I get annoyed when people use the word Ghetto. The term comes from the segregation of Jewish people pre-WWII, originally in Venice. It has now come to mean pretty much anything that is run down, broke up, high crime, scary, etc. I know that is has become slang and not given a second thought in our culture, and even used as a description to describe a style-like someone is "ghettofabulous" or whatever. But it still bothers me. I hear all the time, wherever I go, whatever state I am in, about the places that I should not go. The bad parts of town, the sketchy parts, the ghetto. Don't go there, be careful driving through there, it's "third world" there, etc. If I hear one more person talk about a place in that way I am going to scream.
Now, in Minnesota I had never been to North Minneapolis until about 5 years ago-never even heard of it. It is labeled as "the ghetto." I was warned in college, I remember, not go to on Lake street. (Which is in south Minneapolis.) That is practically laughable now-I am there all the time. But the fact that I had a warning about that makes me wonder why. I hear people talk all the time about North Mpls and how it's too dangerous, it's the hood, lock your doors, don't even drive through it, etc. Now I live there...so obviously I'm biased. But I have learned a few things, and enough things to make me have a little righteous indignation about this whole "ghetto" concept.
People label what they don't know. People fear what they don't know. I think in all honesty that because North Minneapolis is predominately black and Lake Street is full of every culture-people label it as dangerous and scary and ghetto. I know whats in the papers, and I know more crime does go down....but on a day to day bases, just walking around in the neighborhood, it is very normal. I admit I had apprehensions, felt really uncomfortable, and was nervous at times. But that is ENTIRELY because I was living out of the fears of my stereotypes, I was not used to being the minority, and I had a lot of baggage in my head from media to sort through. After living here for almost 3 years, it is now my normal. Because it is normal, the fear is gone. It took awhile, but still.
Okay now to get to why I get so mad. Why do Christians, of all people, avoid places that people call the ghetto?!? It seriously is making me very upset lately. Jesus spent his ministry on the streets, hanging out with the oppressed and the people who who were put out by the majority culture. Christians are the last people to be avoiding these places! How are we to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, proclaim freedom to the oppressed, and release the chains of injustice if we never set foot in the "scary" places, if we don't know anyone's story????
Okay don't get me wrong, I know it is not everyone's calling to live in a ghettoized area. I believe God called me to live in North Minneapolis, and that is why I am here. But I pray against self righteousness because of it, and I pray I only find my identity in Him and not in what I do here. But it is outrages to me that we live in a country that ghettos exist and Christians don't care. That Christ followers choose to avoid places because they are supposedly unsafe for them. Who is going to make these places disappear? I believe it is our job as Christians-because how can we be truly free if our brothers and sisters who live but a few miles from us are not?!?
You may not be called to live in these places, but please don't make it worse by contributed to the segregation. Why are these areas like that? Who lives there? Where are the resources? What are the solutions? Choose to be part of the solution!!! You don't have to move there to do it. But for heavens sake-how do we send money thousands of miles away to poor countries of children we don't know when there are children 5 miles from us who are lacking???
So please, don't tell me not to go somewhere because it's dangerous. First it will make me mad, second I will most likely go there just to prove a point. And that is just arrogant of me. (Remember how I don't want to be arrogant???) And if you do-tell me why it is the way it is, what makes it dangerous, and your first hand experience with it. Unless you can do those things, I just don't think it is appropriate to label something you don't know anything about.
Monday, July 04, 2011
American. American?
I have been thinking a lot about what it means to be “American”-and these thoughts are not concise, but it is what’s going on in my mind. In general, white equates to American. That is strange in many senses, considering that everyone who is “white” isn’t from America.
What I do and relate to culturally doesn’t necessarily come from a place of my “American culture.” I look over the ways I grew up and what I connect myself to and that, for example, looks like being Catholic-that isn’t “American”-that is being 4th generation Irish. Also, I am connected to the evangelical covenant church. That isn’t American, that is being 4th generation Swedish. I have spent much time overcoming being passive aggressive-which in a sense comes from being Scandinavian. Does my dad’s Irish side of the family drink way more alcohol than the Swedish side? Yes. Are they louder and more in your face? Yes. Am I loud sometimes and a little brash? Probably. Is that because I am American? That’s not what I am told. It is because of my ethnic heritage, 4 generations removed from me but still coloring the perspectives I have and traditions I keep. What are the “American” values I have? Opportunity. Freedom. Valuing upward mobility, education, and a stable career. Rugged individualism. Me, myself, and I. Thinking MY choices are MINE alone. The dream-2 kids, a good job, and a big house. (Some of these values I have had to learn to reject that are uniquely American, and others that I am thankful for.)
Now do these characteristics make me “white?” Over time the meaning of white-which originally I believe was meaning you were of European decent, has been greatly skewed over time. Since the construct of “race” is actually a made up entity by man, it is subject to man’s interpretation-the man that created it. The white man. So you can look over history and see multiple times where it is totally relative-like how the individual states could determine whether you were white or black depending on your heritage. You could literally cross a state line and change races.
So it is easy to conclude that white no longer means European decent-white means the position of power and privilege in this country. Even if you are not American on your passport, and you come to America looking “white” you are given a place of power because of the systems that are in place here.
Therefore, by stating that I am white, I am proclaiming a place of privilege, a place of being the majority person in almost every setting I go to, never afraid of being oppressed because of my physical appearance, and knowing that I have pretty much every opportunity afforded to me. I won’t be discriminated against, spoken rudely to, not given the benefit of the doubt-I know that blonde hair and blue eyes gets me places, it assumes I am safe, relatable, and trustworthy. Now if I state I am Swedish, Irish, and Cszech-you may assume I look blonde and blue eyed, but you probably have a little bit of a deeper understanding of who I am because you have a general idea of that ethnic background.
Side story-when I was in Kenya and talking to a friend who was Kenyan about tribal groups she asked me if we had tribes. At first I though no, we are all just mixed up. Then I told her that Native American people had tribes, but it is separate from American culture (and basically either exploited or exoticized). But then I thought about all the different people groups that came to America in the beginning and stayed somewhat together in the beginning-there were pockets of Irish, polish, German, Swedes, etc….and in the earlier 1900’s they were pretty segregated-mostly because they still spoke their native language and probably worshiped together and lived in larger than immediate family groups. But the point is that even though there weren’t ‘tribes” they came together because of common interest, language, traditions, and beliefs in a new land. It helped them to adjust and find their rootings. Well obviously people began to intermarry and now people in my generation are usually a mix of 3 or more heritages. Sometimes you can tell by looks, but sometimes we have no idea.
So now we are in a new wave of immigrants, lots of refugees, people trying to find better opportunities, etc. We are segregated into “tribal groups” in a sense. So when you are born here, then do you become American? Or do you become white? Is white American? I think some people would say it used to be….but not anymore. If I went to Ireland and someone asked me where I was from I wouldn’t say Ireland. I would say America-because my culture is American. I wouldn’t say my background was white, I would say it’s Irish-but I’m American. So now I am navigating through terms, which gets weird, but I try to be conscious of talking about nationality and ethnicity rather than “race” words. But if I were black in America I would have to distinguish that I was African American….because if American is white I have to distinguish from white American and I would have to say African. But that gets hairy too because historically not all non-pale colored skin came from Africa, some are from the Caribbean or Puerto Rico or south America, etc. So now what?.
The first time I heard the term European American was at Sanctuary Covenant Church, and I have been pondering it ever since. In processing through my so called “whiteness” the last few years I feel as though that is the best term to describe myself ethnically and nationally speaking, especially if we are still going to say African American. Otherwise in my opinion, everyone born here should just be Americans-and by that terminology there should come an understanding that someone in your family line wasn’t native to America, but you are here now and reflecting in some sense an American culture.
I am in a weird place because I reject parts of Americanism that are not in line with the Kingdom of God….I reject consumerism, individualism, and materialism. I reject the injustice this country was built upon. I reject the oppression that has been the heartbeat of America. I reject the fact that blazing injustice still is present in everyday life in America and there isn’t repentance of systems and corporations and churches and denominations and historians and people groups. Those are the characteristics that tend to be white America. I reject it because I embrace the gospel of Christ that reconciles. But the tension within me would say that I reject white America. I am white America. But I am not. I will not contribute to a system that I have benefited from and I will not use the label that society gives me as a white person for privilege. But what am I? I embrace that God planted me here, and that my great grandparents were in Europe and lived a life there with beautiful aspects of their culture. I embrace those things that I know. I embrace the Catholicism and the covenant church deeply rooted in me. I am Irish. I am Czech, I am Swedish. I love having blonde hair and blue eyes. God made me 6 feet tall with a strong body and rosy cheeks and a nose that goes more out than in. I love it. I am that. And I am American. I am Minnesotan. I have freedom and democracy and voting rights and religious freedom and I can speak up for myself and go where I please and say who I am voting for without fear. I am American.
I had a conversation with a friend of mine and we were talking about being proud of where you come from. It seems to be pretty okay today if you are black to say that you are proud to be black. In this conversation we talked about how the black community has been oppressed for so long and stripped of an identity that making a statement of being black and proud is reclaiming that identity as a black person, whatever that means for you and in your family-it will be different for many. But what if I said I am white and I’m proud? To me that is a little…strange. A little arrogant maybe. Why? That is because of what I feel that you say when you say you are white. It is a declaration of privilege, of benefits, of being part of a oppressive system whether you like it or not. Even when people say they are proud to be an American, I have to admit it irks me a little. But it is because of those aspects of American culture and life that I told you I reject earlier. But I cannot deny that I am American whether I like it or not. European American to be more specific.
I have had to work on finding the balance of all of this, and really be able to fully embrace who God created me to be and know that my identity is Christ and I am made in His image. We are image bearers before we are any nationality. Or ethnicity.
I often listen to a radio show that is primarily for a black audience. They speak a lot of taking pride in being black, and embracing the black community, etc. I can only be a bystander, no matter how close I am to people who are black. They will be and I will not be. So I can support, be happy for that identity they have, but I cannot be that. I have to embrace what I have. Its weird sometimes to want to know and understand a culture, but yet embracing your own and navigating between the two. If I were black in this country and was not able to feel, embrace, and be proud of the skin color God put me in, I would be devastated and probably really confused. I will never understand what that could be like. If I was black in America and was always in the “out” group, never fully felt at home because of the lack of things afforded to me, lack of people who looked like my in books and on tv and in the government-there would always be a sense of disconnect with being born “American” but not being able to fully be culturally American. It would create a sort of dichotomy in who I was I would imagine. So to live in a day where you start to see a change….in tv and government, and in being to join together with other people that look like you and embrace yourselves and love yourselves for exactly who you are is a very beautiful thing.
I sometimes get a funny little feeling in the pit of my stomach, having a deeper understanding and empathy for the black community and minority groups, but also a sense of not belonging in a weird way. I can’t articulate myself very well on this topic, but it is just my honest thoughts that I have been processing through.
I think its strange that we have to check boxes to define us-to make sure we have the correct label. There usually is a box for “other” which is what I have been checking lately. In a way that is one way I feel uniquely called by God. To be other. To have an undoing of the constructs I grew up in and under. Rejecting the dirt, embracing the beauty. Finding my identity solely in Christ-which means embracing where he put me and my lineage. I wonder if the gentiles felt a little confused sometimes. But I think that by reading acts and Pentecost we can see Gods heart for his kingdom-that it transcends every culture, language….it is bigger than that. Not even a wiping away of it, just embracing. Thriving in who He created us to be in all our glorious diversity. I have to cling to that knowledge otherwise I make myself crazy….
What I do and relate to culturally doesn’t necessarily come from a place of my “American culture.” I look over the ways I grew up and what I connect myself to and that, for example, looks like being Catholic-that isn’t “American”-that is being 4th generation Irish. Also, I am connected to the evangelical covenant church. That isn’t American, that is being 4th generation Swedish. I have spent much time overcoming being passive aggressive-which in a sense comes from being Scandinavian. Does my dad’s Irish side of the family drink way more alcohol than the Swedish side? Yes. Are they louder and more in your face? Yes. Am I loud sometimes and a little brash? Probably. Is that because I am American? That’s not what I am told. It is because of my ethnic heritage, 4 generations removed from me but still coloring the perspectives I have and traditions I keep. What are the “American” values I have? Opportunity. Freedom. Valuing upward mobility, education, and a stable career. Rugged individualism. Me, myself, and I. Thinking MY choices are MINE alone. The dream-2 kids, a good job, and a big house. (Some of these values I have had to learn to reject that are uniquely American, and others that I am thankful for.)
Now do these characteristics make me “white?” Over time the meaning of white-which originally I believe was meaning you were of European decent, has been greatly skewed over time. Since the construct of “race” is actually a made up entity by man, it is subject to man’s interpretation-the man that created it. The white man. So you can look over history and see multiple times where it is totally relative-like how the individual states could determine whether you were white or black depending on your heritage. You could literally cross a state line and change races.
So it is easy to conclude that white no longer means European decent-white means the position of power and privilege in this country. Even if you are not American on your passport, and you come to America looking “white” you are given a place of power because of the systems that are in place here.
Therefore, by stating that I am white, I am proclaiming a place of privilege, a place of being the majority person in almost every setting I go to, never afraid of being oppressed because of my physical appearance, and knowing that I have pretty much every opportunity afforded to me. I won’t be discriminated against, spoken rudely to, not given the benefit of the doubt-I know that blonde hair and blue eyes gets me places, it assumes I am safe, relatable, and trustworthy. Now if I state I am Swedish, Irish, and Cszech-you may assume I look blonde and blue eyed, but you probably have a little bit of a deeper understanding of who I am because you have a general idea of that ethnic background.
Side story-when I was in Kenya and talking to a friend who was Kenyan about tribal groups she asked me if we had tribes. At first I though no, we are all just mixed up. Then I told her that Native American people had tribes, but it is separate from American culture (and basically either exploited or exoticized). But then I thought about all the different people groups that came to America in the beginning and stayed somewhat together in the beginning-there were pockets of Irish, polish, German, Swedes, etc….and in the earlier 1900’s they were pretty segregated-mostly because they still spoke their native language and probably worshiped together and lived in larger than immediate family groups. But the point is that even though there weren’t ‘tribes” they came together because of common interest, language, traditions, and beliefs in a new land. It helped them to adjust and find their rootings. Well obviously people began to intermarry and now people in my generation are usually a mix of 3 or more heritages. Sometimes you can tell by looks, but sometimes we have no idea.
So now we are in a new wave of immigrants, lots of refugees, people trying to find better opportunities, etc. We are segregated into “tribal groups” in a sense. So when you are born here, then do you become American? Or do you become white? Is white American? I think some people would say it used to be….but not anymore. If I went to Ireland and someone asked me where I was from I wouldn’t say Ireland. I would say America-because my culture is American. I wouldn’t say my background was white, I would say it’s Irish-but I’m American. So now I am navigating through terms, which gets weird, but I try to be conscious of talking about nationality and ethnicity rather than “race” words. But if I were black in America I would have to distinguish that I was African American….because if American is white I have to distinguish from white American and I would have to say African. But that gets hairy too because historically not all non-pale colored skin came from Africa, some are from the Caribbean or Puerto Rico or south America, etc. So now what?.
The first time I heard the term European American was at Sanctuary Covenant Church, and I have been pondering it ever since. In processing through my so called “whiteness” the last few years I feel as though that is the best term to describe myself ethnically and nationally speaking, especially if we are still going to say African American. Otherwise in my opinion, everyone born here should just be Americans-and by that terminology there should come an understanding that someone in your family line wasn’t native to America, but you are here now and reflecting in some sense an American culture.
I am in a weird place because I reject parts of Americanism that are not in line with the Kingdom of God….I reject consumerism, individualism, and materialism. I reject the injustice this country was built upon. I reject the oppression that has been the heartbeat of America. I reject the fact that blazing injustice still is present in everyday life in America and there isn’t repentance of systems and corporations and churches and denominations and historians and people groups. Those are the characteristics that tend to be white America. I reject it because I embrace the gospel of Christ that reconciles. But the tension within me would say that I reject white America. I am white America. But I am not. I will not contribute to a system that I have benefited from and I will not use the label that society gives me as a white person for privilege. But what am I? I embrace that God planted me here, and that my great grandparents were in Europe and lived a life there with beautiful aspects of their culture. I embrace those things that I know. I embrace the Catholicism and the covenant church deeply rooted in me. I am Irish. I am Czech, I am Swedish. I love having blonde hair and blue eyes. God made me 6 feet tall with a strong body and rosy cheeks and a nose that goes more out than in. I love it. I am that. And I am American. I am Minnesotan. I have freedom and democracy and voting rights and religious freedom and I can speak up for myself and go where I please and say who I am voting for without fear. I am American.
I had a conversation with a friend of mine and we were talking about being proud of where you come from. It seems to be pretty okay today if you are black to say that you are proud to be black. In this conversation we talked about how the black community has been oppressed for so long and stripped of an identity that making a statement of being black and proud is reclaiming that identity as a black person, whatever that means for you and in your family-it will be different for many. But what if I said I am white and I’m proud? To me that is a little…strange. A little arrogant maybe. Why? That is because of what I feel that you say when you say you are white. It is a declaration of privilege, of benefits, of being part of a oppressive system whether you like it or not. Even when people say they are proud to be an American, I have to admit it irks me a little. But it is because of those aspects of American culture and life that I told you I reject earlier. But I cannot deny that I am American whether I like it or not. European American to be more specific.
I have had to work on finding the balance of all of this, and really be able to fully embrace who God created me to be and know that my identity is Christ and I am made in His image. We are image bearers before we are any nationality. Or ethnicity.
I often listen to a radio show that is primarily for a black audience. They speak a lot of taking pride in being black, and embracing the black community, etc. I can only be a bystander, no matter how close I am to people who are black. They will be and I will not be. So I can support, be happy for that identity they have, but I cannot be that. I have to embrace what I have. Its weird sometimes to want to know and understand a culture, but yet embracing your own and navigating between the two. If I were black in this country and was not able to feel, embrace, and be proud of the skin color God put me in, I would be devastated and probably really confused. I will never understand what that could be like. If I was black in America and was always in the “out” group, never fully felt at home because of the lack of things afforded to me, lack of people who looked like my in books and on tv and in the government-there would always be a sense of disconnect with being born “American” but not being able to fully be culturally American. It would create a sort of dichotomy in who I was I would imagine. So to live in a day where you start to see a change….in tv and government, and in being to join together with other people that look like you and embrace yourselves and love yourselves for exactly who you are is a very beautiful thing.
I sometimes get a funny little feeling in the pit of my stomach, having a deeper understanding and empathy for the black community and minority groups, but also a sense of not belonging in a weird way. I can’t articulate myself very well on this topic, but it is just my honest thoughts that I have been processing through.
I think its strange that we have to check boxes to define us-to make sure we have the correct label. There usually is a box for “other” which is what I have been checking lately. In a way that is one way I feel uniquely called by God. To be other. To have an undoing of the constructs I grew up in and under. Rejecting the dirt, embracing the beauty. Finding my identity solely in Christ-which means embracing where he put me and my lineage. I wonder if the gentiles felt a little confused sometimes. But I think that by reading acts and Pentecost we can see Gods heart for his kingdom-that it transcends every culture, language….it is bigger than that. Not even a wiping away of it, just embracing. Thriving in who He created us to be in all our glorious diversity. I have to cling to that knowledge otherwise I make myself crazy….
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