Special Message from Rev Byron Eric Thomas on Black Men and White Supremacy

I called a friend and colleague this morning who serves in another Annual Conference. When he answered the phone, I told him that I was just calling to check and see how he was doing. The response I received was silence. It was a silence with which I was all too familiar. The kind that occurs where you can “hear” the weeping of another man’s soul. From a distance of 3,000 miles away, in the midst of a prolonged silence, I could hear the weeping – the wailing - of another man’s soul. I recognized it because my soul had been weeping and wailing. Tired. Tired in my own soul. I recognized tired in my brother’s soul. Wearied. . . worn. . . tired. This is where the events that have unfolded over the last few weeks have left me. I am angry! It is an anger born out of deep pain. It is born out of deep ache. It is not just my own ache, but it is a collective ache. It was in my father, my mother, my brothers...and now even my sons too bear this burden. And yet, in spite of this terrible burden, I am who I am and would not want to be anyone else. I especially would not want to be white. THAT would be too much of a burden to bear indeed. For one’s sense of worth to be defined by maintaining a legacy of oppression against so many different people and in so many different ways, but especially against black people, is a burden that I have no desire to bear. To walk through the world so deeply insecure and afraid that power becomes an addiction that must be had at any and all costs, in order to maintain some semblance of stability in this world is no way to live. I see you. I see you pretending all the time. Walking through this world pretending to be confident and in control, but in reality, you are deeply afraid. All the things that you do and the ways that you go about being white, maintaining your whiteness. . . I still see you. All the ways that you grasp at power with no concern with compassion or justice. . . I still see you. Grow up! Grow up! Grow the hell up! ‘Cause I (we) ain’t goin’ nowhere. You see I’m wearied, I’m worn, and I’m tired, but I also know who my Creator is. And because I know who my Creator is I also recognize those who are pretenders – those masking and charading, seeking to be all powerful but in reality they are imposters. I’m tired but I (we) ain’t goin’ nowhere because the echo of the psalmist can still be heard by Black people: The LORD is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life- of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh (shoot me without cause), when my enemies and my foes attack me (placing their knee on my neck), they will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege against me (the National Guard), my heart will not fear; though war break out against me (presidential statement: “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”), even then will I be confident. One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.” (Psalm 27:1-5) I have no doubt that many white people will continue to operate out of a manual for white supremacy. But the message that I would remind us of is that we too stand within a legacy. It is a legacy of strength, resilience, and integrity. A legacy where we are bruised but not broken. A legacy where we are like water running over jagged rocks - the rocks will eventually get smoothed out. A legacy where I will continue to fight because the God with whom I am familiar, has a unique way of bringing creation out of chaos and beauty out of the mess that we make of this world. So, if you stand within this legacy be encouraged and do not lose hope. If you stand within a legacy of oppression, beware ‘cause I ain’t goin’ nowhere. Please feel free to distribute this to ANY of your friends. Rev. Dr. Byron Eric ThomasSenior PastorBen Hill United Methodist Church