Truth and Reconciliation

In early June, a little publicized piece of legislation was announced:

‘Congresswoman Barbara Lee [Oakland, CA, Dem.] announced legislation calling for the establishment of the first United States Commission on Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation (TRHT). The Commission will examine the effects of slavery, institutional racism, and discrimination against people of color, and how our history impacts laws and policies today. 

The legislation – supported by a broad coalition of members of Congress and community partners – will be officially introduced Thursday, June 4. The full text of the resolution can be found here. 

“The murder of George Floyd and the current COVID-19 crisis illustrate once again the painful and dangerous legacy that white supremacy has had in our country, and the desperate need to fully acknowledge and understand how our history of inequality continues today,” Congresswoman Lee said. “This inequality is at the heart of every crisis we’re dealing with right now – the crises of police brutality and mass incarceration, the COVID-19 public health crisis which is disproportionately affecting communities of color, and the crisis of poverty excluding so many minority families from the American Dream. This is a matter of survival for countless Americans. Only by understanding our past, and confronting the errors that still haunt us today, can we truly move forward as a people and a country.”

On July 2, Suffolk (Boston) County District Attorney Rachel Rollins announced she was joining with DA’s from Philadelphia and San Francisco to create Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commissions to hear from individuals who feel they have been victims of violence or prosecutorial misconduct.

Some people might say we shouldn’t dredge up old stories and we should start fresh. But our past is always with us – ignoring the pain and violence that are woven into our American history does not make them go away. A fresh start means coming clean. We must look beyond the self-serving myths of freedom and equality into the sometimes invisible systems of preserving privilege that have actively worked against so many.

Jesus said: ‘The truth will set you free.’ ‘The truth’ can only be uncovered when we begin to listen to all the voices—not just the ones of the educated and the powerful, but the voices of those who have been silenced. While Christianity has been used to justify terrible violence and oppression in this country and others, it also has been an inspiration for generations of sisters and brothers, priests and lay people. They have sought the truth by standing with the poor and powerless (as Jesus did) against the systems and the people in power.

May we too be inspired to use our voices and our privilege to hear the voices and the stories of all of us. Given the hidden barriers of privilege, unless we actively seek out and create new systems and relationships, we will not hear these voices. The status quo is stacked against the connections and the truth that many of us say that we seek. Let us all vow to live out our values more fully as we intentionally listen to hear what has been silenced and to energetically look to see what has been hidden.

Personal Practice – Curiosity. Find out something new today. Begin by being curious about the people closest to you—your family, friends and neighbors. What are their truths that you may have been blind to? The stories of their inner lives that they have felt they needed to hide? Then see if you can find a story on line or in a book of someone who has a radically different life from yours. Listen or read and notice what you have not noticed before.