June 11th, 2020: Fighting Against Prejudice Starts with a Solemn Heart
Personal experience sometimes can be a cause of prejudice. Have you
ever received a phone call from an unknown person with a well-defined
accent that belongs to a country that across the ocean telling you that
he is calling from a government body and demands your personal
information? And that always comes with a threat of being arrested if we
don't comply. Furthermore, they don't just call once.
I
have good friends who came from that specific region of the world so
not knowing is not my issue. However, the deep resentment that was
caused by the interruption of family time and the irritation of being
threatened created emotional negativity and mental aggression toward
that accent. I have to remind myself that it is not the right way to
feel and respond. So we went to a restaurant from that specific
ethnicity and had a wonderful meal. The server was friendly and kind so
that was redeeming. My heart was no longer agitated after that. These
phone calls have not stopped by the way.
I am
Vietnamese and there are areas of Vietnamese concentration in our city
that we rarely visit and if we do, we will get out as soon as we can.
Some parts of these areas are known for criminal and undesirable
activities. I asked myself another question: "Am I being paranoid or
prejudice in how I respond?" Some Vietnamese accused me of being a snob
for not living anywhere close to a "Vietnamese Community" in my city. No
one had ever asked why I bought a house where I am. I needed to be
close to the local university because of work. My wife then reminded
that these folks had gone through a lot in their lives and what we need
to do is to offer the kindness of our hearts. "Be kind and all be fine",
she told me. A kind heart is one that seeks to understand, not to be
understood.
I have also learned over the years
to embrace the culture, the heritage, and the history of where my wife
came from. Two years ago we flew to Nashville, TN, and then drove to
Missouri and Kentucky to visit the gravesides of her ancestors. I
learned to appreciate her roots more and more. During that time we also
visited many historical sites of American civil war and the war for her
independence. My heart was full because stories of people's lives in the
past always have ways to reveal the beauty of God. The story of how her
great grand father's house was burned down because he was helping a
black man. The story of her grandmother, who was a doctor, tutored
Vietnamese kids in the late 70's daily after her practice. The story of
my father-in-law who operated on a black man after he was shot eight
times by the police for robbing a coffee shop and saved that man's life.
The
journey of fighting against injustice always started with a solemn
reflection of our hearts. When our hearts are afraid, we won't embrace
and we isolate. When our hearts experience healing and restoration, we
will learn, get involved, and have no fear. I will never deal with
injustice by asking "what I should do" but by answering the question "To
whom we all belong?". If all people belong to God, being unjust to any
of them has eternal consequences.
(Jeremiah 18: 12)
"But
they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own
plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil
heart.'"
