THE COMPANIONS

L-R: Diane Simoni, Sally Fisher, 3 members of family from Greensboro, Marie Fleischer, Rebecca Agner, Shelby Hendren, Barbara Platt-Hendren.

I would like to share a prayer with you from the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia. On their website, they explain:

“Our prayer seeks to confront the unavoidable truth of The Episcopal Church’s historical participation in and profiteering from systemic racism, particularly the foundational evil of chattel slavery. We recognize that ignoring or minimizing the ongoing impact of this past perpetuates harm and prevents true healing.”

As someone whose faith in Jesus is based on him as the model healer, I am hopeful that God will guide white Americans to overcome our sinful ways. I hope we open our hearts to the processes of seeking forgiveness and making amends so that all Americans, representing the full spectrum of our diversity, can heal and thrive.

In October, members of the North Carolina Chapter bore witness to a premeditated act of evil on the part of men who openly called themselves white supremacists. We participated in the WilmingtoNColor Heritage Tour (https://www.wilmingtoncolor.com) to learn about the 1898 massacre and the truth behind what has misleadingly been called a “racial riot.” This violent coup d’état—the only successful one in U.S. history—saw a Black-owned newspaper print shop burned to the ground and countless lives destroyed.

Between visiting sites in the bus, our guide showed a series of videos, including an excellent 12-minute Vox documentary, When White Supremacists Overthrew a Government (YouTube link here). I highly recommend it for anyone seeking a concise yet powerful summary of these events.

After the tour, we had lunch with conversation about some of the concepts brought up by the tour, such as authorship of history, how history repeats itself, and how politicians use fear tactics to rise to power and enrich themselves.

We then watched Wilmington on Fire, a 2015 documentary (available online) that provided deeper insights into the massacre, including its causes and lasting consequences. It was quite moving to have been physically in the space where those events had occurred.

The film emphasized Wilmington’s vibrant Black community in 1898, a majority population that had acquired advanced education and had entrepreneurial successes since the Civil War. Black and white residents coexisted peacefully in many areas.

Yet, white supremacists, meeting in New Bern just days before the massacre, declared:

“…it is the sense of this meeting that from henceforth all white men who vote and ally themselves in politics with the negro shall be denounced and regarded as traitors to their race and country and as public enemies, and not to be associated with.”

The inflammatory rhetoric—labeling political opponents as “public enemies”—quickly escalated to violence.

The documentary’s focus on reparations was thought-provoking: How can we begin to address the loss of lives, homes, and generational wealth stolen from Wilmington’s Black community? How can we make amends for those forced to flee, leaving everything behind? And the film offered a unique perspective, or at least one I hadn’t heard before. A speaker in the film proposed that reparations need to be (seemingly) excessive and perpetual, for example, land ownership into perpetuity and free education, acknowledging that no measure could fully repair the harm done. Further, he explained that money alone could unintentionally benefit the wrong group because the systems of oppression still exist.

A Companion noted she, unbelievably, hears white people ask, “Shouldn’t the Black community have recovered by now?” This question, posed in ignorance, overlooks the barriers of systemic racism and the intergenerational trauma with its psychological and physiological effects on individuals, families, and communities. And it reflects something I think we all miss: how the lack of truth telling, reparations, and reconciliation keeps everyone from thriving.

While the day was enlightening and inspiring, questions remained: How can we heal? How do descendants of oppressors and those still bearing the weight of oppression move forward together? Who will lead us? When will peace finally come? And what can I do?

The answer must include life-giving acts of justice and reconciliation, confronting the pain and working to repair the breach. Let us begin with prayer.

Here is the excerpt from the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia’s Prayer for Truth, Reparation, and Healing:

Forgive us, O Lord.

Wash away arrogance, complacency, despair, and indifference. Open our eyes to the truth of our past—the seizure of Indigenous lands and the ongoing legacy of race-based slavery. Grant us the courage to face these truths head-on. Help us to sit with sorrow and guide us toward repentance. Lead us to do justice and repair the harm that has been caused.

 

Strengthen us, O Lord.

Empower us to dismantle the structures of racism and oppression still embedded in our church and society. Guide us to engage in truthful dialogue and meaningful collaboration across racial lines. Grant us the wisdom and resources to address this legacy in tangible ways.