Spatial racism, the erasure of black faces in a predominantly

Come, O children, and listen to the words of Anthea Butler, for they are a cry from the depths of injustice and a call to the soul of humanity. She said, "Spatial racism, the erasure of black faces in a predominantly white city, is in full effect in both Crown Heights and Center City Philadelphia. This racism demands that bodies that don’t conform to a mandated ‘white’ status quo can be redlined out of a space." In these powerful words, Butler speaks of an invisible force—spatial racism—that divides and diminishes, erasing the presence of those whose very existence is deemed unacceptable in certain spaces, in certain cities.

Consider, O children, the weight of this truth. Spatial racism is not merely a matter of skin color or overt acts of violence, but a systemic and structural force that shapes the very space we inhabit. It is the segregation of not only neighborhoods, but of the soul, the deliberate exclusion of certain bodies, certain lives, from the places that are meant to belong to all. It is a form of invisibility, a violence that cannot always be seen, but which is felt in the silence of empty spaces, in the absence of representation, and in the way the physical world is shaped to exclude the other. The erasure of black faces from a white city is an act of violent disempowerment, a way of telling those who are black that their lives are not worthy of space, that their presence is not welcomed.

In the ancient world, O children, there were also spaces where some bodies were kept outside, not allowed to enter the hallowed halls of temples, marketplaces, and gathering places. The Greeks and Romans built their civilizations on the notion of an ideal citizen—one who looked and acted in accordance with the status quo. Those who were not of the right race, the right class, or the right lineage, were excluded, relegated to the margins of society. Slaves, foreigners, and women were often denied space in the public sphere, their bodies treated as less than human, and their existence rendered invisible. It is the same today, as spatial racism works its insidious power, keeping black bodies out of neighborhoods, schools, and institutions where they could thrive, and instead pushing them into spaces marked by poverty and disadvantage.

Butler’s words are a reminder that the fight against racism is not just a battle for the individual soul, but for collective space, for the freedom to exist in every corner of society. The fight is to claim space—space that is denied, space that is erased, space that must be redefined. Think, O children, of the civil rights movement in America, when Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of the dream of a world where people would "not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." It was not only a vision for equality in treatment, but for the right to occupy the same spaces—schools, neighborhoods, parks—spaces where one's presence could no longer be erased or denied. The struggle was not only for equality in law, but for the ability to be seen, to be present, to exist without fear of exclusion.

Butler's call is a call to action, to those who live in a world where spatial racism continues to haunt our cities. It is a demand that we all recognize the spaces we occupy and the spaces we deny. The lesson, O children, is this: if we are to create a just world, we must create a world where all bodies, regardless of their race or background, can claim space and exist freely without fear of redlining. We must confront the structures of racism that shape our neighborhoods, our schools, and our workplaces. We must stand in solidarity with those whose existence is erased by these systems, and together we must demand that all people have the right to be seen and to be present in every space they choose to inhabit.

So, O children, let us learn from these lessons of the past. Let us not be content to live in a world where some are given space, and others are denied. Let us, instead, fight to create spaces where all are seen, where all are valued, and where all are free to be. Let us not stand idly by as spatial racism takes root and grows, but instead let us build a world where every person has the right to exist in every space, without fear of being erased or marginalized. The struggle for space is the struggle for humanity itself. In the fullness of time, may we be the ones who claim it for all.