Marcus Garvey said, "A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots."
After a number of conversations I've had over the past week, here's my conclusion.....
Unitarian Universalism is a rootless tree.
Too many Unitarian Universalists are running around having no clue; not just of Unitarian/Universalist/Unitarian Universalist history, but of American history in general. And in doing the work of dismantling white supremacy, historical ignorance is definitely not bliss. It is dangerous. And wounding.
I cannot tell you about the number of blank stares and utter confusion that is expressed when, either in my writing or in a sermon, I drop some bit of black history. [ask me about the word "nadir" sometime]
But, as Bro. Jimmy tells us:
History, as nearly no one seems to know, is not merely something to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, scarcely be otherwise, since it is to history that we owe our frames of references, our identities, and our aspirations. And it is with great pain and terror that one begins to realize this. In great pain and terror one begins to assess the history which has placed one where one is, and formed one's point of view. In great pain and terror because, thereafter, one enters into battle with that historical creation, oneself, and attempts to recreate oneself according to a principle more human and more liberating: one begins the attempt to achieve a level of personal maturity and freedom which robs history of its tyrannical power, and also changes history.
What I have come to conclude is that most white Unitarian Universalists don't want to confront our history because, if they do, they can no longer go around acting as if what they do-no matter how well they intended it-doesn't have a disparate impact.
I used to give white UUs the benefit of the doubt when it came to their historical ignorance. I don't do that anymore. The future of Unitarian Universalism is at stake. And, after spending these past weeks trying to comfort UUs of color who have been spiritually wounded by their congregations, I can't stress enough how dangerous this ignorance is. And it impedes our justice work.
A rootless tree will not survive for long. The question, for me, is, how long will Unitarian Universalism survive disconnected from its roots.
