Vestal’s brave column
Shawn Vestal’s July 8 column on racism is a good one, and a bravely honest one.
Bryan Stevenson would agree. Stevenson is an accomplished national figure — an articulate Black leader and crusader for justice who asserts that racism is the residue of American history that has looked upon Blacks as subhuman or lesser human beings for 400 years. At its core, he says, racism is fueled by “the toxicity of white supremacy.”
He’s right. And white supremacy is a tempting toxin — a kind of social heroin that’s easy to get hooked on and difficult to shake. White nationalists openly push it; many politicians nudge it along; and too many of us pretend it isn’t there. It hooks its vulnerable addicts and takes them to a lofty feel-good perch of superiority used in our past as a shameful justification for slavery, and for all manner of subsequent racial oppressions.
Even so, Stevenson sees hope. He says that if we honestly face up to all of this, we can find a path to redemption. He’s right about that too. Honesty is the first step in beating addiction.
Vestal understands this. So does Rob McCann. But not Bishop Daly.
Bishop Daly should make a pilgrimage to Montgomery, Alabama, and visit Stevenson’s National Memorial for Peace and Justice and its reverential tribute to nearly 4,400 lynching victims. It could be a good first step for the bishop—a spiritual awakening, a purification of honest acknowledgment — and a much-needed cleansing or baptism.
Steve McNutt
Spokane