The Other Side of the River: Chapter 9 - The Dentist

Friends have been asking, “what have you been reading lately?” I hate this question, as it reminds me of how little I have been reading, lately. I have set aside Other Side of the River and three other books aside (Missional Church in Perspective; Eugene Peterson’s, The Pastor, and my dissertation) for several weeks, and most of my time has been devoted to managing projects that leave little time to read and reflect. On Labor Day, my wife has gifted me with some alone time to read and remember where my mind enjoys spending time.

The Dentist is the story of a white dentist, named Burton Weisberg, who has roots in Brooklyn, is Jewish, and fully supports the NRA – he owns several guns. He has a dental office on the edge of Benton Harbor, which means he is geographically in St. Joseph Township, but his mailing address is Benton Harbor. (This location issue is common the shores of Lake Michigan, which makes “google maps” difficult and contracting with utilities almost impossible). For Weisberg, the Dentist, his location issues became his excuse for the inability to sell his dental practice.

Weisberg enters the story because he is an advocate for Marv Fiedler, the cop who shot an unarmed black kid.  Fielder is removed from the police force, and Weisberg and other white St. Joe residents raised funds to pay Fiedler’s attorney fees.

Diminishing Race

Twice in his chapter Weisberg says, “it’s not a matter of race…” to which he then says, “…yet Benton Harbor has the highest crime rate in the state;” and “…I think it is a socioeconomic situation.”

Why is it that crime and economy are respectively higher and lower in non-white/non-dominant culture communities in our country and around the world? Maybe this is a dumb question, or Maybe it is variable coincidence. When I travel around the world, not merely in the US, the darker the skin the less opportunity, or at least the greater the obstacles to opportunity. It is true in at least Thailand, India, and the US. I am amazed at how sub-populations of lighter skin can create and join systems and structures that cripple other persons, who share common citizenship and even, common ethnicities (as is the case in India). I am also amazed at the power of human rationality to ignore racialization and blame other factors such as socio-economics (as if money is an objective phenomenon) for the reason why some communities cannot seem to reduce crime, improve education, and increase economic viability. When race becomes so clearly the defining marker, it appears that most of us can diminish race as a variable altogether. The power of the mind to deceive is quite incredible (TED.com - Deceit).

Oppressing through Humiliation

At one point in the book, Weisberg says he wants to close his dental practice because of insurance paperwork, but also because of the risk of HIV. Recently, he has pricked his finger inside someone’s bleeding mouth. He sent the patient to be tested for HIV (At Weisberg’s expense). Though Kolowitz does not label the patient’s race, the tone of Weisberg and his racism infers to the reader that the patient was black. This becomes an act of humiliation, which is a constant bug in the power of systems – if one group can humiliate another, then the humiliated group embodies their humiliation and believes it as a matter of fact within daily life. (I think part of Jesus calling us friends in john 20 is an invitation to seek the humanity of one another (across race, class, and gender) as not to perpetuate systems that oppress through humiliation).

Additional Reading: