If we- and now I mean the relatively conscious whites and the relatively conscious blacks, who must, like lovers, insist on, or create, the consciousness of the others- do not falter in our duty now, we may be able, handful that we are, to end the racial nightmare, and achieve our country, and change the history of the world
It is time to listen.
James Baldwin had a voice unlike any other. He transcends country, creed, and time. His work is astonishing and terribly important. The Fire Next Time contains two letters: a message to his young nephew and a reflection on the role of religion in Black communities (among many other things). These two letters were written in 1962/63, and it is enraging how true they still ring here in 2020. We have a very long way to go, and we must look back on where we have been in order to do better.
I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.
There is nothing I can say to add to the genius of James Baldwin, but I can recommend that you listen to him. It is imperative that we listen to Black voices, and that we support Black members of our community (town, city, country, planet, universe) in any ways that we are capable.
Another way to listen: I cannot recommend enough the audio version of these pieces. They are performed masterfully by Jesse L. Martin. You can feel his voice in your bones.
From my own point of view, the fact of the Third Reich alone makes obsolete forever any question of Christian superiority, except in technological terms. White people were, and are, astounded by the holocaust in Germany. They did not know that they could act that way. But I very much doubt whether black people were astounded—at least, in the same way.