Countering Racism through Encounter
by Susan Rose Francois, CSJP
Human beings and human community are hardwired for connection and love. This predisposition to right relationship is mirrored even in the systems of interdependence we observe in God’s creation. The same air, sunlight, and rain nourishes each of us as we encounter the grand design of life-giving relationships. Until we don’t. Human beings and human community are sadly also prone to breaking the connections between and among us. Racism—predicated upon the lie that some persons are of more/less value than others because of their skin tone or ethnic background— is a persistent tragedy of destructive disconnection. The false narrative of racism is not only embodied through acts of personal prejudice. In our racialized society, privilege is granted to some and burdens placed on others based on their skin color or ethnicity. 8
Racism, as a social sin, relies on our individual and collective cooperation with this distorted view. One path to disrupting racism is through encounter.
A Story of Encounter
In the first six seasons of the popular British television series Call the Midwife, viewers are introduced to the compassionate care provided by the sisters and midwives of Nonnatus House in Poplar, a neighborhood in the East End of London. It is the late 1950s/early 1960s, and Poplar is rapidly changing. Immigrants from various parts of the Commonwealth— the Indian subcontinent, Africa, and the Caribbean— arrive each day in this working-class neighborhood, seeking a brighter future for their families. It is also the advent of the National Health Service, and medical care is provided to all, regardless of class, ethnicity, LIVING PEACE
