My daughter carries a copy of her U.S. passport. Why? Because she is Hispanic.
Adopted from Guatemala when she was 3 years old, she has been asked multiple times over the last year if she could be deported. So far, it’s been friends worried about her, but she and I both know that could change.
She is not always judged by the content of her character, but often — too often — by the color of her skin.
Seventy years ago, in August 1956, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of moving into a new age, an age that would create the “beloved community,” where people would live together as brothers (and sisters).
He told his listeners “that justice eventually rules in this world,” that “the forces of darkness cannot permanently conquer the forces of light and this is the thing that we must live by.”
A number of years later, just days before he was assassinated on April 4, 1968, he spoke at the National Cathedral about the world as he felt it existed at the time.
“Through our scientific and technological genius, we have made of this world a neighborhood and yet we have not had the ethical commitment to make of it a brotherhood,” he said. “But somehow, and in some way, we have got to do this. We must all learn to live together as brothers or we will all perish together as fools.”
In spite of the many challenges he spoke about, including deeply rooted racism, a refusal to help the poor and a nation embroiled in war, Dr. King remained hopeful. “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Today, unfortunately, it too often feels like the slope of the arc has flattened considerably.
When my husband and I were raising our multi-racial, multi-ethnic family in Utah County, our children encountered a shocking level of racism. The first time our Black boys were called the “N” word was at church. One of my Black daughters spent her senior year in high school being called the same as she walked down the halls. One of my Asian sons was bullied to the point that I threatened to get lawyers involved.
Inequities exist and pretending they don’t is, frankly, refusing to see reality. I used to think that saying I was “colorblind” was a good thing. It’s not. Saying I was “colorblind” would have been the same as saying I did not see my children’s disabilities. While I am absolutely committed to loving my kids no matter what and to help them to go for their goals, I would have done them a disservice (to put it mildly) to pretend that they didn’t need a wheelchair, seizure medication, a prosthetic leg or special education help at school.
Pretending to “not see color” doesn’t help Black women who are dying in childbirth at more than three times the rate of white women in the U.S. or the Black babies who are dying twice as often as white babies in our country.
But, as Dr. King reminded his listeners nearly 60 years ago, there is reason for hope.
In the October 2020 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the late President Russell M. Nelson said, “Brothers and sisters, please listen carefully to what I am about to say. God does not love one race more than another. His doctrine on this matter is clear. He invites all to come unto Him, ‘black and white, bond and free, male and female.’
“I assure you that your standing before God is not determined by the color of your skin. Favor or disfavor with God is dependent upon your devotion to God and His commandments and not the color of your skin.
“I grieve that our Black brothers and sisters the world over are enduring the pains of racism and prejudice. Today I call upon our members everywhere to lead out in abandoning attitudes and actions of prejudice. I plead with you to promote respect for all of God’s children." (Emphasis added.)
Current church President Dallin H. Oaks, at the same General Conference session, reminded us that “As citizens and as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we must do better to help root out racism.” (Emphasis added.)
A few days ago, BYU-Idaho President Alvin F. Meredith III gave the semester’s opening devotional. I was happy to hear that he did not dance around the issue of racism and religion at all.
“Prejudice has no place in discipleship,” he said. He quoted President Russell M. Nelson who, he said, taught with great clarity. “The creator of us all calls on each of us to abandon attitudes of prejudice against any group of God’s children.” He then spoke even more directly: “Any of us who has prejudice toward another race needs to repent.”
He invited students, faculty and staff to take President Oaks seriously when he asks us to “root out racism.” “Doing better,” said President Meredith, “means more than avoiding hurtful words or actions ourselves. It means refusing to be silent when they come from others.”
He also referenced Elder Dale G. Renlund’s April 2021 conference talk on being stonecatchers. Treating others with compassion and not “throwing stones” is the first step. The second is to try to catch stones thrown by others.
President Meredith then gave his listeners some action items: “If you hear offensive racial language, even when it’s framed as a joke, have the courage to speak up. If you see someone act with prejudice, do not look the other way. Silence may feel polite, but it’s not Christlike.”
On this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, my challenge to you is to not just quote the good reverend but to also take action to help create the beloved community. The need is great.
