DART MINISTRY CONFERENCE REFLECTION

Introduction

What does the year 2042 mean to you? If you are a “gamer,” it would be a reference to the Electronic Arts PlayStation game “Battlefield 2042.”

But if you are an informed citizen that is aware of the 2008 Census predictions, you’ll know that 2042 is the year when Americans who identify themselves as “people of color” will together outnumber non-Hispanic whites in these United States of America. Moreover, according to William H. Frey, of the Brookings Institution, it is probable that this demographic seismic shift will take place even earlier than the year 2042.

You might ask, why is this population prediction worth mentioning in this reflection?

It’s because we are presently witnessing a strategic, calculated response to what we know will be no less than a forthcoming demographic tsunami. The outnumbering of non-Hispanic whites by people of color is the driving force behind the far-right’s conservative goal of eliminating and abolishing the democratic process of voting in these United States of America. The main objective is to replace our democracy with dictatorship, where majority rule will be a thing of the past and ALL, not just some, but ALL THE PEOPLE will have no vote, and therefore, ALL THE PEOPLE will have no voice.

Our first President, George Washington is quoted as saying, “The basis of our political system is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government.”

However, there are factions in this nation that want to take that right away from the people!

Brothers and sisters, when we see this and other desperate, real-time threats to democracy, it only affirms the fact that the system is not broken! By no means! The economic/political system of this nation has been designed and allowed to do exactly what it is doing.

The system’s structure is designed to insure that the balance of money, power and control will remain with those that comprise what Isabel Wilkerson calls “The Dominant Caste.” This class and caste of people– as well as agencies and entities, are intent, invested and immersed in maintaining privilege and power for the exclusive few. In doing so, they seek to exempt those that comprise what the “out” group known as “the other.”

Brothers and sisters, I’ve come to challenge you to reflect on the harsh reality, that the system in this nation is doing exactly what it was designed to do.

Evidence for my assertion is well-documented.

In 1863, two years prior to emancipation, Black people owned .5 percent of the national wealth, while in 2019 Black people owned just over 1.5 percent of the national wealth. That is only a 1 percent increase in 161 years.

What that tells me is that the system is doing just what it was designed to do.

As of 2021, the racial wealth gap between Whites and Blacks remains as large as it was in 1968, with the typical net worth of a White household being equivalent to that of 11.5 black households.

What that tells me is that the system is doing just what it was designed to do.

In 2021, the poverty rate among African-Americans was 18.8 percent as compared to 10.5 percent for all other Americans.

What that tells me is that the system is doing just what it was designed to do.

In 2022, the median income of African-American men was approximately 76 cents for every dollar of their European-American counterparts.

What that tells me is that the system is doing just what it was designed to do.

Homeownership in the Untied States is the primary asset that Americans use to generate wealth. However this year, there is a shortage of more than 7 million affordable homes for our nation's 10.8 million and above extremely low-income families, when at the very same time in 2024, the housing market is boasting record sales and new construction is booming across the nation.

What that tells me is that the system is doing just what it was designed to do.

From 2000 to 2022, the median home price in the United States grew 160 percent, outpacing average annual household income growth in that same period, which only grew to about 30 percent.

What that tells me is that the system is doing just what it was designed to do.

The average White high school drop-out still has a slightly better chance of owning a home than the average African-American college graduate. This is usually due to unfavorable debt-to-income ratios and/or low credit scores among most African-American college graduates.

What that tells me is that the system is doing just what it was designed to do.

According to the National Registry of Exonerations, Blacks are roughly 7.5 times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of murder and other crimes in the United States than Whites.

What that tells me is that the system is doing just what it was designed to do.

In 2024, African American males are more likely to be killed by police when compared to other races. Just ask the family of Dvontaye Mitchell in Milwaukee.

What that tells me is that the system is doing just what it was designed to do.

In the United States, which has the largest per-capita prison population in the world, African-Americans are overrepresented as the second largest population of prison inmates at (38 percent) in 2023, when African Americans were only 12.1 percent of the nation’s population in 2021.

What that tells me is that the system is doing just what it was designed to do.

But it doesn’t have to be this way!

What I’ve found is that the system is not omnipotent with motives that are incomprehensible! No system is! The only being that is omnipotent is God! This economic/political system can be deciphered, divulged and eventually dismantled when confronted by organized people that are aimed at eradicating the evil strategies, the wicked mechanisms and the villainous acts that source its inhumane programming and responses!

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said on one occasion, “Capitalism does not permit an even flow of economic resources. With this system, a small privileged few are rich beyond conscience, and almost all others are doomed to be poor at some level. That’s the way the system works. And since we know that the system will not change the rules, we are going to have to change the system.”

If anything, Nehemiah 5 shows us that the power of organized people can change the system! Huge amounts of organized people can successfully confront and cancel Pharaoh’s narrative of money, power and control! The Biblical solution to change “the system” is huge amounts of organized people, working together to bring about transformation!

That is why we have gathered here this week from the different geographical regions of this nation!

Yes, we know the system is not broken! It is only doing what it has been designed to do!

However, we have come to this DART Justice Ministry Conference to learn how to do better what we’ve been designed by God to do!

We’ve been endowed with a Biblical Mandate.

We’ve been entrusted with a divine purpose.

We’ve been engaged to proclaim the Good News!

We’ve been elected to do justice, not just talk it, but to do justice.

And by doing justice, we surely will change the system.

Therefore, Today, let us be about our Father’s business.