The Toad listens: pain and perspective (the podcast)
PAIN AND PERSPECTIVE: a 2 part podcast series
It has previously been discussed the the toad is an A-political entity; that is, politics are generally something we steer clear of. That being said, several issues have come about this year that we feel are not political- they are human issues. That doesn’t mean that they haven’t been heavily politicized by both ‘sides’, however- so it is our goal to strip the politics back out of this particular conversation and break it all down so we can talk about the actual core of the issue.
The Joplin Toad decided to enter the conversation on race with two specific approaches. First, with this podcast set in which we address specific debate points on the anti-racism movement. Second, a video series that features interviews from local people of color who tell their stories about experiences with racism and indifference (stay tuned for this in coming weeks).
This is phase 1 of the series.
…In which we use a podcast format to interview a local paster (Jaron Scott) and the head of diversity at Ozark Christian College (Matthew McBirth).
In this 2-part set, we address 10 specific points that have come out of genuine conversation and a desire to better understand what the anti-racism movement is all about, from those who might at first be suspicious of the movement itself. These are questions asked not out of mean-spiritedness, but honest curiosity; and our conversation addresses them as such.
Here’s what we talk through in the podcast, giving thoughtful answers from the ‘other’ perspective to the following points/questions :
1: Riots are bad; I see folks burning cities down and this upsets me. Violence doesn’t justify violence. I can’t get past the destruction of property; nothing justifies that.
2: But I’M not racist; I have a black friend even! I don’t practice racism and haven’t seen it firsthand, therefore it doesn’t exist where I am and there’s nothing I personally am responsible for.
3: What about other injustices? Isn’t [sex trafficking, womens rights, unborn babies, etc] just as important?
4: Cops are (mostly) good. We keep attacking them for the actions of a few bad eggs. I support the police; don’t their lives matter?
5: What about blacks generating/ perpetuating violence in their own culture? Specifically, rap music that glorifies drugs, gang activity, violence, belittling women, etc.
6: The media makes everything a race issue, and that’s part of why this is all blown out of proportion. What about when the stories in the news have nothing to do with race, but the media overdramatizes and blows it out of proportion, making every police incident about race?
7. We already got racism out of our system (in our area). Sure, there are still extremists here and there. But we’ve made things right; slavery is gone, segregation is gone, black folks have as much a chance as anybody. Why are we still acting like this is such a big deal? Aren’t people just being overly sensitive?
8: Everybody has a chance to build their lives from the ground up in America. I [or ____] grew up disadvantaged [poor, disability, etc], and overcame that adversity. What about the black people that are using this movement to rationalize laziness, handouts, and whining?
9: This is a liberal movement, and I’m conservative. How do I know this isn’t all constructed by liberal media to make something out of nothing?
10: The removal of southern heritage monuments is offensive to me; why should we remove history to make certain people happy? Where does it end?
Over the next two episodes, Jaron and Matthew use grace, humor, experience and wisdom to help us better understand what the BLM movement is, and what it isn’t, using these questions as conversation points. They’ll clear up some common misconceptions and help us better love and understand our black and brown neighbors in Joplin- and everywhere.
click below to listen- or search “joplin toad cast” on iTunes or Spotify to subscribe and add to your own playlist.
WANT MORE?
This series by the Joplin Toad includes not only this 2 part podcast episode, but also a 4 part video series. Check that out HERE.