trail of tears

David Leong 9-09-2021

Photo of Ground Zero "Steel Cross" by Carlos Restrepo via Shutterstock

What does it mean, now two decades past this traumatic event, to “never forget” 9/11? And why are we simultaneously encouraged to “move on from the past” when it comes to other great American tragedies, like the genocidal erasure of Indigenous peoples, or the horrific violence against Black people from chattel slavery through Jim Crow?

Joe Kay 6-18-2018

People protest against family separation, in front of a Homeland Security facility in Elizabeth, N.J., June 17. REUTERS/Stephanie Keith

People of all religions and political leanings are speaking up against the administration’s policy of taking children from parents — but that’s not enough. We also must challenge the ideology that produces these human indignities, the mindset that supports them, and the perverted theology that blesses them. Those things have been around from our country’s beginning.

Mark Charles 9-02-2014
Two pots reach the boiling point. Image courtesy Showcake/shutterstock.com

Two pots reach the boiling point. Image courtesy Showcake/shutterstock.com

They say a watched pot never boils. But that's not entirely true. Of course a watched pot boils—it's just that intently watching a pot of water reach 212 degrees Fahrenheit is not an incredibly exciting way to spend your time. And so most people get bored or distracted and end up leaving before it ever reaches the boiling point.

Systemic racism is like a heat source that keeps a pot of water simmering at a constant 211 degrees. Extremely hot, but not quite boiling. Every once in a while the heat gets turned up just a tad—like when a frightened white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., shoots a young unarmed black man while his hands are in the air. Or a group of ignorant, overzealous college students from Oklahoma State University create a banner for a football game that makes light of an act of genocide committed against Native Americans by the United States government.

And then the water starts to boil. 

Protests are organized. Twitter goes ablaze. Op-eds are written. Civil rights leaders are given the microphone.

And the temperature is brought back down to 211 degrees.

Allen Johnson 9-07-2010

"Yes, Muslims have the constitutional right to build a mosque near Ground Zero.

Troy Jackson 8-17-2010
Sometimes space is warranted. We need boundaries when relationships are difficult.