Driving a One-Way Street
This Week's Theme: Racial Sensitivity
Spencer Perkins & Chris Rice
Tuesday, June 26, 2001
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Key Bible Verses: Since the children have flesh and blood
he had to be made like his brothers in every way (Hebrews 2:14,17).
Bonus Reading:Hebrews 2:14-18
The movie Driving Miss Daisy, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1990, depicts the touching relationship that develops over many years between Miss Daisy, an Alabama white woman, and her black chauffeur, Hoke. At the end of the movie, Miss Daisy, now a lonely old woman, is visited by Hoke in the nursing home. She tells Hoke that he's her best friend. The movie ends as Hoke feeds her with a spoon, for Miss Daisy's arthritic hands are unable to reach her own mouth.
I heard many comments from whites about how much they enjoyed the movie. Many blacks I spoke with, on the other hand, couldn't figure out why Driving Miss Daisy received so much attention. Why the differing responses?
Hoke and Miss Daisy's relationship is a one-way street; it develops on the terms of her culture and her needs. The closest Miss Daisy ever comes to seeing Hoke's world is a time when, as he is driving her on a long trip, he can't find a place to stop to use the bathroom because he is black. Hoke knows everything about Miss Daisy's world. But Miss Daisy knows very little about Hoke's.
Spencer Perkins & Chris Rice in More Than Equals Respond:
How much do I understand the perspective of someone of another race? Thought to Apply:
The shadow [of race prejudice] is darkest over those who feel it least and allow its evil effects to go on.
Pearl Buck (novelist, 20th century)
Adapted from: More Than Equals (InterVarsity, 1993/2000)
For your convenience, More Than Equals is available in the ChristianityToday.com bookstore. 1 of 1
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Dear Father, please remove the cataracts of insensitivity from my eyes so that I can see others with true compassion.
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