[Oe List ...] Being Black in the Order Ecumenical

Tue Jun 5 23:21:38 PDT 2012

Right you are Marshall to note the absence of reflections from black Order
members in the conversation that has been going on. In recalling the
conversations Shrop, Carlos and I had about the struggle with being black
in America and in the Order, Randy requested that I share the gist of those
conversations with colleagues as a kind of tribute to black Order members
who had died.  Then my life went in a tailspin and I just got a breather
long enough to respond. Anyway, here goes.

We often conversed about how the experience of being black in America was
undeniably shaped by the enslavement of black people by white people and
the subsequent relationships and identities that were born of that
situation. We talked about how those relationships and identities gave rise
to stereotypes that played themselves out on the stage of American History
as if they were in fact reality. For us they were contained in the stark
contrasts between us such as slavery vs. freedom, restrictions vs.
privilege, intuition vs.logic, dark skin and eyes vs. light skin and eyes,
kinked hair vs. straight hair, full facial features vs. thin facial
features, and on and on. For me this was compounded by the struggles of
being a black woman in America breaking and breaking through the
stereotypes of  the nurturing mammy, the permissive Jezebel or the stiff
necked unyielding matriarch.   It is no wonder that it took hundreds of
years and a another civil war (AKA the civil rights movement) to reveal the
illusions out of which both races were living in terms of what was good,
and human and beautiful.

I believe the strength of those stereotypes is evident even today in
mufti-faceted behaviors and attitudes that  many call the legacy of
slavery. I am convinced that legacy affects both black and white Americans
regardless of how either one may have personally evolved.  That really
struck home when Barack Obama described how his white grandmother, who he
knew loved him dearly, would clutch her purse a little closer when walking
down the street in the presence of young black men.

As a young black female born and raised in segregated East Texas, black and
white race relations defined my existence. It was not until l went to North
Texas State University did it consciously register with me that there
really were other kinds of people in the world. It was not until Carlos and
I worked with the Philbrooks in Dallas that I began to believe that in
spite of our history, blacks and whites could work together in a trusting
collegiality. But there was (and is) no doubt that that would mean working
through the residual effect of the legacy of slavery.  And that is what I,
and I dare say other blacks brought with them to the O:E. That included
bringing such feelings as fear, insecurity, suspicion and anger.

I don't know anything about the conversations that led to the decision, but
I think it was divinely prophetic that the West side of Chicago was chosen
to forge the 5th City Model. And likewise it was prophetic that the
residents of that community linked arms with the EI and the O:E to make 5th
City happen.  Many other ethnic neighborhoods could have been chosen.  But
in light of the history between blacks and whites in this country, known
across the world, I don't believe any other would signal the glorious
possibility of redemption for America and the world in a more powerful way.

Joyce Sloan

On Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 9:49 AM, Charles Hahn <cfhahn30 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Marshall, your words are profound and moving.  Thanks for the reflective
> dimension you bring to our conversation.
> Charles Hahn
>
>
> On Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 7:00 AM, Ken Fisher <hkf232 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> Well said.
>>
>> Thank you, Marshall.
>>
>> Ken
>>
>>
>> On 2012-06-05, at 3:05 AM, W. J. wrote:
>>
>>  I was surprised that the question about what it was like to be black in
>> the O:E really was not addressed by black colleagues. Instead it became a
>> conversation in which white people TALKED about black people, remembering
>> their names and unique contributions.
>> We didn't really articulate how critical black order members were/are to
>> bailing us all out of our unconscious cultural reductionisms. I write, of
>> course, as one of the "pinkies" who showed up in 5th City after the 1968
>> riots. It was absolutely essential that black colleagues in the community
>> and in the Order gave their permission for us crazy white people to stay in
>> 5th City. They claimed us as colleagues, they put up with us, they
>> protected us, and they confronted us with our unconscious embodiment of
>> white male privilege and racism. They grounded us in the experience of
>> suffering in the community and joined with us in working to transcend the
>> internalized racist stereotypes we were all struggling with. I suspect
>> people of color in the Order had an often unacknowledged burden to bear in
>> dealing with white male dominance.
>> It wasn't just that people of color were just as totally on top of
>> everything as the white male leadership was (in other words, comfortable
>> operating with the rational gifts of the white Ur). More importantly,
>> coming from another profound experience of humanness, these colleagues
>> often surprised us in their freedom from being stuck in "white man's
>> consciousness", so to speak.
>> I'm trying to get beyond being yet another white person talking about
>> black people. Several years ago I had the privilege of working with Lela
>> Mosley, Ruth Carter, and Verdell Trice in getting the 5th City film
>> released on DVD. Lela was at the end of her days, in and out of the
>> hospital, and on oxygen, but she could sometimes talk with me on the phone.
>> We were going over a list of deceased 5th Citizens whose contributions
>> would be honored on the DVD. I would say, "What about So-and-so? Is she
>> dead yet?" And Lela would say, "No, she's still kicking!" We would laugh.
>> And it was kind of funny, you know, just to be standing in the Awe of all
>> those people who had decided to give their lives in that geography. Not
>> that they were black or white, economically advantaged or not. OR: In the
>> Order. Or not. You get that? No difference (despite the difference). I tell
>> you we will be highly privileged to join that company of 5th City Pioneers
>> some day.
>> Joe Mathews said that what he was most proud of was being a 5th Citizen.
>> Not of being the Dean of this crummy outfit called the Order. But (I would
>> say) of standing his ground and being his "be" with the profound humanness
>> we discovered and celebrated in 5th City. And if I can have just a tiny
>> taste of that in my privileged white man's life, and if I was able to add
>> just the smallest bit to the 'miracles' that we all participated in
>> creating together, I think that would be enough for me.
>> Marshall Jones
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