Brood of Vipers

I currently have a Black Lives Matter sign in my yard so when my local Texas House Rep suggested attending the school board meeting where Critical Race Theory might be addressed, I figured if I had the sign, I needed to use my voice.  Apparently, Critical Race Theory is the new hot button topic for conservatives and they were going to attend the meeting to express their concern that schools were teaching this theory.  

And for the record, Critical Race Theory has been around since the 70’s.  Legal scholars developed this theory in an effort to understand why the civil rights legislation of the 60’s hadn’t produced equality for African Americans in the US.  It’s not a historical theory – it’s a legal lens.  And to say that race plays a role in this country’s systems is an understatement.  I won’t debate that here but nobody cared about this theory until recently.  Fox News mentioned CRT over 1,300 times in the last three and a half months.  So, no surprise really that now conservatives are upset about it.

I have watched Trump rallies on TV and the internet.  I’ve seen the anger and bigotry of these conservatives but never in person.  Here is how it went down.

We gathered outside the building and in the lobby to wait for the speaking sign-up to begin. During that time, some people had signs either supporting CRT or not.  One of the conservative protestors asked a friend of mine with a sign if she “was even part of this community.”  As we gathered inside a small lobby with a locked door on one side and the other door leading outside, one of the conservatives yelled for everyone to be quiet. Then her friend told everyone to bow their heads in prayer.  I was standing next to my Texas House Representative who is Jewish.  The prayer was a Christian prayer, down to the blood of Jesus.  I thought about all those wounded by the Christian church and how triggering this must have been to be unable to escape this display.  And I thought about others who may not be believers or of another faith who apparently didn’t matter to this Christian.  I consider myself super religious; I see my life through my faith lens but I am so offended when Christians force their faith practices on others.  This brings nobody to Jesus. 

As speakers were called upon to share their two-minute opinion, many of the conservatives invoked the name of Jesus.  When anyone with an opposing view was invited to share their two-minute opinion, they interrupted.  They heckled them.  They yelled at one board member to “speak up” after which he explained he had throat cancer.  They heckled the African American board member who shared the district's demographics and information about an equity audit to address the systemic racism they acknowledged in the district.  They were bullies, period. 

It was surreal to hear the outrageous claims being made:  that Critical Race Theory was being taught (despite the board explaining they follow the state curriculum that doesn’t include CRT); that CRT is Marxism; that this is the 1960’s in reverse with white people as the victims; that social justice is somehow bad.  And as they stated all their “proof” racism doesn’t exist, most all did so as Christians.  As they interrupted and bullied anyone who disagreed with them, they did so as Christians.  It was a disgusting display of the worst of Christianity. 

The board struggled to control the meeting and I wondered why they didn’t clear the room and make everyone wait in the hallway until called upon.  When the board president or attorney tried to explain that they were observers of the meeting, they just yelled back at them.  This was from a mob of unruly, rude, and hostile adults who cited Jesus’ command to love your neighbor.  I described my experience of lobbying conservative legislators for my LGBTQ child’s equal rights as going into the lion’s den.  But last night, I found myself in a brood of vipers and I am still wondering how many potential Christians were pushed even further away from Jesus.