As I prepare to preach #Pentecost to a majority white church this Sunday, this tweet from Charles M. Blow intrigued me.

In response to his query, I’m wondering if we’ve been able to use this time of isolation to become more aware of the world around us—namely, our world saturated by white supremacy. His question has me wondering:

Have white people had more space to take notice at who is considered “essential” and therefore what communities (people of color!) are put at more risk by this and the “mad dash” to re-open the economy; at the devastating statistics of #COVID19 on communities of color (they’re way more at risk for this disease too); at what folks make up delivery folks and grocery store workers and who is more likely to be able to shelter fully in-home and have the resources (money) they need.

And I’m wondering if those of us who are white have had time to really pay attention to and spend time lamenting what happened to Ahmed Arbury…the live execution of George Floyd this morning…the fraudulent actions of a white woman in Central Park regarding a Black man, actions that could very well have gotten him killed.

In this time, have we, as white people, used the spaciousness that many of us have found ourselves with (also the payoff of white supremacy) to interrogate the system of racial domination that structures our society.

Dare I hope that during this time of sheltering, more white people have been exposed to diversity in new ways and made more aware of the racism around us, and therefore will re-emerge into society with broken hearts, rediscovered spines, and a desire for #justice. I wonder…

I wonder what the gift of the Pentecost means in 2020….

Image by Markus Spiske for unsplash.com.

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