Hope for a Greater Good
I entered high school in the late 70s with much apprehension and excitement as most teenagers do. A new high school had been built and my class would be the first class to attend all four years. You see, Cumberland Regional High School was beautifully designed with the hopes of bringing greater relief to the overcrowding of Bridgeton High School and the racial tensions that had escalated all through the late ’60s and early ’70s. Bridgeton High School was described as a powder keg. One recent article recounted one specific year when things took a dramatic shift:
At the time, the city had a 40 percent African American population, many of whom were blue-collar workers from the south side’s Second Ward. At the city’s crowded high school, racial division was evident. Black students, for example, usually gathered in the east cafeteria while whites chose to eat in the west. Smoldering tensions came to a head in February when Principal Anthony Pekich addressed an assembly, contending that black students had to “earn” respect. Pekich later apologized and was given a two–week leave, purportedly on the recommendation of his doctor. To help relieve tension at the congested school, students were put on “dual-track” scheduling and as-signed alphabetically to either cafeteria, avoiding black or white “cliques.” Though Bridgeton faced an uncertain future, things looked brighter by the end of 1971… On Dec. 17, some 200 students held a sit-in demanding the removal of police from the school, the implementation of a black history program, and a racially mixed school board. Afterward, students, both black and white, linked arms for a march to a downtown hamburger stand… Bridgeton Mayor Bertram R.B. Aitken said they demonstrated that whites and blacks could get along and strict security at the school was no longer needed.[1]
Make no mistake, a new high school and ongoing initiatives did not eradicate the tensions, but forward motion was being made. As a shy, small white girl, I knew to keep my distance from any fights in the hall or to not look at anyone in the eyes that I did not know since it could be mistaken as an offensive look. I found my safety in the music department. It was here that the larger focus on hand was making music. Because the focus was not our color, defenses were laid to rest.
As I reflect on that choir room and on what our county was attempting to do through integration, I realize now that it affirms what Yascha Mounk is trying to say. Even though the rise of progressive separatism comes from much pain and fear of the domination of marginalized groups, “in the long run, it will succeed only in encouraging a zero-sum competition between different ethnic blocs.”[2] He surmises that “the only realistic alternative is to double down on the long-standing dream of integration-encouraging students and citizens to think of themselves in terms of broader groups that include members from many different backgrounds.”[3] He makes a case once again for integration where no group is silenced or bullied and quotes John Dewey: “Our goal is to have a country that’s not divided by race” but where “children learn and play together, they grow, build, and thrive together.”[4]
What impresses me about Mounk’s book is that his approach does not come across as offensive or demeaning. It seems to reflect a genuine concern for the identity trap that can be so easily succumbed to by exasperating the issues at hand that divide us. This is undoubtedly attributed to his own place of inherited pain with his grandparents who died in the German concentration camps for being Jewish. The point is not to forget what happened but to build bridges for the greater good.
However, can the greater good ever truly be attained? Mounk affirms that “Human beings…are “groupish…They are primed to form strong bonds with their own group, even when its criterion for membership…is trivial.”[5] He goes on to state “humans are both cacophonous and vainglorious…advancing our own interests”[6] This is truly the human condition that warrants a Savior. As Jeremiah 17:9 states “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?” (NIV)
I am reminded of the prison guard that we met as we visited Robbins Island at our South Africa Advance in September of 2022. His pursuit of freedom had cost him a life of great pain. Yet, he was able to extend forgiveness to the warden who treated him so terribly. He had found the greater good of a gospel that can truly free people’s hearts on both sides of the spectrum of injustice.
As I began this post, I felt a heavy weight of how much injustice there is in the world and how hard it is to know how to respond. My own biases swirled in my mind making me hesitant to put anything in writing. However, as I close, I realize it is only Christ in us and through us that can build the bridges that are needed. There is hope for a greater good… a greater Kingdom purpose that can unite all…
“After this, I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. Revelation 7:9 (NIV)
[1] Doug Fuhrmann, “Local History: Racial Tension Leads to Bridgeton Riots in 1971,” The Daily Journal, April 14, 2015, sec. News, https://www.thedailyjournal.com/story/news/history/2015/04/14/local-history-racial-tension-leads-to-bridgeton-riots/25754919/.
[2] Yascha Mounk, The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time (New York, NY: Penguin Press, n.d.), 185.
[3] Yascha Mounk, 185.
[4] Yascha Mounk.
[5] Yascha Mounk.
[6] Yascha Mounk.
About the Author
Esther Edwards
Esther has served in ministry leadership for over 35 years. She is an ordained minister, an ICF and CCLC certified coach, and licensed coach trainer. Her and her husband have launched their own coaching practice, Enjoy the Journey Leadership Coaching and seek to train ministry leaders in the powerful skill of coaching. Esther loves hiking, reading, and experiencing new coffee shops with friends and family. She enjoys the journey with her husband, Keith, their four daughters, sons-in-law, and their four, soon to be five, beautiful grandchildren.8 responses to “Hope for a Greater Good”
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HI Esther,
I am going to be silly here. War of the Worlds…Martians are trying to take over the Earth. Black, white, yellow, red (okay all the folk) are just digestive materials for the aliens.
People bind together to fight back, but in the end aliens are defeated by the germs that wiped out the Native American Indians, the Hawaiians who did not have immunity. In the face of an external evil humans worked together. Ahh fantasy.
Sigh…back to reality. I have a weird perspective, while we strive for good, we are not promised peace. If anything, Revelation gives a good dose of wars and rumors of war. The world goes literally to Hell in a handbasket.
In the midst of all of this Christ asks us to swim upstream. To love unconditionally, to love all as HE loves all.
Is Identity a 1st World problem? Like the decadence of Roman, is it a symptom of the fall of the dominant power that no longer has survival imperatives like most of Africa, Ukraine, Israel, and Palestine.
Every week I work with refugees. They are seeking to learn the language, the culture, get jobs, feed their families and get their kids into ANY school.
Their priorities are different. Simpler.
Unfortunately, given time, they will be victims of being different.
Too much….sorry.
Shalom.
Russell,
You are right. It is not a 1st world problem. It’s a human problem. I spoke with an African friend last year and as we were discussing racism and the state of America, she responded a bit like you…with a little of tongue in cheek, yet with a hint of sadness. I cannot remember her exact words, but in essence, she recounted how this is life everywhere. One group trying to dominate another…tribal warfare…political unrest…
Russell, thank you for the work you do to draw in the refugees. The church has the hope of acceptance and safety…a place to have our differences join together for the greater good… but alas, we so often fall short too.
Ah…
So we are settling on “this a fallen world” and the powerful tribes everywhere desire to keep and maintain power.
In Hungary, (when I was there), churches were discussing the absence of the any imagery of the U.S. in Revelation. They suggested that the U.S. at the end of times would no longer be relevant.
Like Rome perhaps we will implode in our decadence and lack of moral structure. Sigh…
Time to stop and smell the roses.
Shalom.
Hi Esther,
I am encouraged by this quote you pulled from our reading, “…the only realistic alternative is to double down on the long-standing dream of integration-encouraging students and citizens to think of themselves in terms of broader groups that include members from many different backgrounds.” You have mentioned your church as being very diverse so I am imagining or maybe wondering how the church in general and yours in particular can be a representation of what Mounk means as a “broader group”? What are you noticing in your context?
I actually toyed with writing about our church context because truly it is an example of having not only a broader group but a greater purpose. With over 30 nations represented, there are many different points of view and cultural differences, which we do not want people to ignore. Instead, we desire to celebrate them.
When misunderstandings occur, it is most helpful to discuss them instead of hoping they will dissipate on their own.
Esther,
Whew, what a high school experience you lived through in very formative years. Thank you for sharing your story and you honest struggles. I really appreciated it too! I especially noted when you said: “As I began this post, I felt a heavy weight of how much injustice there is in the world and how hard it is to know how to respond. My own biases swirled in my mind making me hesitant to put anything in writing. However, as I close, I realize it is only Christ in us and through us that can build the bridges that are needed. There is hope for a greater good… a greater Kingdom purpose that can unite all…”. Thank you Esther, beautifully written. As a Life coach who is helping do this end of the work, how do you help them move forward if painful experiences are part of their past? Do you find those who have done therapy first have an easier time being coached?
Hi Ester! Thanks for sharing your story. It is so emotionally moving.
From my perspective, the narratives and experiences from your high school years hold great relevance to the themes discussed in Mounk’s writing. Drawing from both your experience and Moon’s thoughts, as a Christian leader today, what can you strive for to avoid identity synthesis and aim for equal human dignity regardless of identity?
Esther,
Thank you for sharing your experience. It’s so interesting that our guest Preacher today used the exact scripture that you used to conclude your post. He used Revelation 7:9, “After this, I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.” as the basis of his of sermon on unity and what MLK Day means to Christians today. I thought about what it would it look like if we had nothing that separated us, if we could look at one another the way God does. You wrote, “The point is not to forget what happened but to build bridges for the good.” Yes, I very much long for this, I believe that it is achieved by valuing who we are and what we have experienced.