Hey, folks. This is my last post at Inside from the Inside. Thanks for checking in once in a while, for joining the conversation, and for your grace. Thinking out loud is hard on most topics, but this one especially. You’ve been extraordinarily kind in your comments.
I was hesitant to sign up for this project. Sort of figured the last thing the world needs is more people sharing their opinions about race. To my mind, this is a challenge best dealt with at the personal level – in individual hearts and relationships.
I still believe that. Except…
This is an issue that needs to be talked about. Our tribalism runs deeper than we know, and in times of trial we find a strange comfort in our tribal fear of the Other. This was true in the Weimar Republic in 1939, in the caves of Afghanistan in early 2001, and in the sermons of Jeremiah Wright made public in 2008. It is true in some of the signs being carried at Republican tea parties today.
Preaching at (or about) others’ tribes doesn’t do a damned bit of good. We have to be vigilant within our own cliques, neighborhoods, churches, political parties, and fan clubs. We’ve got to hold to account our own leaders and talking heads. Enough, please God, with the emotionalism, sarcasm, demonization, apocalysm and fear-mongering. We can hold to righteous, rational and principled disagreements without stripping everything down to the lowest common denominator.
Can’t we?
I think this site probably got a bit preachy at times. I know I cringe a little at some of the things I wrote. But in all, it was an effort built on the right idea, and I’m grateful for the contributions of my fellow bloggers, and the support of Roy Williams, Oz Jaxxon and others at Wizard Academy.
Tuesday, October 6th 2009 at 7:17 am |
Perfectly said, as always, Jim.
We’ll miss you. Piercing insight is not a common thing; rarer still is the ability to express thoughts in writing so that others may get an accurate sense of exactly what you are thinking. You, however, possess not just one, but both, of these traits.
Thanks for the contribution - sharing this space with you and your “common sense” has been a privilege.
Tuesday, October 6th 2009 at 5:35 am |
Jim,
Nice work, I looked forward to reading your posts as much for the content as your writing ability. All very provocative. Thank you for helping us process through this issue in new ways. I cringe at some of the responses I wrote, so you’re not alone there. Testament to the difficulty of finding clear solutions and the general messiness of processing real time I suppose.
Much love to you and yours,
Chris
Monday, October 5th 2009 at 6:21 pm |
Thanks Jim.
I very much appreciated your thoughts and insights on this blog.
It will be missed.
Cheers.