DECEMBER 2022 -- MESSAGE FROM THE INTERFAITH ALLIANCE CHAIR,
Les Wardenaar, Member of Fremont United Methodist Church
Racism may be as rampant as ever and Facebook is a visible location. I haven’t posted anything in the last year, but I do keep up with news from friends and family outside of Portland—including those I went to school with in Mount Vernon, Washington. My best childhood friend and I grew in different directions so his frequent right-wing postings can be annoying, but he also posts really funny jokes, and nostalgic reminders of Major League Baseball in the Fifties and Sixties so I have learned to tolerate his jabs at Biden and Democratic positions.
Recently, though, he truly upset me by posting a picture of Michelle DePass, the Chair of the Portland’s school board, with a quote from her to the effect that we should not use trees as school mascots because they remind many Black citizens of lynching. I surmised that this picture and quote were being passed around in right-wing circles as an example of extreme “wokeness.” It was clearly an attack.
I was deeply offended by the post, but even more – embarrassed and ashamed really – by the responses of Mount Vernon citizens I know and have chatted with at reunions. The hostile words included: “what an idiot,” along with “living in the dark ages…geez,” “where will it ever stop,” and even a suggestion that her brass earrings represented some kind of black tribalism.
Since I almost never talk with anyone who doesn’t share my views on this and virtually any other topic, I naively had assumed that we were moving beyond crude, racist remarks like this – at least in Mount Vernon. Seeing them within the community I grew up in brought me past anger almost to despair. Further, I knew intuitively that these individuals would be outraged to be called “racist.” The experience brought me back again to the realization that we are so far away from resolving the racism in our country, not to mention the “tribalism” that divides our culture.
Facebook is not a viable venue for political debate. Three or four years ago, I responded to my childhood friend’s attack on Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. I was promptly “landed on” by a wide circle of his Facebook friends. I actually concluded that silence would have been the better policy. And, after much thought, I decided that a written reaction to this current post and its responses would only make things worse. I would be dismissed as “woke” – a “pompous Lefty” with a serious case of “intellectual elitism. “
So, was silence the best response? If not, what should I have expressed? If we cannot have a healthy discussion, how will the situation ever change? I would love to hear your thoughts, or a sharing of your similar experiences, which you can email to me at Wardenaar@msn.com.
Meanwhile, this incident continues in my mind and my heart. I do understand that lamenting has value in itself, but in this case, it doesn’t seem to be enough.