Some 600 years before Jesus, Judeans began returning from Babylon to the ruins of Jerusalem. They had been in exile for 70 years and many Jewish men had taken foreign wives. The Bible books of Ezra and Nehemiah reveal how the prophets demanded that these foreign wives be divorced and sent back to Babylon so that the culture might remain pure. In response to these demands, a divinely inspired author wrote the Book of Ruth. By tracing David’s ancestry back to a foreign woman, the narrator casts serious doubt on the wisdom of Ezra and Nehemiah.
The emphasis of the book is not so much on Ruth’s devotion to her motherin- law as on the fact that Ruth was accepted in Israel in spite of her foreignness. Human kindness is an important theme of the Book of Ruth, but the stress seems to be on the fact that this kindness was not limited by any of the usual prejudices on the part of Naomi, Ruth or of Boaz, the story’s main characters. The theme of the book has been described as the “law of kindness which transcends national boundaries and makes all people kin.” The Book of Ruth addresses racism. Racism is taught, but Christians can teach otherwise.
In the television shows and silver screen movies of the 60s, in the midst of the cold war, Russians, Asians and Germans were shown, without exception, as the enemies, while Native Americans were shown as a violent and barbaric people, and Blacks were generally servants. This was how Americans saw the world. But not Gene Roddenberry.
In 1963, he launched Star Trek’s Enterprise, with a Black woman, a Japanese and a Russian, not to mention an alien with pointed ears, on the ship’s bridge. That a TV show would promote this type of cooperation between races was revolutionary, and it had an enormous impact.
The late actor Nichelle Nichols (she could be a cousin of mine) played Uhura, the ship’s Black communications officer. During the first season, Nichelle had considered leaving the show because she felt her part was too small. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. revealed himself a fan of Star Trek; and he advised Nichelle not to leave, because even if her role was small, just by being on the show she was an inspiration to Black children, showing them that they, too, had a future.
And Nichelle did have an impact. As a child, Whoopie Goldberg was watching the show and exclaimed: “Mom, there’s a Black lady on TV, and she ain’t no maid!” When Star Trek: The Next Generation went into production some 20 years later, Whoopie Goldberg insisted on having a small role: “I just wanted to be a part of what this production was doing for people.”
The poet Bonaro Overstreet shares this conviction in his work, To One Who Doubts the Wisdom of
Doing Anything If We Can’t Do Everything: “You say the little efforts that I make Will do no good. They never will prevail To tip the hovering scale where Justice hangs in balance. I do not think I ever thought they would, But I am prejudiced beyond debate In favor of my right To choose which side shall feel The stubborn ounces of my weight.”
One last thought: Reconciliation is not only to be between peoples and cultures, but between those of the reconciliation extremes. Between those called “racists” and those called “reconcilers.” To be judgmental of either, to the point of condemnation and repugnance, is still to be prejudiced to the point of deepest definition.
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