As a priest, I have had the honor of baptizing people. Most of these baptisms were celebrated with infants. The water was poured over their heads and the words were said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Sometimes, however, I have had the privilege of baptizing a baby with immersion.
I always have much anxiety when doing this, praying to God I do not drop a wiggling child. Immersion at baptism can have profound influence on a person. I have seen Protestant groups baptizing in a pool of water where the adult is submerged in the water. This immersion is total and complete, like the person is going to begin a whole new life. They are totally filled with the Spirit.
I like the idea of immersion even beyond the act of baptism. A person who is immersed in something is totally committed to that thing, whatever that thing might be. Learning a new language, for instance, can be like that.
As a Redemptorist, I have seen many of my confreres go off to Mexico and learn Spanish. When they do this, they are not just learning the language, but the culture as well. Many times it is just on a limited basis, for after they have learned much of the language they come back home. Redemptorists also have foreign missionaries who have gone off to serve in other countries. In our Denver Province, we have sent guys off to Brazil, Thailand and Nigeria.
These men go off and are immersed in a new culture, learn the language, and may stay there, ministering to the people for decades. These missionaries can really take on the language and culture of the people with whom they live. They have first-hand knowledge of what the people in these countries have experienced in life.
As a Redemptorist priest, I was asked to come to St. Louis to minister to parishioners at the “Rock” church. We have a diverse group of people, but mostly African Americans. I have tried to immerse myself in this culture.
I have read many books and have learned to listen to the many experiences of the people with whom I minister and live. It has been a humbling experience at times. I have learned that I do not have all the answers in my ministry. Here in America, we have a school system set up to help us learn. As I see it, we have five levels: 1. Grammar School 2. High School 3. College 4. Graduate School 5. PhD – Becoming a Doctor.
People move from one level to the next as they learn so much more about a given subject. A person who becomes a physician has many years of study, particularly about the body. Some doctors have a specialty practice. A person who becomes a lawyer spends much time on the many facets of the law. Again, this person may specialize in a particular area, and use their knowledge to help people navigate the court system.
I use these examples because it is pretty easy to see that if a person has a health issue they are going to go to a doctor. If they have a law issue they are going to consult with a lawyer. They are not going to seek out a person with a grammar school or high school education to help with a health issue or a law issue. They are going to seek out an expert, a person who has earned a degree and put in the time to learn about a particular area of health or law. They will look for an expert who has become so immersed in their area of expertise that they can be trusted. This expert could be a doctor or a lawyer, or one of my Redemptorist friends who has gone off to another country.
Presumably, they are going to have a much better education in this foreign country than I have because they have lived and breathed with the people. We call this the “lived” experience.
Here in America, many cultures live together. Some of the people have come to America on their own volition, and others came here against their wills. When the people from Africa came here, they were enslaved for 250 years and forced to work the plantations of southern whites. These plantation owners made a fortune off the sweat of these black slaves.
In 1865 Abraham Lincoln set the slaves free, but since then, black people in America have not enjoyed the kind of freedom that white people have experienced.
I have heard many white people express frustration about the “Black” cry for freedom, saying that slavery ended 150 years ago; that black people should just get over it and move on; and that the experience of racism is just isolated events and not systemic. Unless you immerse yourself in the culture of a people, you cannot really understand their lives. Most white suburbanites are like children in grammar school with regard to racism. Their ideas about racism, and what it is like to be an African American, are very limited.
When I came to St. Alphonsus “Rock” Church in St. Louis, I had no clue what it was like to be black in America. Over the past five years, I have immersed myself in the culture and learned to listen to the experts – the black people with whom I live and work. But no matter how long I am in this field of work, I will never truly understand what it is like to be black in America. Black people have a PhD, a level of expertise that can only come from people with black skin. We must learn to listen to them.
When I was at school in New Orleans at Xavier University’s Institute for Black Catholic Studies a few months ago, one of my black professors told the class about his experience in life as a black man. I blurted out, “It sounds like when you leave your house in the morning you have a bull’s eye on your back.” I was serious. The professor calmly said, “Yes, that is pretty much how I feel.” That sounds rather extreme, but he is the expert. Who am I – a white man – to question or minimize his experience?
Some years ago, the talented basketball player LeBron James won an NBA championship. One day his house in Los Angeles was vandalized and a racial slur was written on the lawn. I remember that he said, “No matter how famous I am, no matter how much money I make, I am still a black man in America.” Again, who am I to question LeBron’s lived experience in America? I believe there is racism in America, systemic racism in America. It is not my fault. It is probably not your fault. But it is my fault, and maybe yours, if it continues.
Many people, even my own family members, believe that black people have just as much of a chance at success as white people in America. In my experience, this is just not true. Some white people believe that black people are lazy and just want to live off the government. This has not been my experience living in a black community.
I can honestly say I have not met one black person who would rather be living off the government than holding an honest job. I have heard some white people say they do not want black people living in their neighborhood because they will only cause problems. This has not been my experience. My neighborhood is depressed because of repressive laws.
Many blacks want to escape poverty, but have experienced redlining – not being able to get a loan because of the color of their skin. How does a person get out of poverty within a system designed to hold them back?
Inner city public schools are always at a disadvantage. They are funded by property tax dollars, which are so low that they don’t generate enough tax dollars to pay for the schools. Students don’t have the proper books and supplies, and teachers aren’t paid a decent wage. Property values are so low because wealthier people have fled to the suburbs. It is an unending cycle. Another generation of kids will not get a good education, which means they will not get good jobs, which means they will not be able to provide for the education of their children. And the cycle continues.
I welcome any white person to live with me at the “Rock” Church community in St. Louis to get a good education in the black experience of life. Not until a person lives in the shoes of another can they hope to understand their reality. The people with whom I live and work have made me a better person. They are the PhDs of blackness.
They are the experts. I am hoping that you are questioning the America we all believe in. As a Redemptorist, and as a man of God, I am compelled to stop sitting on the fence about this issue. I feel I have something to say, but more importantly, Black America has something to say. I hope that before you make any judgements, you will listen to what black people have to say about their LIVED EXPERIENCE in America.
