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Matthew 23:27 – “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, who are like whitewashed sepulchers that appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.”

Have you ever bitten into a luscious piece of fruit only to find out it was rotten? Or a chocolate chip cookie, only to find out it was oatmeal raisin? As disappointing and disgusting as that is, it is worse when we are betrayed by authority figures who look good on the outside and are rotten on the inside. As Matthew depicts them, scribes and Pharisees were more concerned about appearances than substance. And Jesus was tired of their shit. He called them out for their upside-down value system.

It’s hard to stick our neck out to call other people on their stuff. It sucks to have to be the adult and hold others accountable. It’s uncomfortable. We’d rather close our eyes and hope it goes away. Yet, as citizens of a democracy, it is our job to call our leaders out. Especially when they themselves are choosing not to call others into account for their actions. When we refuse to call others out for their behavior, we are leaving our brothers and sisters to fend for themselves.

To be clear, I’m talking about actual bad behavior, not existing while Black. There have been many publicized instances of ‘white’ people calling the cops because Black people are going about their business. It happens every day all over the US. Why? Why are ‘white’ people so afraid of Black people? What is all the hatred about? They say they don’t feel safe, which is another word for racism. Or they say they are only making sure people do things right. Which is another word for racism. Why? Because these same people do not call out their ‘white’ brothers and sisters for similar behavior. If our society were a cookie, these people would be the raisins masquerading as chocolate chips.

Yet, such people are merely the symptom of the real problem, the systematic racism baked into our thinking and our laws for the last 400 years. Our country and our society were built on racism and the only way to move past it is to call it what it is and talk about it. More importantly, ‘white’ people need to learn to listen. We’re very good at action and making things happen. We’re not that good at listening. Such conversations make us uncomfortable, because unlearning what we’ve been taught is always uncomfortable. However, Black people are dying and refugees are being traumatized because we’re afraid of this conversation. That makes us, white people, the raisins masquerading as chocolate chips.