Racial Justice: A Conversation with Metro Leaders
I recently sat down with three African-American friends and co-leaders in the Metro to tackle some of the important questions each of us should be asking around race, diversity, and justice.
They graciously reminded me that the best way to learn is to listen, which is more important now than ever as our country shows signs of fracturing under the weight of this very conversation and the tragic events that have precipitated it.
Jamison Horton and Walt Hooker (Hook), both black church leaders in the Metro, and Josh Dotzler, a biracial CEO of a non-profit organization in North Omaha, offer us priceless insight and wisdom that is worth listen to and learning from as we continue leading our families, teams, and organizations through the current crisis!
Q: As you watch the cruel injustices occurring in Brunswick, Minneapolis, (and now Atlanta), how does it affect you personally?
Hook: It had been so long since something like this had occurred that I had grown calloused to it. What happened in Brunswick, Georgia awakened my spirit to it again. What happened in Minneapolis crushed me. Tuesday night, I rolled in bed as I heard (George Floyd's) words over and over, and it paralyzed me. I cried out, "God, God, God." I wasn't processing his cries for help as a leader, but as a human being watching another human being.
Josh: With every situation, a sense of frustration over injustice continues to grow. Two words have come to mind recently – frustrated but hopeful. A sense of frustration when you see the injustice. Anytime someone loses their life tragically, whether you’re white or black, it’s a tragedy. But these instances, if you're black, highlight the injustice that’s been happening for generations.
Will Smith said, "Racism and injustice - it's not growing, it's just being filmed. When it's filmed, it puts images to injustices that have been happening for generations."
“Racism and injustice – it’s not growing, it’s just being filmed. When it’s filmed, it puts images to injustices that have been happening for generations." Will Smith
Even still, as people of faith, I believe there is hope that we can do something about this.
Jamison: I've been continually thinking, ‘That could have been me. Would anyone have saved my life if that was me? Would my white brothers or black brothers have stepped in if that was me? Would they have saved me or just watched.
As a man and a pastor, I’m angry. I’m upset. I cried in the shower and in my prayer time. Even though I want to lash out emotionally, I have to ask myself, "How do I lean in and respond in the way that Christ would?"
Q: How are you leading and how are people responding?
Jamison: The cost of leadership is that you can’t just vent for everyone to see, so you have to have safe spaces with safe people who can handle what you're feeling. You've got to let yourself feel, and not always need to have the right answer.
People want quick answers. Honestly, I don’t know how to respond just yet. I’m still trying to process it all. I need space to talk through the issues and express what I’m feeling so that I can continue to lead people in the correct response.
Hook: My experience has been different. I’ve been leading in my church for 25 years. I can say things out of emotion and not have to worry about how it’s being viewed in the moment. I trust that they won't judge my heart by what comes out of my mouth. (People in my church) come to me because they know I’m a safe place. My white brothers and sisters say, "I’ve never seen anything like that in my life, what do I do." So, we sit down and I say, "The reason you’re broken is because you have God’s heart." At the same time, I have a lot of conversation with a lot of blacks who are angry, but don’t want to operate out of that anger, so I get to encourage them.
Josh: This is the first time in my leadership when I’m leading from a place of being mad and frustrated, and I’m ok with that. That frustration is fueling a passion to do more to be part of the solution. All throughout scripture, Jesus got mad at things that break the heart of God.
"Jesus was mad when his friend, Lazarus, died. He got angry when religious leaders were mistreating and taking advantage of people in the temple."
I’m learning that it’s ok to be frustrated as a leader. My prayer and hope is this: Let’s have a righteous anger, a holy anger, to fuel us to do things we weren’t doing before. To bridge the gap and stand up for things that we weren’t standing up for before.
We’re not going to solve this issue overnight. But I believe that if we can create a sense of urgency and, as the people of God, live by faith in a God who loves us so much and died for us even when we didn’t deserve it, that love will compel us to do for others what they could never do for us!
Q: If you had the opportunity to look someone in the eyes to share your heart for our city, what would you say?
Josh: We live in a city that has been considered one of the most segregated cities in the nation. Omaha is one of the best places to live. North Omaha, at one time, was one of the top three worst places for African-American people to live. There is a great disparity in our city.
My vision is that Omaha would be known as a place, not of separation, but of inclusivity for all people. A place where the color of someone's skin doesn't determine the potential of their life. We can be known as a city where the same opportunity exists for everyone to reach their God-give potential.
“I dream of a place where the color of someone's skin does not determine the potential of their life.”
Jamison: As a pastor, my dream is to see a day when multiple diverse leaders speak into a congregation. Diversity drives us from our comfort zones and makes us confront the issues, which is when can start having more dialogue and conversation. I celebrate that God is raising up younger leaders who are speaking out and promoting what we want God to do in our city as brothers and sisters in Christ - whether black or white, rich or poor, young or old - come together to lift up the name of Jesus.
Hook: I look at the kingdom of God and hear Jesus say, "on earth as it is in heaven." I dream of a place where blacks and whites are having dinner together, sharing life in the streets together, going to the beach together. Growing up, my mom never ate or slept in a white person’s home. When she hears my kids are doing that, it blows her mind.
I believe that when you look at the Bible and see Jew and Gentile, old and young, rich and poor, masters and slaves, all coming together in the name of Jesus, it compels us to be intentional about gathering with people who don’t look like me, sound like me, or think like me.
If we want to change the world, it won't come from the top down. Change will happen from the bottom up, beginning with people like us. Then the president and government will respond to what the people are doing.
“Jesus' Church is the greatest organism on the planet. When we unleash love on others who aren’t like us, the world will change. I believe it is happening…here in our city.”
Josh: I dream of the day when there are as many black CEO’s as there are white CEO’s. As many black church leaders and business leaders and non-profit leaders as there are white leaders. I dream of a day when there aren't black neighborhoods or white neighborhoods, black churches or white churches, but just neighborhoods and churches where both black and white people live and worship together, enjoying the same opportunities.
Q: For those of us who are saying, "I agree with that dream. What can I do right now?" What do you say to us?
Jamison: You don't have to reinvent the wheel. There are plenty of places you can go where you can start building relationships. One of the best organizations, Abide, is a place where you can take a step outside of your neighborhood and jump right in. As you do, watch what God does in your heart. Notice the transformation that starts to happen. Don’t stop. Compassion and justice is an ongoing lifestyle. It's a continual thing. Don’t get tired doing good.
Hook: I hate saying this because people think it’s a cop-out, but you’ve got to pray, "God I need your heart for your people. Your burden for my city. I don’t want to sleep, eat another meal in luxury when there are people starving in my city. I want your heart for my city."
From that prayer, repentance will come as I confess my selfishness, racism, or unconscious biases that keep me from crossing the line. As you pray and confess your sin, you'll be able to go and do the things that Jamison and Josh say we need to do! (Laughter)
Josh: Compassion compelled Jesus to take action. When we pray, we’re inviting the heart of God inside of each one of us. The more that we get his heart, the more we're compelled to take action for the things that break his heart.
Repentance is essential. We’ve all played a part, whether we're part of the minority or majority culture. And repentance always leads to reprioritizing, reinventing, reorienting, and reinvesting our resources.
As we pray and repent and tell God we want to be part of the solution instead of contributing to the problem, we can take those practical steps. We can make a commitment to not just do something when crisis happens, but make a commitment to learn and read books and watch movies like Harriet. You can’t watch that and not be filled with compassion.
You see, we’ve come a long way but have a long ways to go. Learn, then stand. Use your voice when something happens. Reactively, yes, but also proactively. You know what someone is for based upon what someone does proactively, not just reactively.
After you learn and stand, give. There’s a financial component to justice. When we give to leaders, organizations, or causes who are in the minority, we’re actually creating a foundation for them to grow and have opportunities – the same opportunities we’d want to give to our children.
"When Jesus said, "Love your neighbor as you love yourself," I imagine him saying, "Invest in your neighbors as you invest in yourselves."
Jesus was calling us to love our neighbors by investing in them as we might invest in our own children, communities, and churches. When we give like Jesus gave, we show what and who we’re ultimately for.
*Check out these additional resources that can elevate the conversation around race, diversity, and justice from a place of grace and honesty.
One Blood: Parting Words to the Church on Race, John Perkins
Letters to a Birmingham Jail, edited by Bryan Loritts
Harriet, 2019. An American biographical film about the life of abolitionist, Harriet Tubman.