For many people, Labor Day marks the official end of summer. Yet the reason it is a national holiday is not to mark the change of seasons. Rather it is to commemorate and celebrate the many contributions of workers and systemic changes that have made life for workers more safe and just. These changes include child labor laws, the 40 hour work week, and organizing for fair wages just to name a few. It is hard to imagine the oppressive labor systems and practices under which workers struggled during the Industrial Revolution in many parts of our nation and throughout the industrialized world. However, there are still major struggles faced by millions of workers who have no health insurance and who work full time yet remain below the poverty line. The need for systemic changes continues for workers in significant segments of our ecomomy.
The progress and challenges of systemic change in labor remind us that other aspects of our society still need systemic change. Since the murder of George Floyd on May 25, national attention has focused on the need for systemic change in racial justice. Ongoing police violence against unarmed black people, mass incarceration of people of color, along with health and income inequities revealed during the pandemic combine to show the urgency for these changes. This is not to ignore or minimize the progress made by historic struggles for racial justice through movements such as Abolition, the NAACP, and the modern Civil Rights Movement. Yet we cannot make the necessary changes if we do not recognize the need for ongoing systemic change. As the famous writer and prophet for racial justice James Baldwin wrote:
Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced. —James Baldwin (1924–1987)
On this Labor Day 2020 as we struggle with the ongoing pandemics of COVID-19 and racial unrest, the words of James Baldwin continue to ring true. The question is, are we willing to face the need to change the systems that perpetuate racial injustice in all its manifestations? There is no guarantee that those systems will change anytime soon, so we must stay committed over the long haul. Yet we know for sure that the systems will never change if we refuse to face the realities of systemic racial injustice. As followers of Jesus, we also know for sure that God loves and desires justice for all people. Any systems that perpetuate injustice are contrary to God’s will must be faced and resisted as an essential aspect of Christian discipleship.
PS. In last week’s reflection, I mistakenly wrote that Jacob Blake was killed by police. He was shot seven times but survived.
