My Korean mother is in her 50s, and until last year owned and worked a convenience store.
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I've been wrestling this week. Seeking to have my thoughts and deeds in response to the murder of George Floyd flow out of the truth of God's Word. There are many things that were obvious at first: weeping with those who weep, setting our eternal hope in Jesus Christ who will bring ultimate justice, seeking justice and pleading for the widow.
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I work for a very liberal non-profit consulting firm. I am very familiar with the language, frameworks, and "religion" of social justice based on cultural Marxism. I've sought to see what is true in these ideas by testing them against Scripture. I've fought against the desire to please man and let my guilt of privilege drive me toward non-biblical solutions. Christian, I plead with you also not to do so.
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I decided to read more about what happened in that convenience store in 1991. The owner testifies that she saw Latasha Harlins putting an orange juice in her backpack and believed her to be stealing it. She says that she asked Latisha whether or not she was going to pay for it. Two eye witnesses claim she did not ask that question, but instead called her profanities and grabbed the girl's sweater, snatching her backpack from her. Latisha struck the woman twice in the face. The woman took the orange juice from her, and Latisha walked away to leave the store. Soon Ja Du grabbed a gun from under the counter and shot 15 year old Latisha in the back of the head as she was turned away to leave. Soon Ja Du received only five years of probation, 400 hours of community service, and a $500 fine for her act of murder.
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I feel grief and shame. If I'm honest, I've hidden behind being Asian-American and well-versed in the language of the left. There is some implicit bias deep in my heart I'm sure, but I have sought to be aware of it and try to dispel my prejudices. I can honestly say that. But my facade of being above reproach was shattered in realizing that a woman who looks like me, who could have easily been my mother, one of "my" people committed such a gross evil and contributed to the grief and just anger of the black community.
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I am so proud of being Korean American. We joke in our household "Korea #1". Sometimes I break out in the Korean National Anthem just to get a groan out of Isaac. There is no question that I love being Korean-American, and love Korean-Americans. Realizing that Soon Ja Du murdered Latisha Harlins shatters my pride. I am not untouchable. That is a ridiculous thing to say, because of course I'm not. "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8)
I've been trying to do everything right this week, and have so hideously believed that I have had no sin. I want to repent now. But I am not talking about the leftist sins of not naming my privileges, hashtagging black lives matter, or donating to bail protesters out. Please understand me, I do see the evil of systemic racism in the world, and am genuinely praying and working against them, but that is not the heinous evil I've ignored this week. The evil is this: I have favoritism. It is deep in my heart, and I've hidden it under the cloak of "it's so nice to have shared experiences and language" and "Korea is such a scrappy little nation, did you know that they send the most missionaries out to the world second only to the US?" I have valued and preferred and believed Korean-Americans better than others. I have believed my ethnicity better than others. I have believed myself to be more valuable than others. I have believed my life more valuable than the life of another made in the image of God. Oh Lord, forgive me.
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"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9)
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There are many right and biblical responses that must come out of the events of this week. I continue to wrestle with them, but my friend, my friend of every color, I plead with you to join me in this one. Look in your own heart. No matter who you are, you are not perfect before God. See, and repent. "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8)
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https://goexplorethebible.com/blog/adults/3-reasons-god-condemns-favoritism-session-9-james-119-27-21-4/
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https://goexplorethebible.com/blog/adults/3-reasons-god-condemns-favoritism-session-9-james-119-27-21-4/
