In history the Jews have been the scapegoats of European culture, the gypsies too and that is still going on, worse than ever. I suppose there are similar groups of scapegoated peoples in Asia but I don't know who they are. All of these groups have their leaders who enable them to maintain their dignity in the face of awful oppression, and ML King is one of the heroes of the African-American people in 20th century U.S., but more than that of course, because he and his nonviolent tactics and his philosophy are universally admired by intelligent people everywhere. I say "intelligent" people deliberately, because racism is simple and blatant stupidity. Some racism is vicious and monstrous, but all racism is stupid. If Albert Einstein was racist, we'd have to conclude that he was stupid too and so is his entire theory of relativity.
Near the beginning of my ministry I was fortunate to be appointed to a UMC in St Albans Queens which was an all-white neighborhood with black families moving in. We built a strong church which became predominantly black as the white people moved out. That was when I first sang "Lift Every Voice and Sing" and the congregation immediately stood up and I learned later that this song was regarded as the national anthem of black people. That's when I discovered that black people lived in another world than mine, another consciousness. Fortunately we made good friends, and when I left 6 years later I was regarded as a "Member."
Why do we need a hero and a martyr like MLK?
The Blizzard of '96 piled the streets with snow and we learned once again that snow-removal is to the Mayor as foreign aid is to the President. I was talking yesterday to the Assemblyman's aide whose district includes Red Hook. Red Hook got less snow removed than the rest of the city. There were 3 bus lines still not operating on Thursday, and 2 of them ran through Bed-Stuy, the heart of Brooklyn; some of the Brooklyn snow-plows were sent to Staten Island which pushed the Mayor over the top in the last election. Now it also happens that a large percentage of prisoners in our state prisons come from these central Brooklyn neighborhoods. Snow on the street is not going to turn a youngster to crime, but just take no-bus-transportation-and-plows-going-to-SI as a metaphor for how these black neighborhoods are regarded generally by our society. The kids, unfortunately, suffer the consequences.
Last Sunday one of our members gave me this book, AMAZING GRACE by Jonathan Kozol, about children in the Bronx. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but Barbara Ehrenreich writes a marvelous passage on the cover:
No viable human society condemns its children to death. Yet, through public policy and private indifference, we have guaranteed that our poor, inner-city children will lead lives stunted by heartbreak, violence, and disease. Kozol reminds us that, with each casualty, part of the beauty of the world is extinguished, because these are children of intelligence and humor, of poetic insight and luminous faith. AMAZING GRACE is written in a gentle and measured tone, but you will wonder at the end, with Kozol, why the God of love does not return to earth with his avenging sword in hand.
Well, to digress theologically for a moment, the question about God is not why doesn't he come down from heaven with a sword. God is here already. That's what the name Emmanual given to the baby Jesus means: "God is with us."
The question is this: How can we mere mortals comfort God when She weeps for these little ones who are growing up in the Bronx? But we know the answer, don't we? We comfort God by doing our best to comfort the little children themselves.
Why do we need a hero and a martyr like MLK?
In the last issue of our new Brooklyn magazine, Brooklyn Bridge, there's an article called "Morgue Boys." It's about some crooked cops in Brooklyn's 73rd precinct in Brownsville, who were charged with making false arrests, illegal searches, stealing cash, guns and drugs from drug-dealers and innocent civilians. Three men were brought to trial and five other policemen confessed to being involved in the corruption and those 5 testified against the 3. The jury chose to believe the 3 who were accused over the 5 who confessed. The case was closed but the puzzle is, why wasn't there any general outrage over the verdict -- like we're still hearing outrage over the OJ Simpson verdict? This is the explanation of Ronald Ward, head of a group of housing tenants' organizations in Brownsville: "There are no powerful people in Brownsville to complain. And frankly, we've grown not to expect too much from the criminal justice system when they try whites for committing crimes against blacks."
How does it feel? I'm not the one to say, really, which is why I have put the notice in the bulletin for testimonies from non-white members in our church. But I can guess, and I would start with the word "embattled," which means to be prepared for battle. I would imagine that relaxation is a rare and wonderful experience for blacks in this society. Other words that are close to embattled are these: beleaguered, stressed, worried, besieged, and tormented.
It took someone of the stature of MLK to wake up the white world to the horrors of racism. Racism is not only stupid, it is destructive of others and also self-destructive. Unfortunately the effect of racism is not immediate and obvious. If only people would lose 10% of their assets every time they committed a racist deed, then they might learn. But the damage done by racism to the perpetrator is spiritual and harder to feel or detect.
I have an ongoing argument with a friend about the OJ Simpson verdict. I can understand quite well why a black person may have gotten some measure of satisfaction out of the not-guilty verdict. After thinking about it, I myself felt that way. The history of black-white relations in this culture is the story of white violence being ignored, condoned, encouraged, and if it ended up in court, acquitted. When Mark Fuhrman was shown to be the blatant racist he is -- the kind of policeman who would harass and arrest blacks simply on the basis of their color -- then the trial changed character. The conviction of OJSimpson would mean the acquittal, in principle, of Mark Fuhrman; and the acquittal of OJSimpson would mean, in principle, the conviction of Mark Fuhrman. Who is the greater criminal? One black playboy who killed 2 white people? Or one racist white man who symbolizes all of the unfair cruelty imposed upon black people for centuries on this continent? I myself thought: "Well now we white people know what it feels like. But will we learn the lesson?"
The beauty of MLK as an orator, as a thinker and philosopher, as a strategist, as preacher and prophet, puts to the lie every racist thought, every prejudiced sentiment, and every act of discrimination that exists against blacks now and forever hereafter. My 6 years in St Albans made a permanent mark on my soul. That was where I learned to love, respect, and admire black people, black history, and black culture. Racists are just plain stupid.
Poem on wall in Brooklyn:
i have survived
the crossing, the whip,
the strikes to the spirit,
the stabs to the soul
but I see a new horizon
its edges streaked with gold
I see my life, my seed
my grandchildren
grown ripe and old
Amen.