By Mark A. Taylor
About 100 people were at the 7:05 p.m. showing of Selma in the theater where my wife and I sat last Saturday night. Of that number, we were two of about 10 white folks in the house. Everyone else was African-American.
This was something different from the typical weekend movies crowd. Whole families were there. And senior citizens; I saw at least two on walkers labor to their seats on the handicapped row.
It would be much more than two hours of entertainment for them. We were about to see a depiction of history these folks had lived. And as the movie ended, I couldn”t help but wonder how they lived through it. Because, the fact is, the film wasn”t entertainment for any of us.
It wasn”t entertaining to see people beaten and bloodied by thugs (and most of the attackers wore police uniforms and riot gear). It wasn”t entertaining to see some of them killed like animals, their only crime their peaceful protest. It wasn”t entertaining to see an old man and his young daughter weep for his son (her husband), shot by a man protected by his badge. It wasn”t entertaining to see the president of the United States waffle and wait to step in and guarantee the dignity of citizens simply seeking to claim their constitutional right to vote. It wasn”t entertaining to know that all the power had been placed in the hands of haters by other haters who jeered and cursed at their neighbors who happened to be born with brown skin instead of pink.
But it was compelling””and convicting.
At lunchtime Sunday we talked about the movie with a friend who told us her own sad experience with racism. Decades ago, at about the time depicted by Selma, her husband had been interviewed for the senior minister position at a church in the Midwest. This church, far away from the Jim Crow South, was nevertheless unsettled by its changing neighborhood. And the week before the minister candidate was to preach a trial sermon, the chairman of the elders called with a warning.
“Sometimes a black person shows up in our services,” the elder explained. “When that happens, we don”t offer an invitation hymn,” he said. “I wanted to make sure you”re OK with that.”
The candidate was not OK with that, and perhaps none of us today would be, either. We”ve come a long way from the racial turmoil of the “60s. And yet, 50 years later, our nation is still divided by racial tension. I know, I know there are two opposing points of view about most of these situations. And I know people of good will, including many Christians, may disagree with each other about causes and solutions for these problems.
But here”s what I don”t know.
I don”t know how that audience of African-Americans around me Saturday night could sit through Selma without trembling at the injustice, fear, and oppression felt by not-too-distant cousins in a homeland that is supposed to guarantee freedom.
And I don”t know any solution to this problem today except the transforming love of Christ. Political initiatives will always be corrupt. Government laws will always be inadequate. Social activism will always degenerate into selfishness unless it has the gospel at its core.
Now is the time for those of us who claim to have the gospel at our core to do more than weep and wonder at a movie like Selma. Many Christians already are leading efforts to heal broken families, remedy injustice, and find other ways to show God”s love to his creatures living beyond the fringe of privilege in our society. Now is the time for many more of us to join them.
Well said! Thanks.
Mark, well said and well handled. I’ve yet to see the movie, but your thoughts are compelling.
Thanks, Mark, for your insights. “Selma” (the movie, let alone the event!) was definitely disturbing and sobering. Sadly, we still have churches today who much prefer to be segregated rather than do the hard work to break down the barriers built up by racism.
Excellent article. Our churches should be doing more to address the issue of racism.
Thank you for being willing to take a stand and speaking truth. There are still way too many people who will not do either. I personally know of churches in America today that still will not permit African Americans to even enter through their doors. Ironically enough, the same people they will not allow to enter serve as nannies for their children, caretakers for their elderly, farm hands for their crops, protectors of their laws, and even live as next door neighbors. No doubt, God is not pleased and His righteousness will prevail; even repay.