{"id":33553,"date":"2023-10-19T23:46:37","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T06:46:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=33553"},"modified":"2023-10-19T23:46:55","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T06:46:55","slug":"more-like-david","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/more-like-david\/","title":{"rendered":"More Like David"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two weeks before we got married, my husband and I drove to Sacramento to see his father, David. Andrew\u2019s parents divorced when he was eight and he had not seen his dad in ten years. We went to church with David that weekend. Had we not been going to meet Andrew\u2019s father; I likely would not have set foot in that church or entered that area of town. David was the only white guy at an all-black church located in a run-down part of the city. I remember feeling uncomfortable driving through that part of town, uncomfortable walking into the building, uncomfortable surrounded by people so different<\/em> from me. I stood out in the crowd. I was welcomed wholeheartedly. What was it about this church that drew in David? My father-in-law was an alcoholic, two years sober when we visited him. He had hit rock bottom. He turned his life around and gave his life to Jesus. He felt wholly accepted and seen at that church. They embraced him in all his fragility.<\/p>\n

David and his church are what I have thought of as I have explored Black Dignity<\/em> by Vincent W. Lloyd. Llyod begins with a common definition of dignity. \u201cSometimes it seems dignity<\/em> is used as a synonym for humanity<\/em>: to treat someone with dignity is to treat them as fellow humans, worthy of respect. Or, in a theological register, recognizing and revering the image of God in a human.\u201d[1]<\/a> This view is the dictionary perspective. Lloyd digs further into the idea of black dignity.<\/p>\n

In a ChatGPT summary, Lloyd\u2019s discussion is described as follows:<\/p>\n

\u201cLloyd argues that the concept of dignity, often used to denote an inherent worthiness and respect that all individuals deserve, has been historically denied to Black people in many societies, particularly in the United States. He highlights the long history of racism, slavery, and systemic oppression that has deprived Black individuals of their dignity and relegated them to a position of subordination.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

In the book, Lloyd expands on the meaning of dignity. \u201cBlack dignity is fundamentally committed to equality, and to the equal distribution of dignity. . . Black dignity is fundamentally committed to equality is the view that systems of dominance are so expansive, so numerous, so interconnected, that we are each, all of the time, both master and slave.\u201d [3]<\/a><\/p>\n

I was not yet twenty-one when I met David, when I went to his church. I felt uncomfortable because of my as yet unrecognized racism. At that age, I would have told you that I was not racist, that I believed in equality. I did not understand the difference between equality and equity. Lloyd writes, \u201cOur struggles are not only external, against laws and institutions, but internal, against our own habits, feelings, and values.\u201d [4]<\/a> In March of 2017, I had the opportunity to attend Greater Grace Church in Ferguson, MO, not far from where Michael Brown was shot by a policeman. It was the one-year anniversary of the death of my father-in-law and I could think of no better way to honor him. He taught me to see beyond the external. He pulled me out of my comfort zone to a place where I had to confront my worldview. I was no longer the reluctant attendee at a church where I was the minority. Visiting the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Advance two years ago and going to Cape Town last year have both been life altering experiences for me. My world view continues to expand.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn short, we have to be able to cut through the jumble of culture that captures our attention in order to notice the workings of domination and the struggle against domination. But once we do, we are able to access a realm of truth that transcends culture. With struggle comes a kind of flourishing that we can never achieve simply by inhabiting a culture well.\u201d [5]<\/a><\/p>\n

I long for the day when, as Paul puts it in Galatians 3:28, \u201cThere is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, [black nor white<\/em>] for you are all one in Christ Jesus.\u201d We are all God\u2019s children. I pray that I will continue to learn and grow, continue to be more like David in how I embrace those who are different from me.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Vincent W. Lloyd, Black Dignity: The Struggle Against Domination<\/em>. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2022), 2.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> https:\/\/chat.openai.com\/c\/6176e0d8-b64b-472f-944c-59e6c75a4d98<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Lloyd, 16-17.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a>Ibid<\/em>., 17.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid<\/em>., 155.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two weeks before we got married, my husband and I drove to Sacramento to see his father, David. Andrew\u2019s parents divorced when he was eight and he had not seen his dad in ten years. We went to church with David that weekend. Had we not been going to meet Andrew\u2019s father; I likely would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2836],"class_list":["post-33553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-lloyd","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33553"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33555,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33553\/revisions\/33555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}