Gulf Pine Catholic

12 Gulf Pine Catholic • June 26, 2020 Ayden Spear, a sixth grader at St. James Catholic School in Gulfport, signs the SJCS Class of 2020 bench. The bench was created to honor our 2019-2020 sixth graders. St. James Elementary School, Gulfport On June 14, Saint Thomas Aquinas Parish in Hattiesburg celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi. Father Mark Ropel, Father James Smith, and a group of parishioners, formed a Procession of the Blessed Sacrament and along with the Knights of Columbus, they all prayed the Holy Rosary as they walked. The focus was on the real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Hattiesburg “For it is the will of God that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish people. Be free, yet without the pretext for evil, but as slaves of God. Give honor to all, love the community, fear God, honor the king.” 1 Peter 2:15-17 Writing for the Gulf Pine Catholic newspaper is a privilege that I do not take lightly, and I often struggle with having the confidence to express my thoughts. I hear the voices in my head challenging my ideas, my intelligence, and my place in our community. Presently, I feel compelled to use this platform to discuss the chaos and public debate surrounding the death of George Floyd on May 25. I do not claim to be an expert in race relations, yet I have a small platform in a vast ocean of media. Like many others, I am terribly upset by Mr. Floyd’s death at the hands of law enforcement officers. We go to our first responders in times of need, and no one should feel that they are not treated fairly by the people in authority. Yet, the Black Lives Matter movement is difficult for me to understand. It became obvious to me that there are things that I don’t know. Because of this, I have been asking questions and studying some of the incidents that sparked the movement a few years ago. While talking with a friend of mine, we realized that we represent the first generation born after the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. I was born a white girl in New Orleans in 1969, and she was born a black girl in Gulfport in 1971. We both share our Catholic faith and have benefitted from the support and love of a strong family. I asked her what she wanted people to know about her experiences in our culture as a black woman. Her first response was, “I’m tired. I am tired of explaining. I have to explain that I am well educated and qualified as an employee. I have to explain myself in certain situations, and I don’t see my white counterparts having to do the same.” She also asked me if I had family members that made racially charged comments. When I said yes, she asked if I counter their comments and I responded that I do; I think she was a little relieved. Although my experiences are not the same as hers, I identify with some of her stories. As a woman, I have felt discounted and stereotyped. These interactions resulted in a defensive edge that I had to recognize and understand before I was able to feel equal in certain environments. I got tired of the emotional and mental upset that I felt with particular people that I perceived as being dismissive. In order to relieve this exhaustion, I had to look deep inside and work hard to stop finding blame with colleagues that “made me feel” this way. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Being able to detach myself from others’ opinions and emotions was such a relief, as was realizing that people’s words and actions are ENTIRELY reflective of their inner selves. I imagine that the black struggle is similar. I pray that all people realize their inherent dignity. I know that it gave me such freedom. The humility this realization brought would diffuse many situations. I wondered if she thought that the movement was beneficial to the cause. So, I expressed my confusion as to the real issue at hand. You see, in my mind, the laws in our books state the equality of all persons. Those battles were won years ago. Is this just an effort to raise awareness? Is the media making things worse through their use of unrelenting exposure? What about the social media component that feeds the frenzy? Do all of these concessions and apologies change anything? Is it not understood that the real work needs to be done in our homes and in our hearts? Certainly, the 2-sentence soundbite is an inadequate way to evaluate something. After her explanation of how she understands the movement moving through our nation, I understood the current situation a little better. To her, the movement is like a family when one child is struggling with cancer. Humanity is one big family. No child is loved more or less, their needs are just different at different times. The hurting child, the black children, just need a little more nurturing to get them back on their feet. She, in no way, feels that other lives are more or less important than the lives of her fellow blacks. We talked for hours, and more than once the hypocrisy of both sides of the political spectrum was discussed. We also discussed why, as Catholics, it is darn near impossible to pick a side. Catholic social causes straddle our 2-party political system. As mothers, she thinks that women hold the key to the solution. Again, I agree with her. We will be held responsible by God for the ways in which we foster our children. “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of things that cause sin! Such things must come, but woe to the one through whom they come!” Matthew 18:6-7 Living Large Pisciotta Living large inside the chaos