Because we have never seen racial justice in our community or in our country, we can only activate our imagination and wonder what racial justice might look like.

What if we all believed that there is only one race on Earth – the human race?

What if we all believed that every member of the human race belongs to the same family – God’s family and white people are not created better, smarter, cleaner, and more civilized than everyone else?

What if we all realized God loves people who are different from me just as much as God loves people who are like me?

What if we all realized that stereotypes of people don’t reveal who they really are?

What if a banker reviewing a loan application, a real estate agent showing houses, a teacher in the classroom, a politician meeting constituents, an employer interviewing job applicants, a store clerk watching customers, and a police officer making traffic stops become aware of when they are acting on prejudice and assumptions they make about people without speaking to them and listening to them and valuing them as equals?

What if we all went beyond talking about racial justice and began acting with justice and humility toward others?

What if we were all genuinely curious and humble to learn about the real history of our country instead of the whitewashed, idealized version?

What if our highest priority was the common good instead of self-interest & entitlement?

What if no one thought of justice as a pie with big pieces going to some and small pieces or crumbs to others, so, if people of color start to get more, white people will get less?

What if we imagine justice rolling down like water and righteousness like a flowing stream, with plenty for all?

Might a better approximation of racial justice begin to take shape in our community?

–Ann Brunger