By Marisa Young | Reporter
Dr. Christian Van Gorder, associate professor in the religion department, confronts racism with a biblical perspective in his new book release, “Normalcy Never Again: Racist-Oppression and Today’s Justice Movement.”
The book borrowed its title from Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous speech, Van Gorder said, which people more often remember as the “I Have A Dream” speech.
“The title he had for the speech was ‘Normalcy Never Again,’” Van Gorder said. “The reason he called it that was because he was tired of things not changing, things constantly going in circles.”
Van Gorder reflects this sentiment in his book, as he intends to bring to light still-existing false narratives surrounding race in modern day America.
“The George Floyd protests that happened about five years ago, right before COVID, woke up a lot of people,” Van Gorder said. “You realized that a lot of people in the country were really seeing things differently than other people were seeing. There was a huge gap, and that gap is still there. So the purpose of this book was to try to help bridge that gap.”
Van Gorder partnered with his friend, Rev. Dr. Lewis T. Tait Jr., in order to bridge the gap. Through honest conversation, the two authors narrate their different American experiences in light of racial oppression.
“Me coming from my European American culture, the other author coming from an African American perspective and culture talking about how we grew up in the same country and in different countries, many experiences were completely different for each of us,” Van Gorder said.
Quoting Rev. Dr. Howard Thurman, Van Gorder explained that every person is “rooted somewhere,” and those roots have the power to connect people rather than separate them.
“We should be proud of our cultural and ethnic identities, but that pride should never, of course, make us feel better than other people,” Van Gorder said. “We should use our cultural heritages as resources, not only to share who we are, but to learn and listen and validate other people.”
In order to confront racial oppression from a Christian perspective, Van Gorder said he starts by “getting [truth] into people’s hearts.”
“Christ says, ‘Things in the dark will come to the light,’” Van Gorder said. “So I think people need to be confronted with some really hard, sharp facts. In America, everyone talks about liberty and justice for all, but that’s never been true. There’s never been liberty, justice for all.”
Van Gorder said beyond sharing individuals’ stories, there exists a need for action. He refers to this as the gap between one’s head and their heart.
“Your guilt doesn’t help anybody,” Van Gorder said. “Of course, you need to be educated, but then you need to become an agent for change. And what does that look like?”
“Normalcy Never Again” discusses practical measures of becoming the change, Van Gorder said, whether in churches, police systems, the workplace, entertainment and sports or beyond.
Irving senior Leah Cole said she feels the church has a moral responsibility to work against racial oppression.
“Some of us, based on factors that are completely out of our control … are at a disadvantage, and it is absolutely our social responsibility as citizens and certainly our responsibility as members of a church to recognize that disadvantage and how it plays out in communities,” Cole said.
Particularly for university students, Cole said learning the truth about America’s foundations is crucial in the fight for justice
“We have every resource to be educated on racial injustices,” Cole said. “It’s really special to have texts and have mentors and multimedia avenues to be able to deepen our understanding, and not to do it alone, but to do it with community.”
Van Gorder closes his book with a quote by Harriet Tubman, which spurs the nation and the world at large on toward a future of true justice for all.
“Harriet Tubman says, ‘If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If they’re shouting after you, keep going,’” Van Gorder said. “’Don’t ever stop, keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.’”
