Every piece of land claimed in, or by, the United States of America, shall be returned to the indigenous peoples of those lands, effective immediately. Every other asset owned by white Americans shall be given to the people of color on whose lives those assets were gained, effective immediately. Complete control of the US government shall be turned over to the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) population of the United States, effective immediately. 

There is no other path that will be bring healing to the hearts and minds of those who have stolen, enslaved, and exploited their way from sea to shining sea. There is no other path that will bring healing to the hearts and minds of the white American. Without a complete, and repentant, relinquishment of assets, the cancer of the white American’s dastardly deeds will continue to harden their hearts and their wounds will continue to fester. There can be no final healing, no final heaven achieved, until the white American has freed themselves of their self-applied chains of bondage.

That’s not my problem, I worked hard for what I have

I believe that you did. I believe that you worked hard to achieve your success in life. The problem is that you did it with stolen tools, stolen resources, and within systems of institutional privilege. Let’s imagine that someone burglarized a construction site, and they stole every tool and every piece of lumber on the jobsite. That person then sells their spoils to you with a great story about how they came by those materials through providence and destiny. You shrug your shoulders and say, “it’s none of my business where the tools and lumber came from.” Because you are white, no one is going to question you coming into a large stash of tools and building materials. You then build a beautiful home, using undocumented workers because you can pay them pennies on the dollar, on some prime real estate that was given to you by your father, who got it from his father, who got it from a guy, that knew a guy, that knew a guy. Again, none of your business where it came from, it’s “family land.” You now rent out the property and are rolling in the dough that you “worked hard for” …using stolen tools, stolen resources, and within systems of institutional privilege. White Americans are now several generations removed from manifest destiny, indigenous genocide, and chattel slavery. Because of this distance in time, most are unaware, or refuse to believe that they are where they are today because of theft and oppression. But their souls know, if you are science-minded, the neural pathways of their genetic traits know, if you prefer to think in Biblical terms, “visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the third and fourth generation” (Exodus 34:7).

Radical repentance and reconciliation is the only path to healing the soul, the genetic pathways, and the iniquities created by the White American’s conquest and oppression of their neighbor. Unless radical steps are taken, the fear, guilt, and shame cycle of the American heart and mind will continue in perpetuity.

Speaking of the Bible

Let’s consider some of the main, over-arching themes of the Bible: loving your neighbor, righting wrongs, and rejecting systems of oppression. These are the very foundations of the Holy Bible. Nearly every Bible story, from Genesis to Revelation, brings to light behaviors of oppression and restitution. Early in the Old Testament, we are given the story of the plagues of Egypt that were caused by systems of slavery and oppression. The Old Testament also teaches a concept of “Jubilee”, where every 50 years debts would be forgiven, and land would be returned to the original owner. (Where are the Biblical literalists on this one?) In the New Testament, we are told the parable of the rich man who is asking Jesus what he must do to get to heaven. After some back-and-forth banter, Jesus replies with, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven” (Matthew 19:21). You can open the Bible to just about any page and find a story condemning behaviors of abuse and oppression. Sadly, the America that some would claim as a Christian nation, was built on these maladaptive behaviors.

This radical ideology will just make things worse

Will it? Or is that our white narcissism projecting itself again? Do we fear that with BIPOC in control, the white American will become oppressed? Perhaps we should reflect on why we believe that people in control will choose to oppress other people? Will making such a radical change in American structure, systems, philosophies, and governmental operations cause economic chaos and threaten national security? Maybe. Maybe not. But what it will do for certain is that it will model what it means to be a true Christian nation, it will make us global leaders in creating paths to restitution, it will bring light to the shadows of institutional discrimination and oppression, and it will bring a lamp to the path of spiritual healing for all of humanity. It will advance the coming of Heaven on Earth.

As a privileged white American, the thought of giving it all away and putting my fate in the hands of someone who may choose to cause me harm based solely on my skin color sounds frightening and uncertain. Paths of healing often are. Perhaps there is a less radical solution than the one I am proposing here, but that should be for the BIPOC in America to decide. The white American has had their chance, and they chose to abuse and oppress. The white American continues to cling to this power with desperate virulence and cannot be trusted to right this wrong. The parable of Jesus and the rich man concludes with, “When the rich man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.”