Spreading Light
Speaking Up
As followers of the Way of Jesus, we have a responsibility to speak up when racists are spewing hate. We have a responsibility to oppose all those who spew hate—for whatever reason! This is one way that we can do for others what we would like them to do for us, fulfilling the ideals of the Law of Moses and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12).
A lawyer named Burt told me this story about why we need to speak up when we hear and see others being insulted by racists.
Burt was in law school around 1960. The Civil Rights Movement was gaining momentum.
Burt was a white male. He was also Jewish. Undoubtedly, this made him more sympathetic to minorities who are persecuted by bigots spewing hate.
After all, the Holocaust had ended a mere 15 years earlier.
There were still many Holocaust Survivors bearing witness to the horrors of the concentration camps and the death camps. There were still many Holocaust Survivors bearing witness to the need to oppose all those who spew hate—for whatever reason!
In a classroom, Burt was assigned a seat between another white man and a Negro.
Every day, the white man spewed hate, making nasty, racist comments to the person of color. The person of color said nothing. He simply endured the racist insults silently.
Since Burt was caught in the middle, he couldn’t avoid hearing these disgusting insults. Finally, Burt was fed up with it.
Burt asked the person of color, “Why don’t you tell that guy to shut up?!”. He answered, “You’re white! Why don’t you tell him to shut up!!!”.
Burt thought about it a moment, and replied, “You’re right! I will!”.
The next time the racist started spewing hate, Burt told him to shut up. And he did! He never insulted the person of color again.
As followers of the Way of Jesus, we have a responsibility to speak up when racists are spewing hate. We have a responsibility to oppose all those who spew hate—for whatever reason!
This is one way that we can do for others what we would like them to do for us, fulfilling the ideals of the Law of Moses and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12).
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To read more about lighting the world by following the Way of Jesus, please read my blogs “The Labyrinth of Light” and “The Labyrinth of Darkness”, and my book Lighting the World.
To read more about the need to hear and see injustices, please read my blog “Pandemic Wisdom: Hear and See, Understand and Perceive”.