How to Use White Privilege for Good

Crisis Watch Oct. 1, 2020

by

A United Methodist Insight Column

Friends, for my money, a sports story that spans the Atlantic Ocean demonstrates one of the best ways to use one’s white privilege. I think it's an example we can follow in the church as well.

National Public Radio’s Oct. 1 newsletter bore the intriguing headline: Ireland Lacrosse Bows Out Of 2022 World Games So Iroquois Nationals Can Play.  According to the story by Bo Hamby, the Ireland national lacrosse team opted to drop out of the sport’s international competition after the Iroquois Nationals were excluded from the championship series.

The third-ranked Iroquois Nationals, who represent the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, weren’t invited because they “didn’t represent a nation,” even though they have their own passports as a recognized Native American nation in the United States, according to the NPR report. This was a major error on the part of lacrosse’s international governing board, because the Iroquois invented lacrosse, which they call “the medicine game.” Even so, said the game organizers, all the championship slots were filled.

Then came the Irish, who have known their own form of discrimination in America’s past. In August, Ireland’s team dropped out of the World Games so the Iroquois could have its place. In gratitude, Iroquois Nationals player Sonny Thompson told NPR: "The Iroquois Nationals are going to put together the best team the world has ever seen, and representing not just the Iroquois Nationals, but Ireland lacrosse also.”

The lacrosse World Games will be held in 2022 in Birmingham, Ala., featuring eight teams: Australia, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, the Iroquois Nationals, Israel, Japan and the United States. As for Ireland, from where I sit, they’ve already won.

Hurricane Laura work day set

Louisiana Annual Conference has set another work day for clean up after Hurricane Laura, which struck Lake Charles, La., and surrounding area in August. The conference posted in its newsletter:

Another Day of Serving: Saturday, October 10, Moss Bluff United Methodist Church

For ERT or Non-ERT VolunteersNo Registration is Required 

Location: Moss Bluff UMC, 735 Sam Houston Pkw, Lake Charles, LA Time: 8:30 a.m.

  • Please wear closed-toed work shoes or boots, long pants, sunscreen, and hat
  • Bug repellant is highly recommended
  • Bring gloves, sack lunch, snacks, ice chest and bottled water
  • A first aid kit is also recommended

See the website for a link to reserve a room for overnight stay at the Methodist Children’s Home in Sulphur, La. The children’s home evacuated all its residents to its Wilderness site in north Louisiana for temporary shelter before the hurricane hit. Subsequently the children were moved to the Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home in Ruston, because damage to the surrounding community makes it inadvisable for them to return to Sulphur until sometime in 2021. In the meantime, however, the home in Sulphur can offer temporary rooms for volunteers, according to the conference website.

For more details on how recovery from Hurricane Laura is going in Louisiana, see "Amazing grace comes in many ways for storm survivors" by Kathy L. Gilbert of UM News, with photos by Mike DuBose.

Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011.