When I was younger, I frequently watched the television show, 7th Heaven, with my family. The fact that I watched the show is not the significance of this post (if you are about to make fun of me for doing so). Earlier seasons of the show often dealt with serious and important social issues. One episode in the fourth season, entitled "Twelve Angry People," finds the lead character of the show, Eric Camden, on a jury in a very racially-charged case. I don't remember all the circumstances surrounding the issue, but a black man had been charged with killing a police officer, even though it was quite clear he hadn't done so. The jury, however, was particularly apathetic towards the issue because of the racial tensions involved with it, and was unwilling to properly deal with the trial.

Eric found himself sitting beside an older black man, a man who was indignant at the attitude of the jury and refused to compromise for the sake of preventing a hung jury. Eric sides with him, trying to convince the jury that this is a matter of integrity. One of the most helpful and memorable lines I've ever seen on television comes from that episode. Towards the end of their deliberations, Eric says to the older black man,

The only thing I know about being black in America, is that I have no idea what it means to be black in America.

The older man replied, "That's a very good place to start."

It's been about eight years since I saw that episode, but the line has stuck with me, I think for good reason. I willingly confess that I do not know anything about what it means to be black in America. It is unfair and dishonest to think that we can easily get into and understand that particular context. We do ourselves and others a great disservice if we think we can objectively do that. Understanding needs to begin with listening and learning. If we fail to do this, we only serve to ensure the continuance of hundreds of years of ignorance and racism. And, as my former professor, Gideon Strauss, says in a recent article, "racism...is a great evil. It mobilizes volatile emotions, provokes acts of aggression and perverts the souls of its perpetrators as much as it violates the human dignity of its victims." If we truly believe that all men are created equal and made in the image of God, then this evil cannot and must not stand.