On February 23 of this year, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year old black man, went out for a jog in the Satilla Shores area of Glynn County, GA. Two white men, Travis McMichael and father Gregory McMichael, who later said they believed him to be a burglar, chased him down in a pickup truck, got …
It was a northern city, Chicago, I believe. A white evangelist and his team entered a local restaurant for a meal. The manager approached them with obvious concern. He was honored they chose his eatery; However, the black man in their party would not be served and would be asked to leave. The evangelist …
I’m white. Decidedly white. Which means that I can’t jump, or dance in rhythm, or learn a funky new handshake, to save my life. I grew up in a white bubble I never noticed, and I didn’t have an adult black friend for the first 40 years of my life. I’m still quite white, but …
Hi Roger. Please don’t freak out, but I am your 57-year old self, and I’d like to share some things I (we?) have learned about you and the black people around you that you barely notice. The good news here is that you’ll make it to your 57th birthday. The bad news is that you …
Jesus is a dear friend to losers. This is my great hope. I don’t know what the great throng expected to hear from the newly famous, miracle-working rabbi when they sat down on a mountainside and turned their heads into the slight breeze to hear him speak. I’m not sure they ever forgot …
Thomas Jefferson. Robert E. Lee. Thomas Yawkey. They have all been in the news this last week. Jefferson, the slave owner. Yawkey, the Red Sox baseball owner who adamantly resisted integration. Lee, a general in the Confederate army. Racists. Bad guys. The proposed removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee was …
A police revolver rings out. Several times. Another black man in America bleeds out. Most all agree that these killings are a terrible tragedy. And we–my white brothers and sisters and I–wanting to be helpful, offer our counsel. These deaths could be prevented. The story can end up differently. If only the black man …
I live in Huntsville, Alabama, in a $9,000 home on a decent-size corner lot in a simple little neighborhood. I would guess that it takes me almost an hour to mow my lawn. Often, neighbors will stop by my house and offer to do some work. I remember one particular day not long after I …
My 2013 Christmas season was definitely not perfect. We got a really late start putting up the Christmas tree and decorations. We traveled hundreds of miles and slept in eight different beds. On the road, it was hard to fix or find “good” food, and I put on a few extra pounds. My brother, Bruce, …
We are all wannabe detectives, which is, I think, part of the fascination with detective shows down through the years (Perry Mason, Hawaii 5-0, Dragnet, NCIS, CSI,) The show presents us with several possible suspects, and we look for “clues” to determine who committed the crime. The reality is that we are hard-wired to do …