While in Charleston, six of our middle school students and three
chaperons toured Fort Sumter, visited Drayton Hall Plantation, enjoyed a
carriage tour of the historic district, survived a ghost tour of the Old City
Jail, ate a lot of seafood and played on the beach, among other
activities. In other words, we had a
great time. It was the smoothest, most
enjoyable, and most enriching Stewart Center youth trip to date.
A traveling party
like ours – two whites, seven blacks, six of which are fifteen or younger – does
not easily blend in with the throng of tourists that overrun Charleston in the
summer months. As a result of our group’s
composition, we received many inquisitive looks and several friendly questions
concerning our origin, identity, and the purpose for our visit.
Three conversations linger in my mind. The associate pastor of our host church, the
owner of Jack’s Cosmic Dogs, and our waiter at Fleet Landing all asked about,
and seemed genuinely interested in our group.
Each conversation gave me the
opportunity to gush about the Center and our youth program. During each exchange I moved the dialogue
toward the nature of our program and proudly proclaimed that eligibility for
the trip hinged on factors such as conduct, grades, service projects, and attendance. I talked
about how we encourage the students to work toward a goal, and how character is
developed when the students are continually engaged in the Center’s programming.
Since arriving at the Stewart Center, I have participated in
countless other conversations where I have professed the value of our
programming and lauded the achievements of our past, but for some reason the
exchanges in Charleston left a bad taste in my mouth. I could hear my voice in my head as I spoke
and I hated the things I was saying, and the way I sounded. The affirming nods and smiles from my
conversation partners gave me added discomfort.
Why were they so agreeable? Why was I so proud? What had I said that struck
a chord with them? What about
under-resourced urban youth working to earn a trip was so wonderful?
I was proud, and they were pleased, because of
prejudice.
Obviously, under-resourced youth need to develop a strong
work ethic; nobody that is poor knows how to work hard. Clearly our youths’ attitudes, clothes, hair
and music indicate they do not know what it takes to be successful adults in
society; poor black kids from Reynoldstown are the only teenagers who have ever
listened to inappropriate music, disrespected adults or had bad fashion
sense. The low social and economic
status of our students’ families and neighborhoods have left them unable to
achieve a meaningful life full of personal and financial satisfaction; our society resembles a caste system where persons
rarely escape the social location of their parents.
I am so in love with the ‘power of exchange’ and so
brainwashed by stereotypes that I quit seeing our students as people and began
seeing them as a demographic. People that
speak loudly in the public square have convinced me that any assistance breeds
dependency and that ‘compensation for services rendered’ was Jesus’ golden
rule. Our students do need to develop a strong work ethic, they do need to
understand the value of a job well done and they do need to take responsibility
for their future’s, but they also need to experience unconditional love. It is not a gift if you work for it, it is
not grace if you deserve it .
My experiences with the youth in Charleston were about family;
my words in Charleston were about programs.
I was enjoying the teens as my Stewart Center family, not as projects, or
students, or future leaders or clients. I
was doing something with them rather than for them. Charleston is a place I associate with family
and our recent trip highlighted the sense of family I share with the middle
school students. Never during my
childhood did I earn or deserve a vacation, yet my parents enriched my life and
enlightened my mind through travel without jeopardizing my work ethic or
needing to institute a leadership development curriculum. Our students are our family. They need guidance and discipline like all
children but they also need to understand genuine love, else we develop adults
that only respond to material stimuli.
Our students are people full of God’s potential, infinitely
more valuable than the societal labels they bear. They are not statistics or projects. They are not numbers on a page or a
fundraising tool. They are not a moving
story or an adorable face on a video. They
are not corporate or social, private or public, denominational or
institutional. They are not a tax write
off. They are God’s greatest
creation. They are fellow humans, and
they are Randy, Roderick, Maranda, Mayria, Kennan and Kenya…and that is
enough. They are worthy of gifts of
love. Jesus thought we were worthy, no
strings attached.
Stewart Center middle school students, I love you. Period.Peace,
Clayton
