Our local community was rocked by a scandal this week. It's even been picked up by national news, which is highly unusual for a small, suburban community like this one.
Just a few days ago,
several minority families in the Swarthmore-Wallingford area received horrendous, racist letters on their doorsteps. The letters were all the same, and included appalling threats to inflict physical harm or even death if the families didn't move out of the country by the next morning! Many other hateful comments were included as well, and soon the letters were also linked to photos online of two youths wearing KKK-style hoods. The perpetrators have been identified, and it appears they are students at our local High School, who may have thought the whole thing was a joke. It is hard to even know where to begin, in addressing the many, many levels of wrong and offensive that are wrapped into this heinous act. Yet even here, even in this disturbing and highly upsetting case, I believe we can begin in the Torah.
We can even look specifically in this week's Torah reading, in fact. This final
parashah in the Book of Genesis actually ALSO includes the distribution of a fake letter that is
incredibly hurtful. The circumstances are obviously different, but I think there's an underlying lesson that - believe it or not - spans across both situations. As we conclude the story of our first Biblical family, we read about the death of Jacob in Egypt, surrounded by his progeny. The Torah tells us that right after Jacob died, 11 of his sons feared that their other brother, Joseph, would now - at long last - punish them for having sold him into slavery so many years earlier. The men therefore approached Joseph and said, "Before his death, your father left this instruction: 'So shall you say to Joseph: 'Forgive, I urge you, the offense and guilt of your brothers who treated you so harshly.' " (Gen. 50:16-17) By telling us that the brothers FIRST feared retribution, and only THEN produced this "alleged" letter, I feel the implication is quite clear that it was a manufactured communique; not actually written by Jacob.
Furthermore, Joseph's reaction to his brothers' appeal is to begin crying. The text suggests he's weeping because he is not, in fact, holding a grudge, but wants only to forgive. Though I also wonder if the tears reflect a deep sadness that they had to lie to him, that they couldn't just speak their fears in words.
And that is where I see a similarity between these stories. There is a deep hurt in our country. Many people are out of work, they are hungry, they don't have adequate medical care, and the cost of education is beyond what many can afford. So their anger is taken out on The Other; on immigrants, foreigners, and any vulnerable group that can be made a target of fears, xenophobia, frustration, and anger. Rather than talk about difficult emotions or genuine concerns, people sometimes put on hoods to hide their faces. Or they say their slurs were "just a joke," so they won't have to take responsibility for the pain they cause. And they over-simplify complex problems, so that even children think it can all be solved with heartless, unilateral actions, like throwing someone else out of the country.
Yes, of course I am angry at these foolish children who have no "real" understanding of the centuries of racism and hate they tapped into. Nor do they understand the culture of divisiveness that has never been dealt with in this country. I am upset with their stupidity, and I am furious at their insensitivity and astounding lack of judgment.
And yet, I also think we must resist the urge to make this all about these four, misguided teenagers. They are not an anomaly, they are a symptom. There is precedent for misdirecting uncomfortable emotions into hurtful acts as far back as the Book of Genesis! If we label this whole incident as "just" an aberration, we learn nothing. In reality, this has tapped into a sickness that is much, much deeper, and is causing severe damage to everyone living in the United States, and possibly around the globe. This sickness includes (but is not limited to) our fear of The Other, and our strong desire to boil issues down to "us" and "them," "good guys" and "bad guys." Both behaviors are incredibly destructive. Let us not miss the opportunity to tackle the larger issues at stake here. When these racially tone-deaf children have been disciplined, let us NOT put this issue to rest. Because the emotions under the surface remain... and we NEED to talk about THOSE issues if we are ever going to begin the healing process.
Images in this blog post:
1. CC image from 1948 (so NOT the image from earlier this week!) courtesy of
Ras67 on
Wikimedia Commons
2. CC image courtesy of
Francois Maitre's "Jacob Blessing His Sons," courtesy of
Wikimedia Commons
3. CC image courtesy of
Quinn Dombrowski on
Flickr
4. CC image of
Lovis Corinth's "Vater Franz Heinrich Corinth auf dem Krankenlager," courtesy of
Wikimedia Commons
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