{"id":1842,"date":"2013-02-26T15:29:16","date_gmt":"2013-02-26T15:29:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/?p=1842"},"modified":"2013-03-21T15:10:51","modified_gmt":"2013-03-21T15:10:51","slug":"well-walk-hand-in-hand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/onscripture\/2013\/02\/well-walk-hand-in-hand\/","title":{"rendered":"We\u2019ll Walk Hand in Hand?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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By Rev. Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder, Ph.D.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe old avocations by which colored men obtained a livelihood are rapidly, unceasingly and inevitably passing into other hands; every hour sees the black man \telbowed out of employment by some newly arrived emigrant, whose hunger and whose color are thought to give him a better title to the place.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

-Frederick Douglass<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cLearn Trades or Starve\u201d (1853)<\/em><\/p>\n

The Obama Administration and a bipartisan group in the Senate are making serious turns to tackle immigration reform. In addition to declaring that as citizens \u201cour rights are wrapped up in the rights of others,\u201d the President\u2019s State of the Union address spoke of securing borders and decreasing the wait timeframe for the American residential legalizing process. Some twelve million women, men, and children across these United States await with baited breath to see what political deals will be made to construct either a pathway to citizenship or pave a road to deportation hell.<\/p>\n

Immigration\u2019s Impact on the Church Pews<\/strong><\/p>\n

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As immigration reform heats up in Washington, many religious leaders know first hand how the issue has changed congregations. When David Farley became pastor of Echo Park United Methodist Church in 1982, the Los Angeles, Calif. congregation consisted mostly of older Caucasians. Now the church has a large immigrant contingent, with nearly 80 percent of the congregation being of Hispanic and Asian descent.<\/em><\/p>\n

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What is intriguing about the immigration conversation is that pundits tend to frame the argument in an \u201cUs-versus-Them\u201d fashion. Using rhetorical scare tactics, proponents for and against are not shy about disrobing a \u201cmore of them means less for us\u201d stratagem. While much of this ploy has centered on how the massive number of \u201cnon-citizens\u201d will subtract resources from persons of European descent, there is now a political stream that avers even sending \u201cborder breakers\u201d to the back of the citizenship line will still reduce jobs among African-American low-wage earners. Words from Booker T. Washington, W.E.B DuBois, A. Philip Randolph and the quote from Frederick Douglass, among many others, are now resurfacing as a clarion call for African Americans to think long and hard about getting on the \u201cbrown\u201d bandwagon. Yet, none of the language from the aforementioned historical figures specially addresses Latino immigration.<\/p>\n

One must note that the arguments within the African American community are not monolithic. From the likes of Cynthia Tucker who purports that there is no connection between high black unemployment and immigration to the Black Alliance for Just Immigration which parallels immigration rights momentum with the Civil Rights Movement, there really is no clear , dare I say, black or white answer among African Americans. For some this citizenship conversation and border openness is a class issue, and for others it is a point of mutual social justice as African Americans and Latinos are subject to the evil of racial profiling.<\/p>\n

As an African American biblical scholar, I would tend to see what the Bible has to say about borders, foreigners, and receiving and welcoming all. What I have found at the intersection of immigration, African Americans, and the Bible is that people have a desire to belong. All of the dialogue about immigration must take into account what it would mean for the undocumented to have papers affirming their belonging to a place where they want to be. Multitudes have torn down geographical barriers to get to this land. They have stayed, settled, and nested here because they believe they belong here. While bloggers, critics, and buffs debate the how-tos of immigration reform, at the heart of the matter is the human need for belonging, for a sense of security through identity.<\/p>\n

Genesis 15<\/a> records Abram having a conversation with God about his identity crisis. Abram is childless without any heir to carry on his name. He is in a void patrilineal state. He does not have anyone who is of his seed. He does not have a child, particularly a son, who can stand in his familial gap. While he has much cattle and property, Abram longs for more. He pines for relationship with a descendant that will give him a sense of belonging and identity. God assures Abram that he will have an heir, but God also informs him of an innumerable amount of progeny. There will be many who will come through and belong to the house of Abram.<\/p>\n

Paul in his letter to the church at Philippi speaks of a \u201ccitizenship in the heavens\u201d (Philippians 3:20<\/a>). While addressing a group who has endured some political difficulty, Paul, as one with Roman privileges, dares to suggest that even such civic clout is not to be taken so seriously. He maintains that he belongs to a community, a nation whose benefits are more glorious.<\/p>\n

While neither texts can be seen as offering a pro or counter argument for immigration reform, what they do offer are perspectives of what it means to identify with people and places. The texts provide a glimpse into human tendencies to be in relationship. Abram\u2019s desire to have an earthly heir and Paul\u2019s polemic regarding heavenly citizenship both point to a common core of communal responsibility and mutuality. For Paul\u2019s listeners the community, the citizenry they must model in the Roman Empire is reflective of the same in God\u2019s kingdom. In turn God\u2019s promise to Abram speaks to ideas of extended family and \u201cseed as countless as the stars in heaven.\u201d Both passages resonate of the African Ubuntu way of life, I AM BECAUSE WE ARE. You belong to me. I belong to you. We belong to each other.<\/p>\n

In his speech on immigration reform in January, the President stated: \u201cUnless you\u2019re one of the first Americans, a Native American, you came from someplace else. Somebody brought you.\u201d If sans the Native Americans, all are \u201caliens,\u201d then perhaps African Americans should as the anthem \u201cWe Shall Overcome\u201d declares \u201cwalk hand in hand\u201d with Latino immigrants. If there is a human longing to belong, whether through familial bloodline or due to civic struggle, then one can see \u201cblack and brown together.\u201d Maybe? Will this be a path for America\u2019s immigration policies? Or will other misconstrued words of Douglass carry the day:<\/p>\n

White men (Latino men)<\/strong> are becoming house\u2013servants, cooks and stewards on vessels \u2014 \u2026so that the blacks can scarcely find the means of subsistence.<\/em><\/p>\n

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By Rev. 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