Lasting Lesson
Mrs. Lupton was my English teacher during the 1983-1984 school year, when I was in 11th grade. More than 40 years later, I still remember two sections of her curriculum. First, we watched the movie Gandhi over several class periods. Having personally experienced racial oppression in South Africa, Gandhi went on to lead the ultimately successful independence movement in India. Second, she showed us slides from her travels in South Africa. I believe she was attempting to inform and impress a group of surly 16 and 17-year-olds about the reality of oppression and the possibility of hope for change. When I was learning from Mrs. Lupton, India was 40 years on from gaining independence from the British Empire, but South Africa was still deeply entrenched in the system of apartheid. Nonetheless, I was fascinated and wrote to the consulate for information about visiting the beautiful country I had seen in Mrs. Lupton’s slides. It was an incredible feeling to receive a huge packet in the mail, but in the end, the trip was deemed unsafe, and my visit never happened. Until now.
Between then and now, I remained connected to the dream of visiting, but I did not stay well-informed about the events leading up to, and since, the transition from the Apartheid era minority led government to the Democratic era. In seeking a baseline of knowledge from which to dive into our cohort experience, I looked for themes from the past two years that intersected racism in South Africa and looked for implications for this current moment in America. The power of capitalism was a surprising find.
Economic interests—especially the pursuit of profit—became a powerful force that began to fracture the wall dividing whites and blacks. To modernize, rules that restricted blacks from becoming skilled laborers had to be relaxed. There simply were not enough whites to do the work.[1] There were unforeseen ripple effects to this pragmatic financial decision from 1973. People who worked side-by-side formed relationships across color lines. The need for a stable workforce opened the door for some blacks to move out of townships and closer to their work. Eventually, blacks were able to unionize, which helped prepare people to organize, seek, and utilize political power.[2] As America is currently embroiled in a quagmire surrounding immigration, is there a possible lesson? I am pondering the future implications of increasing removals and deportations on the economy of the United States. Will a future outcry against rising food prices and services prompt policy reconsideration, allowing conversations about immigration to move forward from a different angle? Even if motivated by money, change could result in increased safety and better opportunities for immigrants.
While reading to learn more about racial reconciliation in South Africa, I encountered three new terms. First, structural violence is a term used to describe social injustice embedded in economic and political systems that prevent entire groups from reaching their potential.[3] The other two terms correspond to forms of justice in response to structural violence. They are transitional and transformational justice. ChatGPT helped me make a little chart to both compare and explain.
| Aspect | Transitional Justice | Transformative Justice |
| Context | Post-conflict or authoritarian transitions | Everyday harm, systemic oppression |
| Approach | Legal, institutional, often state-driven | Community-based, anti-carceral, grassroots |
| Goal | Justice, accountability, reconciliation | Healing, accountability, structural change |
| Tools | Truth commissions, courts, reparations | Dialogue, community accountability, support |
| View of Harm | Exceptional, large-scale | Ongoing, systemic, relational |
| Role of the State | Central | Often avoided or critiqued |
My own summary is that transitional justice can address the past, but only in the “quick fix” way of symptom relief. Transformational justice is necessary to build a better tomorrow. Transformational justice appears to require the slow work of dealing with the emotions of the past and being relationally connected.[4] Mandela was such a leader, emerging from decades of imprisonment, encouraging forgiveness and preaching human solidarity.[5] Having just read the speaker bios for our Advance, I feel heightened anticipation to learn more.
As we learn together in the coming weeks, I will be looking for evidence of both kinds of justice and listening to understand what truly helps address the many issues of social injustice that surround me. I will be looking for role models who bring, or brought, the kind of transformation that helps people look more like Jesus and society look more like his Kingdom. I am interested in the intersecting factors of economy, politics, and leadership. I hope to become more skilled at discussing these ideas in a wider variety of forums to help support the pastors I serve.
I want to close with something more about Mrs. Lupton. I have thought about her so many times over the years, and today I finally looked her up. She died in 2019 at the age of 90.
The many tributes posted to her obituary indicate that, from her position as a High School English teacher, she was a leader. “From Myra’s years of civil engagement and activism comes her legacy to her communities, small and large…Every vote matters…Help people in times of need but also nurture the soul through public access to education and the arts.” [6] I feel humbled to recognize myself as one among hundreds, even thousands, whom she poured into. Next week, I will be on a journey, both physical and educational, that she planted in my heart and mind over 40 years ago.
[1] Patti Waldmeir, Anatomy of a Miracle: The End of Apartheid and the Birth of the New South Africa. 1st ed.) New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 1997), 26.
[2] Waldmeir, Anatomy of a Miracle, 28.
[3] Matthew Evans, “Structural Violence, Socioeconomic Rights, and Transformative Justice,” Journal of Human Rights 15, no. 1 (2015), 3. https://doi.org/10.1080/14754835.2015.1032223
[4] Edwin H. Friedman. A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix (10th Anniversary, Revised Edition). (New York: Church Publishing, 2017), 127.
[5] Tom Holland, Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind. (London: Abacus, 2020), 487-8.
[6] “Myra Lee Lupton,” Mercer Island Reporter, accessed September 18, 2025.
About the Author
Julie O'Hara
2 responses to “Lasting Lesson”
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Hi Julie, I am glad you had Mrs. Lupton. One thing that struck me in your post was that the differences between transitional and transformational forms of justice in response to structural violence mirror kinds of leadership, with transformational leadership having a more substantial impact, in my opinion. What do you think needs to happen to help move society to look more like God’s kingdom?
Hi Julie,
Thank you for sharing your personal story.
In your opinion, how can economic necessity become a catalyst for social change, even when justice isn’t the original goal?