Systems

Systems, the ways dominant society organizes life, or “the ways things work” tend to function well for some and oppress others.  In 1930s and 40s Mississippi, the sharecropping system provided subsistence-level income for some blacks, while at the same time limiting their upward mobility or empowerment.

“White attitudes made sharecropping a necessity for most blacks.  For, as sharecroppers, we lived the proper role and behaved in the accepted manner.  Sharecroppers weren’t considered dangerous types who might upset the system.  So our family’s status as sharecroppers provided a stability of sorts not always open to independent blacks.

“Trying to be an independent black in the postwar South could be risky.  We could have been put out of business if we had tried to go it on our own, totally independent.  That would have been ‘uppity’” (34).

“The storekeeper himself would charge about 25 percent interest, and the boss would add his own charges – sometimes another 20 percent.  The landowner charged interest even though he was not directly loaning the money out of his pocket, because he was the one being billed.  …

“So the sharecropper paid between 35 and 45 percent interest on the crop loan. That interest, plus principal, he had to pay out of his share of the crops.  And his share was only half; the other half belonged to the landowner” (40).

“…since land clearing always began in early February, that meant that school for sharecroppers was only about three months a year: November, December and January.  With such a short school year, there was no such thing as finishing one grade a year; it was more like one grade level every two years or so” (45).

In Chapter 5 Perkins describes two encounters with the economic system: one in which he feels forced to comply and another in which he is able to exert some small amount of resistance. As you think about your own experience today:

What “systems” do you recognize in our society?  Who benefits?  Are some individuals or groups marginalized?

Are the problems we see in society the result of an oppressive “system”?  Individuals’ choices?  Both?

What makes it difficult to restructure these systems?  What are steps we might take in that direction?

Chapters 1-2: Pain and Challenge

John Perkins' story is framed by pain and social injustice.  Though many of us reading this history today find it difficult to imagine a society in which racial discrimination was so blatant and wide-spread, in New Hebron this oppression had become accepted as a way of life by many Whites and Blacks. 

For many Whites, Perkins writes, "Here on Main Street, a quick, almost casual swipe of the nightstick was a standard reminder of who was boss in New Hebron.  So, when in town, blacks had to weigh every word and action.  Young blacks especially, even without any particular grudge, could run afoul of the law in the most ordinary situations" (18-19).

In response, many Blacks, also shaped by the oppressive system, had determined that it might be easier to go along with the system rather than to challenge it.  "But other blacks just didn't want to talk, and it wasn't just a matter of fear.  It's hard to describe, really, but when you've spent your whole lifetime with limited opportunities, spent your whole lifetime being told your place is at the bottom – that entire mixture helps create a low image of yourself.  After awhile, assertiveness or anger or whatever it's called just sort of dries up, like a muscle that never gets used" (23).

In Chapter 2 John meets his father, an important moment for a young person faced with the humiliation of being fatherless.  "You see, that teasing I had talked about – about fathers, I understood it enough even at my age, to call him "Daddy" instead of "Uncle" – the usual term kids had to use for the man they resembled and who occasionally showed up with their mothers" (29).

As you think about the ministry you're involved in, or the communities in which you've served,

What challenges or pain have shaped your own experience?

What pain do you observe in the communities around you?  How have people responded?

How does pain or challenge inform your desire to serve?

Praxis

Hi Friends!

Welcome to the JPC Summer Reading Blog - a tool I hope we'll use to build relationships and plans for next year as we read together through John Perkins' Let Justice Roll Down.  I'll start reading and reflecting next week - I hope you'll join the conversation.

Summer is my time to read a lot, and this week I'm looking at Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed.  There's a lot in the book, but one big idea that jumped out at me the other day was the idea of Praxis - the interaction of reflection and action.  Without action, our talking is just talk; without reflection, our action is just activism.  When reflection and action come together, praxis, among a bunch of other great things, happens.  It's vital that we do something, while at the same time thinking carefully about waht we're doing and why.

I hope our conversations about Let Justice Roll Down will be a point for praxis.  As you begin to think about the year ahead: leadership, service, action ... let's also think about what we're doing, how we're doing it, and what we're learning as we go. 

We'll get into the discussion of Let Justice Roll Down next week.  For now, here's an easy question - post your thoughts!

What are you most excited for this summer?  What are you least excited about?

Thanks.
Owen.