Back in early December there was a bit of a media frenzy over a tweet posted by the Republican National Convention. The tweet said, "Today we remember Rosa Parks' bold stand and her role in ending racism." The problem with that statement is that it seems to say that racism is over when it most certainly isn't. Now I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt so when I read that it just seemed to me that somebody made a poor choice in words. My guess is that the person who posted that for the RNC meant to say something like "her role in the fight against racism." That would have been better, clearer wording and there wouldn't have been an issue. It was probably written by someone who never thought they'd need to pay attention in English classes. So maybe (I think probably) the person representing the RNC didn't mean it that way. But the very fact that there was such a backlash over it shows that racism is not over and that there are wounds that have yet to heal. For the purpose of transparency, you should know that I'm not a Republican or a Democrat.
Something else that happened in the media that caused a firestorm back in December is that Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty made some comments in a magazine interview that upset the GLBT community and their supporters (which includes me) and also upset a lot of African American folks. The comments about homosexuality got all the press because that is the hot button issue right now but his comments about the pre-Civil Rights African American experience were incredibly ill advised. He said:
“I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person," Robertson is quoted in GQ. "Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I’m with the blacks, because we’re white trash. We’re going across the field.... They’re singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, ‘I tell you what: These doggone white people’—not a word!... Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues.”
I think the key words there are "with my eyes." I think Mr. Robertson committed the error of universalizing his experience. We do this all the time when we say things like, "I made something of myself so everybody can." Well, that's not necessarily true. This can also be done when someone thinks something like this: "Phil Robertson shows that Christians are anti-gay." That's not true either. Some Christians are anti-gay, but others aren't. I know a lot of Christians who aren't anti-gay. Anyway, Phil Robertson's comments made some African American folks mad because his words universalize the experience of their forebears from a limited outside perspective. Here is what the Human Rights Campaign and the NAACP said in a joint letter:
"We want to be clear why Phil Robertson’s remarks are not just dangerous but also inaccurate. Mr. Robertson claims that, from what he saw, African Americans were happier under Jim Crow. What he didn’t see were lynching and beatings of black men and women for attempting to vote or simply walking down the street. And his offensive claims about gay people fly in the face of science. In fact, it’s important to note that every single leading medical organization in the country has said that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being [lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender] -- it’s not a choice, and to suggest otherwise is dangerous."
Again, for full disclosure I should tell you that, while I do not share Mr. Robertson's views on these issues, I am a fan and viewer of Duck Dynasty. I have never laughed harder than when Phil and Uncle Si did career day at Willie's kids' school. I laughed so hard I was sore. Also, when Uncle Si was a wise man in the church Christmas pageant and presented the baby Jesus with the gift of "Franken Scent" while drinking iced tea from a goblet I nearly peed my pants. I love the show. However, I think he said some hurtful things that not only offended people but reflected badly upon his employer (A&E). When he was suspended (which I think they gave in already anyway) people claimed it was a violation of freedom of speech. To make that claim shows a misunderstanding of what the First Amendment is about. Freedom of speech means that our laws can't limit our freedom to express our views. It doesn't mean that employers can't discipline an employee for saying certain things. Try calling the CEO of your company a racial slur or the back end of a donkey and see where freedom of speech gets you. Try doing the same to a federal judge and then claim that you can't be disciplined. If I stood in the pulpit on Sunday and said, "Jesus was a fraud!" would the First Amendment mean that the church couldn't or shouldn't fire me? That's ridiculous. I remember my cousin having his mouth washed out with soap when I was a kid. He should have just appealed to the first amendment. We are free to say what we please but there are still consequences for our actions within that freedom.
All this is to say that we are not yet to Dr. Martin Luther King's dream of the beloved community in which people will live at peace with one another and respect and even celebrate diversity. If you still don't believe me I can give you two examples on a more local level.
Just two months ago I was having a conversation with a person who lives here in Washington Court House. This person made a few derogatory comments about President Obama because of his race and then said, "I'm not racist but, white people and black people shouldn't be allowed to marry. The reason I say that is because it's cruel to the kids. If something happens to the parents nobody's going to want those kids." I couldn't believe what I was hearing in 2014 in Ohio, the land of the Underground Railroad. My response was, "I would want those kids. By the way, you're talking about my own niece and nephew and I don't appreciate that. Christians aren't allowed to think that way and be faithful to Christ." His response was, "Black people feel this way too." Oh really? All of them? This person had committed Phil Robertson's sin of universalizing about something he doesn't know anything about.
Finally, a couple of weeks ago when we came to the church building on Sunday morning there was a flyer sticking out of the door. When we opened it up we couldn't believe who it was from. It was from the KKK trying to gather people together for a meeting to start up a chapter here in Fayette County. That evening as I walked my dog through downtown I pulled the KKK flyers off the doors of as many businesses as I could. The KKK? Really?
When you encounter racism or sexism or homophobia take a stand against it, not because you're politically correct but because you're a disciple of Jesus Christ. As Dr. King said, "He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it."
May we all celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. not just with ceremonies but by loving and living in peace with others regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, and so on and so forth. May we do this in the name of the same Lord and Savior that Dr. King served, the lover of the outcast and the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.
In Christ,
Everett
