Pilgrimages....

 

    Lynching Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama. Brian and I, along with 40 other pilgrims, were there two years ago today. Photo by The Pensacola Hippie. 

The dictionary's definition of " pilgrimage is as follows: 

 "any long journey, especially one undertaken as a quest or for a votive purpose, as to pay homage:

a pilgrimage to the grave of Shakespeare.
People usually take pilgrimages to holy places such as Israel or Mecca, but there are opportunities for pilgrimage here in the United States . One such place is Montgomery, Alabama, home to both the National Lynching Museum and the Equal Justice initiative Racial Justice Museum. 
Part of what makes a journey a pilgrimage is that making that trip changes a person. To be honest, I really was not sure I even wanted to make this pilgrimage in the first place-- I had experiences the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington , DC and recall how physically ill I felt as I walked through the exhibits. However, my priest was certain that my going to Montgomery on pilgrimage would be a life changing experience. She was 100 percent correct-- I emerged from that pilgrimage a changed-- for the better-- woman. 
Each pilgrim's journey to this site is unique to that individual, so all I can fairly recount to people who might not have taken this trip is how it changed me.
I have always considered myself somewhat of a scholar on American history.  However, as I walked slowly through first the outdoor Lynching Memorial and then the Equal Justice Initiative Museum, did I realize how " Whitewashed" my rural Appalachian public education had been. Our 11th grade American History class ** might ** have mentioned the lynching of Black people, but I did not realize two important facts 1} Public lynching was the norm in this nation for much longer than I'd realized. 2. National and state laws were created in my own lifetime { Reagan's " Just Say No" Campaign comes to mind } in order to fill prisons with Black and Brown men. 
One parishioner who also was a pilgrim to Montgomery with me said succinctly "I am not too proud to be White right now. " 
Preach it, friend! While I certainly am proud of my Celtic and Ashkenazi heritage, there is no way that I can deny that my pale skin has afforded me a different American experience than our siblings-of-color. Through the gene pool I inherited, I am pale skinned with light eyes and reddish-blonde hair. 

                                              Brian and me.  We are clearly both very White, and that allows us opportunities that people-of-color might still not enjoy. 

The pilgrimage to Montgomery's sites affected me on a cellular level. before the pilgrimage, I felt fairly certain that I understood my own White privilege.  One meditative walk through the Memorial, stopping to look at placards stating the bogus ' reasons' why Black men were lynched unsettled me. Black men were lynched for such minor ' offenses' as LOOKING THE WRONG WAY{ whatever that means} AT A WHITE WOMAN. 
Now a lot of White people are not comfortable discussing racism and White Privilege, and I've discovered { the hard way} that messing with White Fragility can lead to confrontations . The trial of George Floyd's murderer happening now , and I know that this has re-opened some old scabs for many people. Prophets are never welcomed to upset the polite conversation, and I have endured some verbal stone-throwing for engaging in conversations around racial justice. I understand, these conversations are difficult--- especially for we White people who were raised thinking that it is enough for us to not be prejudiced. Realizing how much White people have benefited over the years from our skin color is a bitter pill to swallow. yet it is necessary " medicine" for the pain that systemic racism has brought upon humanity. 
Amen. Sarah Elizabeth MccarrenHoly Tuesday 2021.