Choosing the Better Part: Cultivating Solidarity in the Face of Racism

Abstract

Choosing the Better PartCultivating Solidarity in the Face of Racism Jennifer T. Kaalund (bio) In the Gospel of Luke, there is a story about two sisters, Martha and Mary. In five verses, we learn that Martha welcomes Jesus into her home and is busy with many tasks. She is portrayed as distracted. Mary sits at Jesus’s feet, listening. Martha petitions for Jesus to have Mary help her. Jesus replies, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41–42). This passage leaves me with many questions. How do we define hospitality? What are the concerns that are distracting Martha? Why would Martha not approach Mary directly? Many readings of this text pit the sisters against each other, concluding that this story ultimately teaches us a lesson about setting priorities. What if we are simply witnessing the struggles of how we choose to be in community together, in light of the new world vision that Jesus offers? This is a question to which I will return. There are points of inflection that force us to confront realities. Sometimes these moments are organizational, as Judith Plaskow describes in her essay; sometimes, they are personal, national, or international events. These critical junctures can be (self)-revelatory; they can also become turning points in our lives. We have experienced many of these moments over the past several years—the Black Lives Matter movement, the murder of George Floyd, a global pandemic, and the increasingly apparent effects of climate change, to name a few. Each moment has created an opportunity for reflection and action. We have been presented with multiple chances to move forward or to move in a different direction, one that brings us closer to equality. How have we taken advantage of these opportunities? That the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion (JFSR) locates itself at the nexus of activism and scholarship is significant. Activism compels us to be attentive to and engage in our world even while, as academics, we are trying to think [End Page 43] about, write about, and theorize these same happenings. To lose sight of either of these foci would result in the loss of creative possibilities for pushing the boundaries of the study of religion, a discipline that has an inherent tendency to draw clear borders and exclude all that is outside those bounds. Moreover, we risk losing our relevance. In her essay, Plaskow demonstrates the challenges of becoming an antiracist entity. Understanding this history is important for finding a way forward. Her essay elucidates how vision alone does not create reality, though it informs our intentions and clarifies direction. Hindsight is a good teacher; however, it should not be an enabling force. Recognition of past mistakes should lead to corrective actions. This acknowledgment is necessary to move the conversation from beyond these words on the page to the minds, hearts, and feet of people working daily to realize a more inclusive world. While I am curious to know what tools were put in place for the organization to address issues of race and racism following the 2017 Feminist Studies in Religion (FSR) conference, perhaps a more productive question would be, What are we doing now to be better in the future? How can we be intentional about creating a more inclusive space in 2022 and beyond? I suggest that we should not follow the model of corporate America, who responded to their racial reckoning with futile statements of commitment and limited actions of resistance. Observers quickly concluded that acknowledging the truth is an essential first step, but it cannot be the only step taken. It means recognizing that diversity and inclusion (a seat at the table) is not the same as equity (a valued voice that influences decision making). We have become experts at defining the problem. As Plaskow astutely observes, “Naming absence is a necessary first step in repair, but it does not in itself effect repair” (5).1 Acts of reconciliation must accompany moments of truth. The process of repair must address how we reconcile our words...