One spring morning a chorus of "Yeahs" went up, and history was made. Now, almost four decades later, Elliott's experiment still matters.
Jane Elliott was a teacher in a small all-white town in Riceville, Iowa. When she walked into her classroom that morning everyone was upset and confused. They had just made Matrtin Luther King Jr. their "Hero of the Month", and now he was gone. Why would someone kill him? Elliot decided then and there to make a daring move and teach her class a lesson that would be used for years to come. She wanted to show her students what discrimination felt like, and what such a hateful thing can do to people.
Watch the video to see how Elliot and her classroom became a national story.
Hate and God’s love cannot coexist. How do we help others to understand what it means to live in God’s love, to love others despite their skin color? Their religion? Their gender? Their beliefs?
All people are created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27). This means, that every single one of us are made the same. Yes we may LOOK differently, we may THINK differently; but we're all God's children.
Mark 12:30-31 reminds us, “you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength… ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” Our "neighbors" doesn't specifically mean the people who live next to us. It includes your Scout friend from PG, your cousin from New York, or that person you had a good chat with while travelling through Mexico. Our neighbors typically don’t look or speak like us and often don’t share the same views.
Prejudice, racism, discrimination is wrong. Diversity is beautiful and just because we have differences in belief or identity, doesn't give us the right to treat people badly. The greatest opportunity we have to spread this truth is in the way we act. We must lead by example and show those around us that we will always stand up for what we believe in.
Discrimination only has as much power as we allow it to have. If we ever want to see a change WE must be the ones to lead it. It is up to us to create a new vision where peace, love, and justice presides. It will take courage. I will take boldness. It will take the willingness to become uncomfortable, awkward, and messy. Your belief systems will be challenged. But in the end it will all be worth it.
"The opposite of love is not hate but fear. [Discrimination] is a product of hate and fear of the unknown, but hate doesn’t have to win. Don’t let it."
Comentarios