White Politicians - No Shame to Their Game

I was called to cross-racial ministry in predominantly white churches more than 10 years ago.  God’s idea, not mine. One thing I know I will not miss in the coming election-year is the “politico-circuit riders” who will plague black churches.  The browning and blacking of America has made this more necessary with every election. How sad that discretion and discernment go out the window when a non-African American politician feels the need to use the worship hour to beg for black votes in order to get elected to public office.

Soon white politicians, who are seeking coveted black votes, will circle the parking lots, atriums, narthexes, fellowship halls and pulpits of Black churches in the best and worst neighborhoods. Like sales people in the cosmetics section of a department store donning fluffed, fake, dyed or plugged hair, and flashing capped-teeth smiles, they will ask in syrupy sweet tones if you are willing to walk around for the rest of the day harboring some fragrance that may or may not suit your personal chemistry. They spritz you with a dab, and they’re off to the next aisle!

Before moving to the other side of segregated worship, it never occurred to me to be annoyed by the white politicians who shamelessly (and literally) popped their heads into the Sunday services of black churches to campaign. I guess I didn’t know any better, and apparently, neither did our pastors. Now that I’m on the other side, this political parade of pretense, in retrospect, is an abyss of condescension to the black community.   White politicians from every party and ilk, hopefuls from county commissioner and school board on the local level, to those obsessed with getting to the big house in Washington, DC, would show up early or late, but just in time to get their few minutes in the pulpit. I was too young or too chicken or too naïve to question this back then, but a little seminary education can be a dangerous thing. 

In more than 40 years of experiencing these shenanigans, I can only think of one white female public school board campaigner who stayed for an entire service and stood alongside our black pastor following worship to greet us. But come to think of it, she was the exception in every way, and a class act few could follow professionally or otherwise.

The rest of these politicians were never able to stay for the whole worship service. Never. The excuse was always that they had to hit several other churches [in the ‘hood] while the Sunday morning crowd was still captive. Subtext: After they finished promising what they thought we thought was the moon – after-school programs, reduced lunches, cleaner public pools in “our own” neighborhoods, and of course, more, more and more job opportunities targeted for our “communities”, they had to hurry back to the other side of the tracks before we turned back into ordinary black folks again.  And the sub-subtext is: “How convenient that you folks like to spend all day Sunday in church!"

Looking back, I cannot for the life of me understand why our black pastors allowed this.  Of course, the hook was always that “this” candidate, whoever he or she was, promised to be the savior of black and/ or poor folks. The other Savior we would hear about that morning got trumped, just until votes were cast, after which we would never – and I mean never – see these politicians in our church again. Well, maybe if they had gotten elected, and their incumbency was later threatened.  Most of these white politicians would never consider worshiping in a black church, much less having their caskets brought there. That is to say, they literally would not be caught dead in a black church.

Frantically waving carefully manicured hands as they all but sprint up and down the church’s center aisle, strategically shaking hands (mostly with the male deacons) in the congregation as they rush to the next venue is just as pathetic as it is irreverent. And the some of the white female politicians are the worst, often coming across like bad impersonations of Cagney and Lacey (“Rizzoli and Isles” for milennial viewers) like “bad-A”  women who will “kick butt” for single moms and old people, as if that’s all we need.  For the first time in a long time I will not miss being in a black church this coming year.