No, I am not talking about four more years of the 45th President of the United States, please God, no (and that is a prayer!).
I’m talking about the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent, 2015-2024 (United Nations, 2020). Why am I just now hearing about this now, especially when there is also a joint initiative of my church, The United Church of Christ, with The United Church of Canada (see the video), in promoting awareness of this decade?
Mind you, I would like to blame my church denomination for not informing me. I would also like to blame my church home, for not informing the congregation. Truth is, they might have, and if they did, I probably dismissed it. Racism was not on my radar in 2015.
After all, I wasn’t a racist.
Just like I didn’t become white until 1967, and I didn’t see color until 2019, I am only now beginning to understand my whiteness. I am only now beginning to understand how white America has perpetuated and continues to perpetuate systemic racism. I am only now beginning to understand that if change is to happen, it must happen in the pews and at the altars as well as at polls and in the police stations.
White America needs to begin making amends and reparations to reconcile our sins against our African descended black and brown people. Even if that reparation only begins with an inner change in thought and word, as long as that thought and word, lead to action. If we fail to act, the four more years we have left in the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent, will also turn into four more years of “Number 45” and his legacy of white supremacy.
References
United Church of Christ. (2020). United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent, 2015-2024 [Video]. https://www.ucc.org/un_international_decade_for_people_of_african_descent_2015_2024
United Nations. (2020). United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent, 2015-2024. https://www.un.org/en/observances/decade-people-african-descent