write this post, I stumbled upon this TEDTalk while running , Artist Titus Kaphar, Can art amend history? I am in awe at how God speaks so specifically to us, if we will just listen.

I have been wrestling with this post, this heart stirring since Charlottesville, waiting for God to give me the message He wants to write in and trough me.  His timing is perfect and the vastness of His creativity is immeasurable.  God introduced me to Titus Kaphar just when I needed a nudge the most. Titus wrestles with and confronts unspoken truths through his art. He is one of my heroes of faith. I want to walk alongside him, and anyone else who wants to come, taking steps to amend history, to be a bridge of hope and to believe that a diverse but not divided nation is possible. Please take the time to watch Titus Kaphar’s TEDTalk. It left an indelible beauty mark on my soul.

I will add Brad Paisley and LL Cool J to my list of heroes who are willing to link arms and tackle the goliath of racism in our country. They wrote a song, Accidental Racist.  It did not get a lot of press but it rocked my world. Once again we see art aiming to acknowledge and amend history.  The lyrics are powerful and are instruments of light. I am including a few of the words but I pray you will take the time to listen to the whole song with your whole heart.

They called it Reconstruction, fixed the buildings, dried some tears
We’re still siftin’ through the rubble after a hundred-fifty years
I try to put myself in your shoes and that’s a good place to begin
But it ain’t like I can walk a mile in someone else’s skin

‘Cause I’m a white man livin’ in the southland
Just like you I’m more than what you see
I’m proud of where I’m from but not everything we’ve done
And it ain’t like you and me can re-write history
Our generation didn’t start this nation
And we’re still paying for the mistakes
That a bunch of folks made long before we came
And caught somewhere between southern pride and southern blame

Dear Mr. White Man, I wish you understood
What the world is really like when you’re livin’ in the hood
Just because my pants are saggin’ doesn’t mean I’m up to no good
You should try to get to know me, I really wish you would
Now my chains are gold but I’m still misunderstood
I wasn’t there when Sherman’s March turned the south into firewood
I want you to get paid but be a slave I never could
Feel like a new fangled Django, dodgin’ invisible white hoods
So when I see that white cowboy hat, I’m thinkin’ it’s not all good
I guess we’re both guilty of judgin’ the cover not the book
I’d love to buy you a beer, conversate and clear the air
But I see that red flag and I think you wish I wasn’t here

We will never know the reality of what it is like to spend even a second in someone else’s skin but why not try,

why not now?

This post would not be complete without including Travis Wall’s Charlottesville-inspired contemporary dance, another artist leaving beauty marks that make bridges.

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