Hidden Figures

Trying to see the prejudices hidden in our hearts

08/20/2017

Isaiah 56:1, 6-7 Thus says the LORD: Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed. The foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, ministering to him, loving the name of the LORD, and becoming his servants— all who keep the sabbath free from profanation and hold to my covenant, them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

             The most pernicious problem with prejudice is that most people cannot see it; we are blind to own own biases. This hit home for me in a humorous way in the recent movie called “Hidden Figures.” Have you seen it? It’s powerful. The movie is about three African-American women working at NASA during the 1960’s space race and they are brilliant mathematicians. You’ll recall this was the period right after the 1957 crisis at Central High School in Little Rock and “desegregation,” when nine African-American students were escorted into the all-Caucasian school by the National Guard. Race relations in America and especially in the South were tense and at the breaking point. In the movie, the supervisor of the three African-American females was a lady named Vivian Mitchell, who self-righteously claimed she was free of prejudice, saying, “Despite what you may think, I have nothing against y’all [colored people].” To which Dorothy Vaughn, one of the African-American women replies, “I know you probably believe that.” Ouch! Mitchell, who perhaps for the first time, heard someone call her out on her racism. Everyone else, including those in the movie theater, could easily see her racism, but not her. That’s the problem with prejudice: it always remains a sort of “hidden figure” in our minds and hearts.

             In the first reading today, the prophet Isaiah tries to help the people of Israel perceive their own prejudice. He writes: “The foreigners (foreigners!) who join themselves to the Lord ministering to him, loving the name of the Lord…I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer…for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples (for all people).” Now, you have to understand how that prophesy would have been as harsh on the ears of the Jews as Vaughn’s words were to Mitchell in the movie. How so? Well, the Jews believed they were “the chosen people” which meant everyone else was effectively “the unchosen people” the hoi polio, the riff raff. But they didn’t see anything wrong with that. Why not? Well, they were blind to their own biases. The Jewish people may have innocently protested to the prophet Isaiah: “Despite what you may think, we have nothing against them, the unchosen people.” And Isaiah would have rejoined: “I know you probably believe that.” Prejudice was a “hidden figure” in the mentality of the Jews, even while it was obvious to Isaiah.

               In this context I would like to say a word about the protesting and counter-protesting that occurred in Charlottesville, NC last weekend. You no doubt saw the news about how groups of nationalists and white-supremacists and even Nazi-sympathizers organized a protest of the removal of the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. They were confronted by an equally vocal and angry group of counter-protestors, and their meeting exploded into fights and derogatory name-calling. One woman, Heather Heyer, was killed when a man drove his car into a crowd of counter-protestors. A little later, a helicopter with two state troopers filming the event crashed and both state troopers died.

             I gotta tell you, I felt a knot in my stomach tightening as I watched the events unfold and read about them later that week in the news. I wondered: could this really be happening in 2017? After the bloodiest century in human history, with two world wars and millions of people exterminated by dictators in dozens of countries, has the human race learned nothing? Have we forgotten the fundamental fact that each person is created in the image and likeness of God and therefore unrepeatable and irreplaceable? But that’s precisely why prejudice is so pernicious: it blinds us to our biases; it makes us believe we are “the chosen people” – whether we are the Jews or we’re the Nazis – while some other person or party or population is “the unchosen people.” Our prejudice is a “hidden figure” in our minds and hearts. That blindness is what so sad and yet so serious about the events in Charlottesville.

                So, what do we do about our biases that we are blind to? Is there any way to heal our eyesight and see our prejudices? Let me suggest two things we can do. First, stop saying that you have no prejudices. We all do, including me. Yes, even Fr. John, sweet and saintly, pious and perfect Fr. John has prejudices. As soon as you think you’re free of them, Dorothy Vaughn will say to you: “I know you probably believe that.” In some way or another we all think we are part of some chosen people, while someone out there is the unchosen people.

               Secondly, don’t discount people who disagree with you as lunatics and losers. It’s funny how I’ve always learned the most from those who call me out and contradict me, usually they’ve uncovered my prejudices or biases. Here’s an idea: if you love CNN, watch more Fox News; if you’re a Fox fan, then tune in to CNN. But don’t watch it to criticize them, but to learn about yourself, your biases and your prejudices. Do you know what would have happened in Charlottesville if the protesters had asked the counter-protestors: What do you see in us that we miss? I’ll tell you what would have happened: a young lady and two state troopers would still be alive.

              It’s very easy to look back sixty years to 1957 and see people’s prejudices. We wonder how they could have been so blind?? In sixty years from now, in the year 2077, what will people look back and see in us as our prejudices? They will wonder: how could those people in 2017 have been so blind? We are blind to our biases because they’re always “hidden figures” in our minds.

Praised be Jesus Christ!