We should not be shocked at the violence against Asian Americans!
By Dr. Herbert (H. J.) Harris, author of “Solving The Race Issue In America.” (www.solvingtheraceissue.com)
As the news reports that eight people – six of them Asian women – were killed by a gunman in Georgia, we should not be surprised.
According to the Global Citizen, “Over the past year, at least 3,800 hate incidents against Asian Americans have been reported amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which activists say were stoked by misinformation and rising anti-Asian rhetoric from political figures and media pundits.” (Joe McCarthy – March 17,2021)
There is a virus running rampant in the body and soul of America.
What virus is attacking America?
What virus is alive in America that caused the violence and killing of native Americans as their homeland was stolen?
What virus is alive in America that caused millions of kidnapped Africans to be dehumanized and subjected to the vicious institution of slavery for hundreds of years?
What virus attacks America that causes a young man to enter prayer service in a church in Charleston South Carolina and coldly execute nine people worshiping their God.
What virus infects America that causes a policeman to kill a man by kneeling on his neck for over 8 minutes?
What virus is alive in America that causes a man to hunt and kill eight people – six of the Asian women – in massage parlors in Georgia?
What is this virus?
It is the American virus of ungodly racism.
This nation was carved out of the racist genocide of indigenous native Americans.
America has never resolved the issue of racism based on the sin of slavery.
This American virus was present at the creation of this nation as the founding fathers extolled their reverence for God while practicing the ungodly sin of slavery.
In fact, America was so infected by this virus of racism and addiction to free slave labor that the Civil War ensued where over 600,000 Americans lost their lives.
What is this sin of slavery that causes the American virus?
Slavery is the total disrespect of humanity – a total hatred of God’s unique creation.
Slavery is the original sin – the root cause of racism – the American virus that continues to live in the body and soul of America.
As with COVID, the virus is no respecter of persons. It manifests as violence against native Americans as their lands were taken. It manifests as violence against black people, through the slavery experience, segregation, discrimination, and police brutality. It spreads to Japanese Americans banished to internment camps during the Second World War. The virus manifest in the inhumane treatment of Hispanic families who cross the border seeking a better life.
Today, the virus rears its ugly head as violence against Asian people in America – in Georgia message parlors.
Ultimately the virus – the American virus – causes violence and hatred against anyone different from the perpetrators – some white Americans.
The attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and the underlying false claims of election fraud are a further manifestation of this American virus.
What is the solution? What is the vaccine?
How can this virus of racism and hatred be destroyed?
History has shown that the American virus cannot be destroyed through the courts.
The courts, and in particular the US Supreme Court, reflect the morals and values of Americans. As such, the courts are infected by this same American virus.
The US Supreme Court validated slavery in the Dred Scott Decision (Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857). In Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896), the US Supreme Court repackaged the slave paradigm in a “separate but equal” interpretation. This “separate but equal” doctrine gave a legal foundation to “Jim Crow and Black Laws” that institutionalized the American virus of racism in all levels of American society.
The American virus cannot be destroyed by politics and legislation.
The Declaration of White Independence and the Coup of 1898 – in which a legitimately elected government in Wilmington North Carolina was violently overthrown – were a result of this American virus.
The Coup of 1898 set the stage for segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement of black citizens throughout the south and, to an extent, throughout the country.
The recent racist violence against Asians is a further manifestation of the American virus. The attempted Coup of January 6, 2021 and the recent nationwide attempt by some Republican legislators to disenfranchise black American citizens is further evidence that the American virus is alive, well, and growing.
America is a at crossroad.
Will this nation finally resolve the American virus of racism and hatred?
Or will America and Americans continue to deny, ignore, deflect, or tolerate the systemic racism that is the virus on the body and soul of this nation?
Dr. King understood the deadly nature of the American virus when he wrote his last book, “Where do we go from here – Chaos or Community?”
Is there a cure for the American virus?
The cure for the American virus is a spiritual solution clearly described in the Bible that Christians – black and white – are supposed to live by.
Three spiritual steps are required to resolve racism and destroy the American virus:
- Acknowledge the sin of racism and slavery. Study the history. Learn from the past.
- Ask forgiveness for past and present transgressions on behalf of the ancestors and ourselves.
- Make atonement and be healed.
If these spiritual steps are not taken at this critical moment in history, the American virus will continue to consume, and eventually destroy this nation.
Who must take the lead to implement this spiritual solution?
Americans of the faith community – black and white church leaders – must take affirmative action to implement the spiritual solution.
The words of Edmund Burke, over 200 years ago, gives a unique insight into the relationship between the way one’s religion is practiced and the way one’s government operates.
“True religion is the foundation of society, the basis on which all true civil government rests, and from which power derives its authority, laws their efficacy, and both their sanction. If it is once shaken by contempt, the whole fabric cannot be stable or lasting.” (Edmund Burke (1729-1797), English orator and statesman.)
(Excerpt from “Solving The Race Issue In America” – www.solvingtheraceissue.com)
The faith leaders of America cannot sit quietly – many have done in the past – as the American virus devours our nation. We cannot be bystanders as racist bullies attack, maim and kill our citizens.
Many Americans who perpetrate racism, storm the Capitol, or otherwise disregard human dignity attend churches. These same Americans hear sermons eloquently delivered on the Sabbath about the word of God and how to live our lives.
The faith leaders must actively affirm the dignity of humanity: that all people are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The Bible says: “to whom much is given, much will be required.” (Luke 12:48)
America has been truly blessed in so many ways. With these profound blessings, much is expected of America and Americans.
We are better than the racism that infects us. We are better than the acts of violence and cruelty we have inflicted on others.
America can be the “City on the Hill – the Guiding Light” admired and respected by all.
Choose this day whom we will serve.
America must choose the spiritual vaccine against the virus of racism.
Choose good. Choose love. Choose God!
Amen.
© Copyright 2021 LifeSkill Institute, Inc., P.O. Box 302, Wilmington, NC 28402
Learn more about “Solving The Race Issue In America” and contact
Dr. Herbert (H J) Harris at: www.solvingtheraceissue.com
Email: [email protected] Phone: 800-570-4009