The Most Segregated Hour

Last night we attended a screening for a film called “ The Most Segregated Hour”. The film followed two churches in Oxford Mississippi, one white Episcopal and the other black Baptist, over a 13 year period as they attempted to come together and practice racial reconciliation. The showing of the film was followed by a discussion with the director as well as a star studded civil rights panel. It was an amazing evening and we were so thrilled to be involved. The film blatantly addresses the fact that 11:00 am on Sunday morning is still the most segregated hour of the week. Why aren’t Christians, who of all people should know something about reconciliation, paving the way for the racial reconciliation movement?
After last night I have a lot on my mind, but the thing that always gets to me after discussing this issue in depth is the fact that reconciliation is hard. It takes people who are willing to be uncomfortable. It takes people who are willing to understand that even though they may not be a racist they benefit from the fact that others have been oppressed. It was encouraging to see others last night who have committed their lives to reconciliation with the belief that we are called to love our brothers and sisters. Their hope encourages me to believe that another world is possible. I’m starting to believe that we need others to survive. We need other cultures to influence our thoughts and actions.
There is shadow over our land and where I come from it goes unnoticed. We have a broken history in which people were treated not as humans but as animals. Whether we like to admit it or not this stuff takes healing and doesn’t get fixed over night.

We have a group here this week from Seattle Pacific University and they were able to attend the film with us. Some had their eyes opened to a problem they didn’t even know existed.

Another highlight of the night was meeting James Meredith who was in attendance. Meredith was the first black student at Ole Miss University and risked his life to stand up for civil rights. His attendance of Ole Miss sparked mass riots in Mississippi by southern whites trying preserve the white race. He is very old and doesn’t hear to well but it was an honor to meet one of the most influential people is U.S. history. Ed King was also in attendance and on the panel. Ed King was an outspoken white civil rights activist in the movement and worked along side Medger Evers and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr