This was a quote chiseled on the side of the Justice Center in downtown Portland, Oregon.
The boisterous sea of liberty is never without a wave
We walked through downtown in the middle of the day, during a break between protests, and there were just a few other… justice tourists (?) as well.
Still mostly shut down because of COVID, downtown Portland, near the Justice Center, is pretty trashed… ravaged, but also defiant. Both angry and beautiful graffiti. I’m not sure what we were expecting, but honestly, that seems about right.
We live in a country that was built, from the very beginning, on the backs of people of color. As white European’s arrived, it wasn’t long before they were claiming ownership of the land from the brown-skinned Native Americans. An entire civilization was all but destroyed because of “manifest destiny”… an idea co-opted from ancient Israel: a belief that God somehow wanted White European Christians to take over property and murder and displace the original inhabitants “from sea to shining sea” because that’s what happens in Old Testament, post-Egypt Israel. Does anyone still believe that was all okay? Moral and Ethical? Fair and just?
Not long after that, European Americans trafficked more people of color to work that stolen land. The wealth that was built in this “New Country” was built on the backs of slave labor. Is it okay to forget this happened? Is abolishing slavery all that is required? And was it really abolished (see the movie “13th” for further explanation)? Is there no apology for the ongoing policy making that kept people of color out of financial markets and White neighborhoods? Do we not need to give an accounting for these atrocities?
Apparently, abusing brown and black people in our country wasn’t enough. Next up: open global markets so our American industries can still underpay and overwork people of color in other countries as well, right where they live. See how easy it is for the people with most of the money and security to hang onto it? See how easy it is to continue to bask in wealth while de-humanizing people who look different?
Did we think there would never be a reckoning?
Did we think that debt would never come due? At least part of that debt will undoubtedly be paid in higher taxes, so that we can fund not only policy changes, but also to clean up the mess. Though I don’t believe violence or rioting is the answer, I understand that rage can erupt into riots. That debt has been accruing interest for 400 years.
Karma is at the door White America, and she’s pissed. Actually, what I really believe is that the White European immigrants did what they did because that’s what all people groups have done through human history: they break from the good Way, believing that any attempt to satisfy insatiable greed is somehow justified simply because they have the power to take what they want.
The real irony is that greed will never bring contentment. Lust for more possessions will never bring happiness. And, power over others will never bring love.
The only talk that will help our national crisis at this point is talk centered around questions like: How can we apologize to living people of color in this country today, and what changes are we ready to make to address systems (and the fallout from systems) built to specifically benefit white people?
What can we do to show goodwill in moving forward to make things better and more just?
