In a workshop we conducted in Kajo Keji in May, Tracey, who is British, volunteered to be the first one to confess the wrongs done by her people to South Sudanese during our Standing in the Gap session. Kneeling on the ground in front of the participants, she acknowledged that the actions done by her ancestors during the ‘scramble for Africa’, the slave trade, and colonization were harmful and selfish. She said “I know that colonizing Sudan and South Sudan was terribly wrong, and that our attitude of superiority disrespected and hurt the South Sudanese people. We imposed our government and demands on you, and people are still suffering today as a result of the wrongs during colonization. I am so sorry that this happened and for the ways that you were hurt. Will you forgive us?”
As she spoke, I watched heads nodding and faces fight back tears as they heard this truth spoken. When she finished, the local pastor came up to Tracey. “What you said is right,” he said, “And there is more. The British handed us over to the Arab government at independence, who oppressed us and deprived us of justice. And it was the British who introduced guns to our people, which are now killing so many people in our communities. Before the British came, we were just using bows and arrows, which did not kill so many people. But we forgive you. We forgive you.” Pastor Edward then embraced Tracey and thanked her for her confession. I could tell by his response that this confession was meaningful and needed, because of the hidden wounds that many people had and resentment towards Europeans for colonization and exploitation.
Pastor Edward’s additions struck me—they are things I would
not have thought of. I have heard more than once someone in South Sudan lament
the invention of guns or the fact that guns were brought to their country.
South Sudan is a country where attacks and killing happen regularly, carried
out by civilians who have guns. There are many factors, of course, that
precipitate these killings, but it is notable that one thing people lament and blame is the import of guns.
After Tracey’s confession, several others followed. One of
our facilitators who comes from the Dinka tribe acknowledged that there had
been many people killed or attacked by Dinka people in this region of Kajo
Keji. The participants were really moved by his confession, and one woman said
later that she never thought she could see a Dinka person confessing to these
wrongs. Other participants acknowledged the wrongs done by youth in their
community, or by one community to another.
When Jesus died on the cross, he took on himself the weight
of our sins and our pain…but sometimes it is so hard to forgive ourselves and
each other. Being vulnerable and honest – that opens the door for God to bring
forgiveness and healing. Not automatically, not always. But it helps all of us
to recognize our interconnectedness and lean into God for healing. Bryan
Stevenson, the author of Just Mercy, emphasizes that facing the past is a key
to healing in the present. “We cannot heal the deep wounds inflicted during the
era of racial terrorism until we tell the truth about it,” he says.
Taking our pain to the cross in Kajo Keji
Bryan Stevenson quote from: https://www.facinghistory.org/holocaust-and-human-behavior/chapter-12/acknowledging-past-shape-present
