en en en en en en en en en es en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en es en en en en en en en en en en ru en en en en en en en fr en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en es en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en fr en en fr en en en en en nl en en en en en en en en en en en en en de en sv en en de en en en en en de en en it en en en en en en en en en en en en
By Frank Brennan | United States
Martin Luther King's birthday on Jan. 19 is a public holiday here in the USA. This year it was a much more political affair than it has been in recent years. The spate of police killings of young African American men such as occurred at Ferguson caused the whole country to take pause, wondering what is happening in race relations.
Last Saturday marked the 50th anniversary of the first of the voting right marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. Ultimately King led those marchers to Montgomery, the state capital, seeking the franchise for all Americans.
The movie Selma was launched over the long weekend of the King birthday holiday. It's a great study in race relations even though it is marred by a too simplistic condemnation of President Lyndon B Johnson who was doing all he could to secure the changes through Congress. The change required action both by King and Johnson. It is often that way.
On the Boston College campus, faculty and students gathered to talk about race in modern America. They held a wonderful celebration of song, dance and stirring evangelical rhetoric led by the Rev. Brandon Crowley, pastor of Myrtle Baptist Church. That stirring black Baptist preaching was a change from the usual Jesuit preaching on the campus.
The celebration was called "Wade in the Water," the title of one of the old negro spiritual hymns which draws on the Old Testament Exodus theme of crossing the sea to freedom, as well as the scene in John's gospel at the pool of the Sheep Gate: "From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had."
I had the opportunity to visit the grand monument to King in Washington D.C. earlier in my stay, when the weather was kinder. I also stood at the spot in front of the Lincoln Memorial where King delivered his "I have a dream" speech in August 1963. Each time I have called King to mind, I have remembered his letter to the white clergy he sent from Birmingham Jail earlier in 1963. I have been challenged and inspired by his observations about the role and stance of the "white moderate." He wrote to his white fellow clergy:
I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace, which is the absence of tension, to a positive peace, which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time; and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
Being a white moderate, his challenge has stayed with me.
On Saturday, black Congressman John Lewis, who led the first of the bloody Selma marches, had the honor of standing on the bridge and introducing the black president Barak Obama who walked the bridge with his wife Michelle, daughters Malia and Sasha, in company with his predecessor George W. Bush and wife Laura. Obama spoke with great religious and nationalist fervor. Recalling the bloody events of 50 years ago, he said, "It was not a clash of armies, but a clash of wills."
Lewis and his fellow marchers "kept marching toward justice." The marchers singing their gospel songs were Christian and Jew, black and white, young and old. Obama acknowledged the presence in the crowd of the white journalist Bill Plante who had covered the march 50 years ago writing the observation, "The growing number of white people lowered the quality of the singing."
Obama surmised, "To those who marched though, those gospel songs must never have sounded so sweet" and eventually "their chorus would reach President Johnson." Change did come but "many in power condemned rather than praised them." They were called everything "but the names their parents gave them. Their faith was questioned. Their lives were threatened. Their patriotism was challenged."
To those who think there is no longer a race problem in the United States, Obama said, "Ferguson is not just an isolated incident." To those who think there has been no change, he said that incidents like Ferguson are "no longer endemic, or sanctioned by law and custom." Obama put the challenge, "We know the march is not yet over" and he provided the hope: "laws can be passed, and consciences can be stirred, and consensus can be built."
Good race relations still has a long way to go in the United States; so too in Australia. The police thin blue line is often a good place to start when reflecting on the issue. Aboriginal imprisonment rates in Australia are still a national disgrace. They are worse than when the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody was convened.
We Australians also need to wade in the water. We need the cooperation of the Johnsons and the Kings. All parties need to be at the table, listening respectfully before committing to joint action. That's the way you close gaps and work toward constitutional recognition. It's not just an American thing: it's democracy.
Frank Brennan SJ, professor of law at Australian Catholic University, is presently Gasson professor at the Boston College Law School.
Get the latest from La Croix International. Sign up to receive our daily newsletter.
You may also like
Vatican female staff doubles in 10 years
German initiative documents 'new martyrs'
Catholic bishops target presidents in Burundi, Ghana
Fair trade helps farmers overcome poverty
SUPPORT LA CROIX INTERNATIONAL’S COMMUNITY OF READERS
Support La Croix International's unique blend of international Catholic journalism by making it available to people in Asia and Africa who can't afford a subscription and often don't have credit cards to pay for it either.
Will Italy’s elections hurt Francis?
"The voice of Italy’s bishops has almost disappeared from the public square"
Church on the sidelines in Italian election campaign
Pope Francis will visit Hungary in 2023, according to country's president
A good Catholic meddles in politics
Why Pope Francis did not attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral
Celebrating gay relationships in church is actually quite Catholic
The elderly pope's patience is put to the test
Elizabeth II, the “last Christian monarch”, has died
A challenge for Europe
Shaking up the economy
Peace, our common good
For 70 years she “was” the United Kingdom
Cooperation rather than competition
The elderly pope's patience is put to the test
Francis continues his push for a humbler, more open Church
The pope and the praying menace
What was the August meeting of cardinals really about?
Is Christian hospitality enough?
"What fraternity does assisted suicide build?"
Live, learn, forget, repeat
When timing is paramount
The pandemic, Christian faith and the perils of kids living in the digital world
"It’s been powerful to watch people enunciate a theology of care for creation"
Laudato si’ guides Indian archdiocese to help fisherfolk
Brazilian bishops stand up for the Yanomami people
The Gaia Man, James Lovelock
Pope calls for a new relationship with God, others and Creation
| Catholic Digest | UCAN | Living in faith | La Croix Africa | La Croix español
About Us | Contact Us| Newsletter Sign-up| Donate| Terms and Conditions| FAQ| La Croix| Confidentiality Policy| Sitemap