OPINION: Guest writer

RUTH D. SHEPHERD: Can't take a pass

To my white brothers and sisters

Make no mistake, the "Black Lives Matter" movement is about you and me too.

Ever since I saw the horrific murder of George Floyd under the knee of a white police officer, I kept remembering an image from my days as an English major.

In Herman Melville's novella "Benito Cereno," Captain Amasa Delano of the Bachelor's Delight sees a ship nearby that seems to be in distress. Against the wishes of his crew, he draws his ship closer and climbs into a small boat bearing food and water to see if he can be of assistance to the stranded ship and crew.

As he boards, Delano notes the derelict condition of the ship and particularly the decoration on the stern: a carving of a "dark satyr in a mask holding his foot on the prostrate neck of a writhing figure, likewise masked."

The novella's theme presents the question of who holds the power on the ship. In fact, despite a careful ruse, which completely fools the naïve Delano, the formerly enslaved Blacks on the ship are decidedly in control of the vessel, and their terrified former captain moves and speaks only when and what they allow.

To the reader, the image is clear: The satyr who seems to be in control is equally at risk. If he moves his foot from the head of the snake, it will surely kill him. They are locked in the same struggle.

I suggest that we white Americans are just as trapped by racism as its targets. Therefore, we need to seize this singular moment to do everything we can to eradicate it in all its forms, personal, institutional, and systemic. If we do not choose to act because it's the right thing to do, we should act because it's the smart thing to do.

Consider a few of the well-documented costs of racism in our nation:

It is less expensive to provide adequate schools than to incarcerate children who get into trouble because they have no hope or are judged guilty due to their skin color.

It is less expensive to provide medical care to prevent disease than to cure disease.

It has become imperative for parents of black teenaged boys to deliver "The Talk" about interacting with police out of fear for their child's safety, for the child's very life.

It is more cost-effective to make policy decisions that protect all citizens rather than trying to remediate problems caused by bad decisions. Just ask the citizens of Flint, Mich.

Indeed, how can we even calculate the cost of lost potential when we keep our knee on the neck of our friends of color? I once heard a white father say of his son who was in trouble at school, "He's really a good, smart kid, and he's either going to be a minor poet or a major criminal."

How many minor poets have we lost because they never had a chance?

One of my co-facilitators in Just Communities of Arkansas Inclusion Training classes used to say, "Eradicating racism is not rocket science--it's harder."

And it takes vigilance.

As my 40-year-old son says: "Being anti-racist is like how my Free Will Baptist friends would describe being saved. It's not a one-and-done thing. You don't get your 'woke ally' card for marching in one protest. We are not perfect, but we don't have to be! We do have to continuously interrogate ourselves, make choices, and take action to exist in the blessed state of being anti-racist."

In summary, we can't just take a pass because we happen to be white. We must do more! We can begin by listening. Take our cues from our brothers and sisters of color. They will help us understand what we can and must do.

Because no one is really free until we are all free.

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Ruth D. Shepherd is retired executive director of Just Communities of Arkansas.

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