Saturday, February 13, 2021
Sacred Ground
Last summer the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor shined a light on the deep wounds in our country – racial inequities still present today whose roots stretch back more than 400 years. How could we respond? What could we do?
In September two groups of folks from the St. John’s community began a program created through the Episcopal Church called Sacred Ground to explore these questions. Through the lens of our faith we wrestled with the legacies of race and racism as they have shaped America over the course of its history. The program invited us to hear the stories of many different groups, and through them to examine our own stories. Through it we were able to see the wounds of our society, and together to begin to imagine what healing could look like. Over the next few days of Daily Reflections, you’ll hear from members of that group and what stood out to them in our time together.
– The Rev. Nathan Bourne
One of the several moments from the course that I particularly remember came in the session that focused on white resistance to Reconstruction, especially but not exclusively in the South – during the period from just after the Civil War until the eve of World War I. It brought home to me how little I'd actually known about the ways that – by creating petty laws against loitering or vagrancy, for example, with years-long jail or prison sentences – local and state law-enforcement officials had essentially subverted their legal systems into a form of mainly Black slave labor. It reminded me of passing virtually all-Black chain gangs working the fields of rural Tidewater Virginia during frequent rides in the back seat of the family car as a child too young and naive to have any idea why they were there. It also made me suddenly understand, for the first time but all too well, the awful implications of a Confederate general on my family tree having later been made state Director of Prisons as a reward for his service in the Civil War.
– Linda Cheatham
I had no idea that our government had a policy in the 1970’s—of separating children of American Indian tribes from their families. Our government believed that those children would be better served being ripped from their parents and their culture. At the end of our program, we watched a video called, Dawnland. We learned that there are still many different vibrant tribes in Maine—many of whose people, now adults, were kidnapped as children by our government and sent far away to live in boarding schools. We learned that our neighbor-state, Maine, is engaged in a truth and reconciliation commission to educate folks in an attempt to heal. This is an example of what we learned in one session of Sacred Ground.
One might think that social justice themes would lead to highly-charged and emotion-filled debate. Our group was more contemplative than debate-prone. We listened and shared. Every single person was respectful. I cannot remember one instance where a person was cut-off or interrupted. Prior to the program, I did not know any of the members of my group, with one exception. By the end, I felt close to each person and did not want the program to end.
– Landya McCafferty
After watching videos and reading articles and books we would gather to discuss the material. I was challenged each week and gained new insights. Initially I would ask myself, what would Jesus do in these circumstances? As the weeks progressed I began to ask, what would Jesus have me do in these circumstances?
– Robin Burdick