On more than one occasion, people have asked me (or perhaps asked themselves out loud in my presence), “Why do we need to talk about racism in the mostly white community of Ridgefield?” 

My answer, “It is specifically because we are a mostly white community that we need to talk about racism.” 

It can be a difficult topic to discuss, raising a host of various feelings within each one of us.  The same circumstance was true during Dr. King’s time.  In his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, Dr. King writes of his disappointment in the white church leadership; their silence and, more often, their resistance to hearing the “deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race.”

Two-thirds through the letter he writes-

But despite these notable exceptions, I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church. I do not say this as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. I say this as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church; who was nurtured in its bosom; who has been sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen.

When I was suddenly catapulted into the leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery, Alabama, a few years ago, I felt we would be supported by the white church. I felt that the white ministers, priests and rabbis of the South would be among our strongest allies. Instead, some have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows.

In spite of my shattered dreams, I came to Birmingham with the hope that the white religious leadership of this community would see the justice of our cause and, with deep moral concern, would serve as the channel through which our just grievances could reach the power structure. I had hoped that each of you would understand. But again I have been disappointed.

As a mostly white community and church, we must take the initiative.   It’s on us to take the initiative to open ourselves to listening and seeing better, to being non-defensive, to taking the time to be in relationship, to being willing to change our understanding in an effort to make space for another’s understanding to reside alongside our own.  The world is different since Dr. King’s time.  Yet, his words remain timeless because he so eloquently addresses the human concern for a better future.  I believe that’s what we all want and what God wants for us—His children.

by Rev. Whitney Altopp

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