The Poison Tree
Liquid Acrylic and Oil on Claybord
In 2017, after watching the movie 13th and being stirred with sadness and anger through learning more about the systemic racism in our justice and political system, I spent time in lament and prayer.
Ok - let's be honest - first, I started cleaning the house frantically. I didn't know what to do with my sadness, my anger, my sense of helplessness. As a white woman, I had the choice on whether or not to enter that pain - that's part of my privilege. So I chose to ignore it and try to control what little I felt I had control over in the moment - the sauce stains on my counter.
God gently tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Bette, stop what you're doing and lament." Hesitantly, I stopped and brought my restlessness and helplessness to God. I asked God what He wanted me to see, what He wanted me to know about how He sees things. In my mind, I saw a picture of this tree that had been cut down, but its roots were still under the surface and new shoots were popping up - spreading further and wider than the first tree, but seemingly unnoticeable at first.
I was confused by the image, because usually I see trees as a good thing - something that brings life. But there was something ugly and dangerous about this tree. I did a little research and found that there is a tree, native to southern US called the Manchineel.
It is one of the most dangerous trees in the world, because its fruit and leaves resemble an apple tree, but it is poisonous. All parts of the tree contain toxins and is fatal to any who eat its fruit.
I felt like God was showing me a picture of racism in America, and He wanted me to paint it. Many believe that we have "cut down the tree" of racism through the Civil Rights Movement, but the reality is that the root system still exists under the surface, and new sprouts spring up from it every day in white supremacy. I have heard about them in the stories of my friends of color who have seen the shoots all their lives.
They grow on sidewalks on campuses, in their front yard, in their cars and driveways. They grow under their very feet and are choking the life out of them. It's just that now they have grown enough that they are making the news, and white people are beginning to see them. See this diagram about overt and covert expressions of white supremacy.
We (the white community) have laid down our ax as though the work is finished, but it is far from complete. We are beginning to see that now. We are beginning to realize that it will take something greater than an ax to uproot what grows under the soil in the U.S. and perpetuates the problem of race in both the spiritual and natural realms.
Lord, uproot racism in America. Help us to listen. Help us to yield in repentance where we need repentance. Help us to look closely to see the shoots in our own hearts and in the world that are a part of something much bigger - a poisonous system of white supremacy that continues to grow rapidly without vigorous, tenacious attention.
Further Backstory and Civil Righteouness
A few months before this piece was created, my friend Tami Flick was organizing a conference called Civil Righteousness in Kalamazoo. She told me that in times of revival and spiritual renewal, God often raises up artists to create work that prophetically speaks into this moment. She longed for artistic representation of God’s hand at work in racial reconciliation for the upcoming conference that was happening in a month. She asked if I had ever created such a piece on the topic of racial justice. I told her, “No, and that’s not the kind of thing I could ever create on my own. The Lord would have to give me a vision…and make the time for me to create it!”
But a few weeks later, I watched the film 13th and in my lament, God gave me this image. I told Him if He wanted me to paint it - He would need to make a way. My oldest, Isaiah, at the time was a newborn and I had very little free time. But, somehow miraculously in less than a month, in the midst of brief infant naps and late nights and Saturdays, God allowed this piece to unfold.
When it was shared at the conference, Jonathan Tremaine Thomas, the leader and speaker at the conference gasped when he saw it. He had titled one of his initiatives “uprooted” and this image perfectly captured what He longed for God to do through his ministry. So he bought it and has used it as a conversation piece as he speaks about God’s work to uproot the poisonous roots of racism and white supremacy in our world.
Civil Righteousness is a ministry that pursues racial reconciliation and restorative justice internationally. They are one of the ministries I have looked to for wisdom, prayer, teaching, and spiritual leadership during this incredibly tumultuous time in our country. To learn more about this incredible ministry, go here.
