Three

Yet another deviation from my typical “Stories” format (as school doesn’t start until September 2nd), I sit here in frustration with politics and with our nation. Why do we allow ourselves to constantly be divided? How do I allow myself to think one candidate will create the change necessary to help the least of these to the point that I get into petty arguments that only tear down instead of build up? These “Stories” have challenged me in so many ways because I have vowed to stay away from endorsing one candidate or one political stance over another and instead bring you my real stories…stories that will build rather than tear down. It is because of this vow that I have viewed the election in a different light.

One of my favorite authors, Shane Claiborne, writes in his book Jesus For President that “The [distinctly Kingdom] question for us is not how do we vote on November 4th, but how do we live on November 3rd and November 5th...voting is something we do everyday with our lives.” It is because of this that I have stayed away from campaigning for the candidate that I intend to vote for in the streets of New York. My time as a Christian, as an American, as a human being with privilege would be better spent by actually serving the poor, looking out for the widows and the orphans than annoyingly try to get others to vote for a candidate that I feel will be able to provide help to those same people. Certain and direct action vs. uncertain and indirect action. Easy, right?

It is still a problem to me, however, that in traveling back to my less-than-affluent neighborhood of Spanish Harlem from Lower Manhattan I notice that nearly all of the white, well-dressed folks get off the subway by the 96th St. stop…20 blocks south of my place on 116th. After discussing such observations with ten, twenty, and even forty year residents of Manhattan I find that the stop used to be 59th St…past that nearly no whites would be seen. (I know I discuss race a lot, and sometimes it’s more of a socio-economic commentary, but I can’t help but see the implications my skin color has every single moment of every single day where I live and where I work…a process that minorities have been studied to go through at a much earlier age…a process that many of the privileged never go through). The reason for the northern migration of “safer” and “cleaner” communities is directly attributed to the gentrification that residents below the poverty line continue to face and fight in Upper Manhattan and Harlem today.

There are still racial and economic divisions in our country that are staggering. Just a couple weeks ago statistics on high school graduation rates in New York City were released and, as my eyes are going from dry to a bit watery, only 32% of black males graduated….only 1/3 of African American males graduated high school on time this year. This, mind you, is in the midst of one of the crowning achievements of the Bloomberg (Mayor) and Klein (Chancellor of Education) administration that 51% of all high school seniors graduate this year. How has the New York public school system not graduated more than 50% of its seniors in decades? I can’t respond to that, other than the fact that local, state, and national politics inevitably plays a role. No one, still, gets it right. Clinton failed the system just as much as Bush has…and it’s not their fault…it’s our fault…it’s the American peoples fault for not doing more, for sitting back, for simply running the race and NOT streaking in it. Don’t mistake my point for thinking you personally have the obligation to involve yourselves in education through direct action…but those issues that you hold so dear in your decision to vote for a candidate, or better yet to not vote for another candidate, need to not just be beliefs that you vote for on November 4th, but guiding values that lead you to action on November 3rd, November 5th, and every other day of the year. If you think a big government is the wrong way to go, then do your part and act. You probably say that you would rather give money to organizations and contribute your time than give it to the government in taxes…well do it then! And don’t simply donate your money, but donate your time, your skills and resources that you have been blessed with. A big government would pay workers to do some of these community service jobs…so if they don’t exist then your money isn’t the only thing that can provide the help. And if you think big government is the answer to the suffering in our nation, than don’t sit on your behind and expect government to do all the work. You might think that you are more selfless because you vote for what’s perceived as the “bleeding heart” party, but you are no selfless person if you don’t act or give.
I myself struggle with all of these things and don’t perceive to be above my own words. These are reflections of mine…and reflections are more of a personal thing than anything else. I need to continue to act if I want the world to be changed. This is the first time that I have truly understood Ghandi’s now (overused) words.

This is why we must streak.


for the wild,
andrew