Since 2023, Canada has been affected by ongoing and record-setting wildfires. From March 2023 to June 2023, wildfires have been raging across all 13 provinces and territories. Those wildfires have been linked to climate change. Those wildfires were recorded as the worst fires on record. And what is the budget for Forest Services to help curb this international catastrophe? It has been cut. Fast forward to 2024, and the risk of wildfires in Canada remains very high. These destructive wildfires are threatening the air quality in the regions. The air quality in several US states has been affected negatively by these dangerous Canadian wildfires.

When I think about those fires and the spark of one flame that ignited such a destructive path, I think about how racism has divided our country and the world. It started with just a spark. How the heart of man could be so consumed with the vile, disgusting soot of racism that it left generational curses that we are still trying to extinguish today. This natural catastrophe mirrors in my mind, the sin of racism in this country and how its effects have consumed the world, changing the natural order of the world.

In most African American communities, it is called “The Great Divide,” and we are not just talking about wealth disparities. It is a not-so-imaginary line between blacks and whites regarding equity and inclusion. Within this imaginary line, there is no gray area of compromise and no room for peaceful dialog. Some well-intended whites disassociate themselves from this imaginary line by stating, “We are all of the human race” and that we are all on equal footing. Nothing can be further from the truth. Black Americans are incarcerated at nearly 5 times the rate of White Americans and Latino Americans are imprisoned 1.3 times the rate of white Americans, Where is the “equality” when roughly 60 percent of the US prisons, jails, and detention centers are occupied by Black or Latinx Americans?

We have politicians who pour lighter fluid and fan the flames of the racial divide in America. Their platform is to separate people among race, class, and socioeconomics. The ole’ “Divide and Conquer” strategy. This strategy has been a go-to method to gain sympathizers who believe that they must retain/remain in power in this country. The premise is that wealth and power should not be shared among everyone but be given to a ruling few.

Systematic racial discrimination, better known as institutional racism, stems from the concept that social structures produce inequalities based on racial discrimination. When a person’s attitude of prejudice and bigotry are baked into the operations of cultural institutions. In short, everything that you believe comes from your experiences. If you believe that only a certain group of people deserve to live in good neighborhoods and have superior healthcare advantages, you are buying into the zero-sum game theory.

The zero-sum game theory is at the heart and soul of the divide-and-conquer strategy. This theory believes that one person’s gain is equivalent to another person’s loss, which results in a net change in wealth or benefit of zero. The beauty and flaw of this theory is that no wealth is created or destroyed, and whatever one player wins, the other loses. Studies have concluded that some whites believe that discrimination against them is rising and is more prevalent than racism toward blacks.

This is the type of faulty thinking that ignites white people to think and act in ways that are detrimental to the good of the country and society. This narrow-minded thinking causes economic dysfunction within America. Americans know that race relations are the problem but we do not know how to solve the divide. We have not figured out the right tool to extinguish the wildfire of hate and race. One of the greatest tools at our disposal is as clear as water.

What if we decided to do things differently in America? What if we decided to replace the negative sound bites, tweets, social media, and empty rhetoric with facts and real conversations? I challenge us to be curious about our differences, not distrustful. When was the last time that you engaged in conversations (face to face) with someone who sees the world differently than you do? I think that it is time to speak the truth about racism and this great divide. The wildfire of hate must be extinguished with conversation and understanding.

Let us get curious about why there are housing disparities among people of color and whites. Let us address why there are health gaps among women of color and other races. Let us get curious when someone states untrue facts about immigrants in America. “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart” – Proverb 27:19