Weekly Reflection: Both Sides of Who We Are

Jan 12, 2021

After the horrific and violent insurrection at the Capitol last week, a common response was, “That’s not who we are.” Yet if we dare to be honest with ourselves, this most recent expression of white supremacist Christian nationalism has been a part of who we are as Americans from the beginning. On CBS Sunday Morning, writer Charles Blow offered a concise and powerful video essay that made this clear. Please take a few minutes to watch it, and then read the second part of this post.

The final quote in the video is by Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, “Not only is white supremacy the greatest threat to democracy, democracy is the greatest threat to white supremacy…”

This insightful quote points to the other side of who we are as a nation. The democratic principles of freedom and justice for all are part of who we are when we have the faith and courage to face and resist the forces of white supremacist Christian nationalism. Just one day before the insurrection at the Capitol, two senators were elected in Georgia, Raphael Warnock the first Black senator in Georgia’s history and Jon Osoff the first Jewish senator in Georgia’s history. What both men have in common is a deep connection to John Lewis who is among the great examples of the best of who we are as Americans. Raphael Warnock was John Lewis’ pastor and officiated at his memorial service in July. Jon Osoff read John Lewis’ book Walking With the Wind and wrote to Lewis asking to work with him. Osoff became an intern for Rep. Lewis and then decided to seek office himself having been inspired by the example of Lewis’ courage and faith based nonviolence. The two short videos below share the the impact of John Lewis on both men. This is who we are – a deeply flawed nation that has promoted white supremacy and a nation deeply committed to the principles of freedom and justice for all people. When we are willing to confess and repent of the one, we are ready to work on true progress in the other.