“Generosity is insufficient. The real goal of giving should be justice.”
Darren Walker is president of The Ford Foundation. He oversees grants worth $500 million annually. His career took him from New York attorney to Wall Street banker to Harlem community development prior to his work with The Ford Foundation.
In a wonderful interview, Walker explained the shift in focus of his $14 billion endowment’s grants.
Since 2013 every grant has, as its mission, fighting inequality in all its forms. According to Walker, “Inequality is the greatest harm to our democracy because inequality asphyxiates hope.”
In one powerful moment, Walker was asked to clarify the difference between generosity and justice.
“Generosity actually is more about the donor. So when you give money to help a homeless person, you feel good. Justice is a deeper engagement where you are actually asking, ‘What are the systemic reasons that put people out onto the streets?’”
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I have to admit – I’m challenged by Walker’s example. Jesus was crystal clear about His call to care for victims of injustice, so of course we must do all we can to support the kids at the HOME OF HOPE.
But I no longer believe sending money is enough.
We can learn a lesson from the familiar story in which Jesus flipped the tables in the temple. In the very next verse:
“The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them.“
Flipping tables isn’t about anger or punishment. It’s about justice, about granting access to everyone.
Upending the status quo of inequality and injustice isn’t easy or comfortable. It is what we’re asked to do.
We are called to flip the tables of injustice.
“We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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I recommend taking 15 minutes to listen to Walker’s interview.