By Haven Bradford Gow
Years ago a teenaged boy burned down our family restaurant and upstairs home in Massachusetts because he said he hated "Chinks." Several years went by when the young man, now in his 20s, was encouraged by his priest to come to my father and confess that his guilty conscience motivated him to confide in my father that he had been the one who had started the fire. The young man (named Walter) asked my father to please forgive him.
At the time of the fire my father did not have enough money to purchase insurance protection for our property, and so he had to endure an immense financial burden and had to borrow money from Chinese friends and businessman so we could rebuild; even so, my father forgave the young man, saying: "We all make mistakes in our lives; none of us is perfect."
Is racial harmony an impossible dream? According to Protestant clergyman/scholar Rev. James Allen, Liberty, Miss., we can find hope and inspiration in movements like Mission Mississippi, which brings together in worship white and black Christians. Rev. Allen believes that when people place the love of Christ above all other considerations, we can make the steps toward racial harmony and understanding.
Delana Jackson, a social critic in Jackson, Miss., says she has experienced and endured racial bigotry at work and when shopping; even so, she finds hope and inspiration in the beauty and innocence of young people such as her little girl. She says her own mother never told her about racism; instead, she said: "Just do the best you can."
At the Hodding Carter YMCA in Greenville, Miss., I play basketball with the children and help bring the black and white children together so they can play together and learn to become friends. It is beautiful and inspiring to see, as I have witnessed during the past two decades at the YMCA, children learning to overcome racial, religious, educational, social and economic differences and barriers and become friends.
One afternoon I was playing basketball at the YMCA with the children when a young white boy named Michael said he wanted to play in the game. All the children readily welcome him into the game. During the game Michael displayed team work, unselfishness, good sportsmanship and friendliness. After the game I complimented him and said he would be welcome to play with us again any time he wanted. He then replied: "The only problem is my father doesn't like me playing with colored kids; he says if we white children play with colored children, we might end up going out with them; he says interracial dating and marriage are against the Bible."
The next day, Michael's father came to the YMCA to pick him and his brother up. I went up to Michael's father and said: "I want to compliment you for doing such a good job with Michael. He was in our basketball games yesterday and today, and he helped the children with their basketball and made friends with all kids, black and white. You must be teaching him the right thing in church."
Michael's father responded by smiling and saying: "Thank you. I really am trying my best to be a good father and teach him about the Christian way of life. I am happy he's doing well with the other kids."
I often told J. D. Rushing, then executive director of the Hodding Carter YMCA, about the beautiful and inspiring experiences with the children; he said one time: "This is what the YMCA is supposed to be all about. The YMCA philosophy is that we're all created in the image and likeness of God, and that we should treat others the way we want to be treated." He then told me about a bad experience that happened when he was working as an assistant to the executive director at another YMCA. Some black people entered the white YMCA, and the director told them: "You have your own colored YMCA, and you should go there. If the white members see you here, they might get offended." Mr. Rushing said he promised God and that, if he were to become executive director at another YMCA, he would never allow such racism to exhibit itself again.
Margaret Stegge, a social critic in Brandon, Miss., was raised in Mississippi, but then traveled and worked in Louisiana, Texas and Washington, D.C. Writing in the Feb. 14, 2005 Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, Margaret Stegge remarked: "With my work and travel, I have been around people of all races and all walks of my life... Long ago, I decided the main difference in people is the condition of the heart."
I asked Robert Stuart, chairman emeritus, National Can Corp., and past president, Chicago Crime Commission, this question: "What can ― should ― Christians do to combat racism?" He replied: "Each individual must make friends with people of different races. We also must encourage other friends to do the same. We must bring people of other races into our church, and into other organizations to which we belong. We also must encourage those of other races to do the same. We must help those of other races fit into the life our own race."
In other words, we must practice the Golden Rule taught by Confucius and Christ: "Do unto others as you would them do unto you; do not do or say unto others what you would not want done or said unto you." Or, as Mrs. Otha Jones of Sacred Heart Church in Greenville puts it: "We must love others this way God loves us. Only the love of God can change a person's heart, mind and soul."
Haven Bradford Gow is a TV and radio commentator and writer who teaches religion to children at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Greenville, Miss.