Does racism have any place in your life? We all like to think not, but there’s probably a grain of it in all of us, fed by stereotypes that, tragically, the mindless few help to reinforce. Anyone whose life was so cruelly turned upside down by the Manchester Arena bombing will find it hard, despite their best intentions, not to feel threatened by Muslim extremism, and years ago, not long after a similar bombing in London, I couldn’t help feeling just a shade uneasy in an underground train with three Asian youths sitting nearby. That, of course, said more about me than them, and – as the following reflective prayer from my book Touched By His Hand reminds us – presents a challenge to us all constantly to examine our prejudices and recognise them for what they are.
The Muslim
He sat in the tube train,
aware of the eyes turned on him –
inquisitive eyes, intrigued by his appearance,
suspicious eyes, fearful of some hidden agenda,
hostile eyes, resentful at his presence –
so many eyes failing to see behind the labels
or below the surface
to the person underneath.
Forgive me, Lord, for the way I too pigeonhole people,
unconsciously absorbing the prejudices of society
even as I resist them,
shaped by fears and preconceptions I’m not even aware of,
hiding behind generalisations that say more about me than others.
Open my eyes to see people as they are,
rather than as I construe them to be.
Amen.