There is an architectural solution here. I think that if we can cultivate neighborhoods that are diverse, where children of different backgrounds grow up with one another, where they go to church together, where the Church — the Orthodox Church, ideally — is in walking distance, that will help. another race, and there’s a climate of suspicion on both sides. It comes to the fore when I wear my Nigerian clothes. I like wearing them, both because they’re so comfortable, and as a matter of ethnic pride. But, oh my goodness, about a month or two ago, when the riots were really at their zenith, just wearing those clothes, with my big beard — when some people saw me on the street, they would go in another direction. Or, I would go in another direction just to dispel any kind of tension. I think that encapsulates everything. A lot of what we've experienced in the last few months are symptoms of a greater disease. There are fewer chances for strangers to meet and strike up spontaneous conversations. Partly because of technology, we’re isolated, and we form our impressions of people who don’t look like us from the internet, from Twitter, from television. So by the time we see somebody who doesn’t look like us, from another race, we already have this opinion about them. I think a lot of the current racial tension comes from that. But at the same time, we tend to trust our neighbors, irrespective of what ethnicity or race they belong to. If you've lived near somebody, if your children were raised with their children, there's more likelihood that you will develop a bond that is very powerful, that transcends race. Back in the day, people used to just go down the street and find a significant other, and they would court and they would get married. So there is an architectural solution here. I think that if we can cultivate neighborhoods that are diverse, where children of different backgrounds grow up with one
another, where they go to church together, where the Church — the Orthodox Church, ideally — is in walking distance, that will help. There is a lot of literature on “the neighborhood church,” and in Orthodoxy, I feel strongly that this is something we need to think about. The reality is that in our day and age, many people drive to church. But imagine a scenario where we live in a diverse neighborhood and we all go to the same church, which is right there. We emphasize the fact that every human being is created in the image of God, and there is neither Jew nor Greek. Christ talked about every person being our neighbor. The idea of the neighborhood can really bring that Biblical idea to fruition. So to tie it all together: you’re saying that if we make an effort to live in diverse places, and if we have our churches located in diverse places, this will be a step toward broader racial reconciliation.
Yes, absolutely. One of the things that often connects people of a certain age is that their children go to school together or play in the same neighborhood. Friendships, and romantic relationships if the parents are single, can come about through those connections. When you see the other as part of your neighborhood, part of your everyday experience, it erodes the racial barriers. Interview by Nick Tabor
19
jacob's well
