Dirrrty South

So I'm in Atlanta, you know, where the players play and they ride on the streets like everyday? Yeah, that Atlanta. I'm here for the YS (Youth Specialties) convention and if I can sum it up in a few words, it would be these words: Very interesting. Both the convention and ATL are interesting.

There are a lot of African Americans here. I have not been around a lot of black people. It's really made me see just how racist I am, and I certainly am not proud of that. I automatically think certain things when I see a black person and the things I think certainly aren't beautiful but derogatory and judgmental. It makes me sad, but it also makes me want to change.

Part of the problem I think is that I don't have much exposure to the black community. I've been exposed to "media blacks" (entertainers of sorts, from athletes to musicians) but have not been given exposure to the normal, hard-working, intelligent, and respectful black. All I've seen is Lil Jon, Puff, Jay-Z, Terrell Owens, Michael Jordan and hundreds more. I don't get to see the Maya Angelous, the Ralph Ellisons, the millions of other black people who command and deserve my appreciation and respect. Somewhere along the line I wasn't told that blacks can have jobs and families and foods that don't fit into a media stereotype. That sucks.

Should I blame the media? Yes. I should also shoulder some of that responsibility? Yes. I haven't sought out those role models nor have I immersed myself in that culture and that's sad. I should want to. But because I'm a part of the majority I have no need to understand the majority. The minority is forced to accept my culture; I have the luxury of avoiding theirs.

What can I do about it? We'll see. I really want to experience a bunch of different cultures but without total immersion, it probably won't be much more than a field trip. Which is cool. I don't think I need to bury myself in anything to appreciate and understand part of it. But as soon as I think I know it all, I'm a poser. I'm only slightly better than I am right now in that I know what stereotypes I promote rather than now, when I can articulate only a bit of it.

I hope I'm not just one of those people who thinks we should all just get along. This is much smaller than that and on a much less grandiose scale. As an individual, I don't want to promote racism or stereotypes. That encourages discrimination and oppression and the Kingdom of God is not that. I'm obligated to proceed with God's grace and seek His wisdom in this. He took the ultimate step in trying to understand us; he came to earth. I think that's an example of what we can do to understand and love better.

Maybe I'm oversimplifying. I'm okay with that.

YS is interesting. A lot of Christians with different views, trying to be cool and figure out how to be relevant to their constituents. (A side note: I think instead of congregations, we should call church-goers constituents because of their ability to "vote" either with tithes and offerings or actual votes to throw out pastors, youth pastors, children's directors, worship leaders, etc. Let's be honest: we're all here to serve or be served and if things aren't going our way, we'll change it, dammit.) Christians are weird. We usually take pop-culture and repackage it to our own fit but with YS it seems to be like they are trying to make their own culture. Ask me later if its a sub-culture or a counter-culture: it's a powerful distinction.

All that to say, travelling without my wife is lame. Travelling to a city that challenges me to change is neat. Playing Halo 2 is neat, also.

The End.