Reflections on Racial Injustice from Square Roots Collective’s Mike Bontrager

Like so many, I am deeply grieved at the latest examples of racial injustice reflected in the senseless murders of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd. As a white person, I can only begin to understand the anger and fear that our black friends face. However, as is clear to anyone who has given little more than a passing observation to the subject, these incidents are only the most recent examples of a deep, long, and unbroken history of injustice and inequality that blacks have faced over the centuries. Even if we could waive a magic wand and eliminate racial bias completely, it is not an equal race because the starting lines are completely different stemming from centuries of slavery, Jim Crow policies, and a wide array of other racist and exclusionary policies (e.g. barring blacks from subsidies available to whites such as the GI bill, red-lining in real estate mortgage lending, etc.). 

At Square Roots Collective, we often ask ourselves what we can do to be agents of reconciliation on issues of inequity, and that is all the more true in a time like this. We are a small organization focused on helping our community thrive for all. Our organization is predicated on the belief that the best hope for national change—whether on race or any other issue-- starts at the local level. 

With respect to racial injustice, while legal, financial and procedural changes are needed, it is my view that true long-term change can only happen when hearts and minds change. African Americans—who have long seen laws passed, but injustices remain--well understand this but many  white Americans have been slow to recognize it, believing that a quick indictment or a contribution to a black cause will address the injustice and allow things to return to normal. But normal is exactly what needs to be changed. 

For the past several years I have been on a journey of trying to understand how we got to where we are today and have come to realize that my own understanding and growth is not a linear journey but an iterative one. With each new book I read of our racial history, each new friendship and conversation with a person of color, I recognize new things that tug at my heart and create  grief, both for the injustices of our world but also my own brokenness.  This has for me been the starting place for heart change – for repentance. This idea of repentance is stitched into a Christian spiritual process that I find meaningful called an American Lament, a 40 day journey of prayer, reflection and discussion from the Repentance Project. This project seeks to help us recognize the legacy that 400 years of slavery and oppression has created, repent with sorrow for that legacy, respond meaningfully, in the context of relationships. Regardless of the faith perspective from which you approach racial inequity, I believe these steps—recognize, repent, respond and relationships—are valuable in the long journey of heart change.   

So how is SRC responding? Three years ago, we started a project that has become Voices Underground whose mission is “Racial Healing Through Storytelling.” VU seeks to uncover and tell the stories of how blacks and whites in our area worked together to fight against unjust laws and attitudes in the mid-19th century by playing a critical role in the Underground Railroad. Partnering with Lincoln University has not only provided an academic foundation to this project but it has facilitated deepening friendships and understanding across race. While our tangible goal is to create a national-caliber monument in some form that tells these stories, our larger and more important goal is to invite people into a journey of relationships across racial lines and through those relationships, understanding of and empathy for the challenges facing the black community. 

While we still have a long way to go, Square Roots Collective has attempted to weave racial equity into all of our projects, from ensuring accessibility to trails regardless of socioeconomic status to a concerted effort to ensure LatinX businesses avail themselves to the Small Business Response Fund.   

During the COVID lockdown, my kids were playing The Newlywed Game. One of the questions to the wives was, “If your husband were arrested, what would be the most likely reason?” My recently married daughter replied, “Because he is black.” It was a bit of a jarring answer to the rest of us but my son-in-law had written the same answer. He is one of the most kind and gentle person you will meet, yet they both live with an underlying fear that a wrong turn or an insignificant interaction could go horribly wrong. This should not be. We desire a world where that fear is unfounded and hope that our work, in some small way will contribute to reweaving the fabric of our community so this will no longer be true. 

Mike Bontrager

Team Leader, Square Roots Collective

Books that have been part of my journey:

The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America’s Soul from the Revolution to the Civil War by Andrew Delbanco 

Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David Blight

The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism by Edward Baptist

The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap by Mehrsa Baradaran  

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

Hellhound on His Trail: The Electrifying Account of the Largest Manhunt in American History by Hampton Sides

The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson