The Birds of the Air and Racism

Christian Cooper, skilled birder

Look at the birds of the air; 
they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, 
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
 Are you not of more value than they? 

Matthew 6:26

On the same day George Floyd, a person of colour, was murdered by a policeman in Minneapolis, a black man named Christian Cooper was looking for birds in New York City's Central Park. Cooper, an avid birder saw a woman with her dog roaming about in an area where leashes are required. When he asked her to comply with the rules she called 911 and faked an attack by an African-American man, an egregious act of deception which we realize could have led to his arrest or violence. Fortunately the encounter was recorded on phone and the two of them had moved on by the time police arrived.

The video went viral and the white woman was identified as Amy Cooper (definitely not related!) a Canadian living and working in NYC. She eventually issued an apology, insisting though that she is not a racist and lamenting that her life has been ruined. She has been fired from her job and who knows what sort of abuse she's received for her tantrum. 

Christian Cooper has not dismissed her apology and says that he didn't want her life to be upended, which is gracious on his part. 

This miserable incident brought to mind a thoughtful book by Drew Lanham called The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature. Lanham grew up in the American South and as I recall had a Baptist upbringing which he experienced as harsh and judgmental. He found what we might describe as spiritual meaning in the natural world, This eventually led to his vocation as a professor of ecology and wildlife. 



In articles, both in the past and presently, and in the book, Lanham writes about the challenges and potential perils of "birding while black" , a variation on "driving while black."  Sadly, people of colour are much more mindful about being out at dusk and dawn, and any time, really, while pursuing what should be a low-risk pastime or opportunity for research. 

https://orionmagazine.org/article/9-rules-for-the-black-birdwatcher/

These are powerful reminders to all of us Groundlings of the insidious injustice of racism in virtually every sphere of life. I will uphold the truth that I follow a brown-skinned Palestinian man who encouraged us to consider the birds of the air as we address the anxieties of daily life. 

This is Black Birders Week, bye the way, a statement of freedom to delight in the wonder of the avian world.