Lee Daniel’s new film, “The Butler,” with its masterful performance by Forest Whitaker, is a powerful and timely reminder of America’s all-too-recent struggle for civil rights and what it meant in the everyday lives of black Americans. Inspired by the life of Eugene Allen, a butler who served seven US presidents, the movie also captures the generational stress inherent in any social revolution. We see the all-black staff serving the White House dinner table while black and white students – including the Butler’s son – are insulted, spat on, and beaten during a sit-in at Woolworth’s lunch counter.
Building an inclusive democracy is a long and difficult work. It may involve protests and civil disobedience, but it also needs people like Eugene Allen who are simply willing to go to work every day and be excellent at what they do. It also requires intelligent strategies, coalition building, and careful, unglamorous efforts to address specific policy issues.
The story of the neighborhood where my family has lived for more than thirty years is a testament to this kind of steady, persistent process of relationship-building and targeted action.
Known as the Carillon, it was one of the first Richmond neighborhoods to experience desegregation and today it is notable for the diversity of race and income levels among its residents. Drawing on numerous interviews and historical documents, long-time resident Dr. Elizabeth O’Leary has researched and published a fascinating history, going back to the days when slaves worked the fields here.
The Carillon Civic Association (CCA) was formed in 1968, one year after the first African Americans moved into the previously all-white neighborhood. Its first goal was to counter the scare tactics of real estate agents who were encouraging nervous whites to sell and move out.
Harold Marsh, an African American lawyer whose brother was to become Richmond’s first black mayor, had recently bought a house in the Carillon. He took part in the early CCA organizational meetings which, as O’Leary reports, sometimes ran from 8 pm to 1:30 am. A white resident recalls, “Harold led the way in teaching us what it was like to be a black man in Richmond. We were young then and full of energy, and we thought we could make a difference in a city of segregated neighborhoods.”
Beyond becoming good neighbors the CCA leadership was serious about changing discriminatory policies. They filed complaints and contacted the U.S. Justice Department about dual, race-based listing of housing ads in the Richmond newspapers. By the summer of 1971, this system had ended. CCA activists were also prominent in founding Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME), which is dedicated to fair housing, to changing attitudes about integration, advising potential homeowners, and enforcing the law.
An “Arts in the Park” festival was launched in 1972 as a collaborative neighborhood project. Today it draws well over 100,000 visitors to see the work of 450 artists from all over the United States. Fees paid by the artists generate significant funds for the CCA which has made grants to more than 130 organizations in the city.
“Hard work,” writes O’Leary, is a phrase frequently used by CCA members in describing efforts over the years to stabilize the neighborhood and bring about policy changes.
Which brings me back to the “The Butler” and the unmatched example of grace and courage shown by African Americans in working for peaceful and sustainable change in the face of state-sanctioned violence and persistent discrimination. In the words of one of the Freedom Riders whose bus was burned by a white mob, “Our only weapon is love.” It is a model for those who are impatient for justice in many parts of the world, including those now crowding the squares of Cairo.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Move beyond stereotyping to honest dialogue
I welcome occasional guest blogs. This week’s blog comes from Juliet Henderson, a high school teacher from Connecticut. She is currently on sabbatical in Spain with her wife and two children, aged nine and seven.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Martin Luther King, Jr.
I have a dream that my two little girls will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by whom they love or whom they worship but by the content of their character. I have listened for years to conservative Christians making sweeping generalizations about “the homosexuals.” In return, I hear many non-straight people talk about the “intolerant Christians” and the harm that organized religion causes around the world.
Organized religion does not have to be practiced by all, and no one should be forced to marry, but everyone should be afforded the right to these practices. The danger comes when one group of people tries to legislate against another.
For many, the joy after the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was declared unconstitutional was palpable: smiling faces, eyes bright with the promise of full recognition under the law and all families on equal footing. Facebook was lit with red equal signs. The annual Gay Pride Parade in New York City, while always joyful, had an extra feel of love, support, enthusiasm, optimism and happiness. The cheers of onlookers communicated a sense of community and camaraderie. No longer just marchers and spectators, everyone was part of the same family.
Gay couples gained over 1100 rights that they were previously denied in their unions. But the joy has not been felt by all. Mike Huckabee felt in touch enough with God to declare that “Jesus wept” after hearing the decision (it was pointed out on Twitter that perhaps those tears were tears of joy.) Others, such as Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), believes “society itself is at risk and cannot continue.”
The sweeping generalizations made by those who oppose marriage equality are ludicrous and completely out of touch with reality. To generalize that “the homosexuals” are bringing down society as we know it is bestowing upon the gay community a power that does not exist. I can say with complete certainty that my marriage has not threatened or damaged anyone else’s and that my children’s mere existence has not damaged the "American family."
Major political and religious figures worldwide are coming out in favor of marriage equality and rights for all. Desmond Tutu was recently quoted saying that he would not worship a homophobic god, and Pope Francis stated that he does not judge gay people. Many nations around the world recognize marriage between same sex partners, most recently Brazil, New Zealand and France.
Inevitably, the political climate regarding gender and sexuality diversity is changing. The tides are turning as more and more people are realizing that marriage equality is a major civil rights movement of our time. Once marriage equality is achieved perhaps it will be easier to address other differences. People of diverse religions and sexualities will work together to address such challenges as poverty and mass incarceration in our country, without being judged on their god or whom they love.
Labels to assign a small group of characteristics to a group of people are harmful. To label all gays as “bad" or to say being gay is antithetical to being a “good Christian” is tantamount to equating all Christians with the Westboro Baptist Church which propagates hate, or all Muslims with jihadists. They are inaccurate stereotypes that divide and damage. No sole group of people has a monopoly on the basic human tenets of respect and faithfulness and no group has a more moral high ground on which to speak about sexual exploitation and abuse. Selflessness, love, purity and honesty are characteristics that are held (or not) by individuals, not groups.
In order to create trust and foster respect, people of different beliefs need to stop generalizing and start getting to know individuals. We should all be judged on the content of our character, not on our sexuality or on our religion. There are fine Christians who are loving and respectful of differences, just as there are gays and lesbians who are caring and believe profoundly in God.
Initiatives of Change, through its Hope in the Cities program, has a model for inclusive and honest conversation on race relations. I would like to explore how this same process might be used to heal the damage and rift between the gays (or anyone not straight – bi, queer, trans, etc) and some Christians. We need honest conversation, personal responsibility, and acts of reconciliation.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Martin Luther King, Jr.
I have a dream that my two little girls will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by whom they love or whom they worship but by the content of their character. I have listened for years to conservative Christians making sweeping generalizations about “the homosexuals.” In return, I hear many non-straight people talk about the “intolerant Christians” and the harm that organized religion causes around the world.
Organized religion does not have to be practiced by all, and no one should be forced to marry, but everyone should be afforded the right to these practices. The danger comes when one group of people tries to legislate against another.
For many, the joy after the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was declared unconstitutional was palpable: smiling faces, eyes bright with the promise of full recognition under the law and all families on equal footing. Facebook was lit with red equal signs. The annual Gay Pride Parade in New York City, while always joyful, had an extra feel of love, support, enthusiasm, optimism and happiness. The cheers of onlookers communicated a sense of community and camaraderie. No longer just marchers and spectators, everyone was part of the same family.
Gay couples gained over 1100 rights that they were previously denied in their unions. But the joy has not been felt by all. Mike Huckabee felt in touch enough with God to declare that “Jesus wept” after hearing the decision (it was pointed out on Twitter that perhaps those tears were tears of joy.) Others, such as Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), believes “society itself is at risk and cannot continue.”
The sweeping generalizations made by those who oppose marriage equality are ludicrous and completely out of touch with reality. To generalize that “the homosexuals” are bringing down society as we know it is bestowing upon the gay community a power that does not exist. I can say with complete certainty that my marriage has not threatened or damaged anyone else’s and that my children’s mere existence has not damaged the "American family."
Major political and religious figures worldwide are coming out in favor of marriage equality and rights for all. Desmond Tutu was recently quoted saying that he would not worship a homophobic god, and Pope Francis stated that he does not judge gay people. Many nations around the world recognize marriage between same sex partners, most recently Brazil, New Zealand and France.
Inevitably, the political climate regarding gender and sexuality diversity is changing. The tides are turning as more and more people are realizing that marriage equality is a major civil rights movement of our time. Once marriage equality is achieved perhaps it will be easier to address other differences. People of diverse religions and sexualities will work together to address such challenges as poverty and mass incarceration in our country, without being judged on their god or whom they love.
Labels to assign a small group of characteristics to a group of people are harmful. To label all gays as “bad" or to say being gay is antithetical to being a “good Christian” is tantamount to equating all Christians with the Westboro Baptist Church which propagates hate, or all Muslims with jihadists. They are inaccurate stereotypes that divide and damage. No sole group of people has a monopoly on the basic human tenets of respect and faithfulness and no group has a more moral high ground on which to speak about sexual exploitation and abuse. Selflessness, love, purity and honesty are characteristics that are held (or not) by individuals, not groups.
In order to create trust and foster respect, people of different beliefs need to stop generalizing and start getting to know individuals. We should all be judged on the content of our character, not on our sexuality or on our religion. There are fine Christians who are loving and respectful of differences, just as there are gays and lesbians who are caring and believe profoundly in God.
Initiatives of Change, through its Hope in the Cities program, has a model for inclusive and honest conversation on race relations. I would like to explore how this same process might be used to heal the damage and rift between the gays (or anyone not straight – bi, queer, trans, etc) and some Christians. We need honest conversation, personal responsibility, and acts of reconciliation.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
A radical vision for personal and social change
At the Healing History conference in Caux this summer, I told a
story about my father. A number of people came to talk with me about it
afterwards, so I decided to include it in this blog.
In 1935, as a young unemployed shipyard worker in Scotland, my dad encountered an idea that propelled him beyond the inherited doctrine of class war. Students from Glasgow University, who were involved in what is now known as Initiatives of Change, presented him with the possibility that a radical shift in the motives and behavior of people could lead to a new social and economic order. Initially skeptical, he was convinced when they introduced him to an industrialist who put people before profit. This vision of personal change linked to social justice led him to devote his life to bringing a new perspective to the international labor movement. He was still passionately engaged in this until his death at age 97.
In post-war Europe, my dad went to Germany in support of a sustained effort to provide a moral and spiritual foundation for a reconciled Europe. Much of this effort centered on the key German coal mining and steel region of the Ruhr where the trade unions were largely under Marxist control. Debates went on late into the night. “We would speak for one hour; Marxists would respond for an hour; then we would have to speak for another hour,” Dad recalled. Many of these dedicated Marxists came to believe that the philosophy of Initiatives of Change was a logical next step in their revolutionary quest as well as an alternative to the excesses and exploitation of capitalism.
In March 1949 my father visited Hans Böckler, the president of the new unified German Trade Union Federation, in his home in Cologne. Böckler had been deeply impressed by a forum attended by 190 leading industrialists, hosted by Dr. Heinrich Kost, the head of the German Coal Board. Kost had opened the meeting by saying, “Gentleman, it is not a question of whether we change, but how we change. It is not for us to wait for Labor to change. Change is demanded of us.”
According to my father’s report of the conversation, Böckler said, “Some people hold the doctrine that you have to change the system in order to change society. That is, of course true, but it is only half the truth. People must change drastically like those men who spoke at Kost’s meeting. Both must be done, and you fight for both. I am convinced of that.”
A few months later, my father chaired an international forum at the Caux conference center at which Böchler delivered his carefully worded conclusion: “When men change, the structure of society changes, and when the structure of society changes, men change. Both go together and both are necessary.” *
The recent conference in Caux, which focused on healing and equity and where we heard the call for personal transformation as well as justice, seemed a good moment to recall this prophetic insight.
In 1935, as a young unemployed shipyard worker in Scotland, my dad encountered an idea that propelled him beyond the inherited doctrine of class war. Students from Glasgow University, who were involved in what is now known as Initiatives of Change, presented him with the possibility that a radical shift in the motives and behavior of people could lead to a new social and economic order. Initially skeptical, he was convinced when they introduced him to an industrialist who put people before profit. This vision of personal change linked to social justice led him to devote his life to bringing a new perspective to the international labor movement. He was still passionately engaged in this until his death at age 97.
In post-war Europe, my dad went to Germany in support of a sustained effort to provide a moral and spiritual foundation for a reconciled Europe. Much of this effort centered on the key German coal mining and steel region of the Ruhr where the trade unions were largely under Marxist control. Debates went on late into the night. “We would speak for one hour; Marxists would respond for an hour; then we would have to speak for another hour,” Dad recalled. Many of these dedicated Marxists came to believe that the philosophy of Initiatives of Change was a logical next step in their revolutionary quest as well as an alternative to the excesses and exploitation of capitalism.
In March 1949 my father visited Hans Böckler, the president of the new unified German Trade Union Federation, in his home in Cologne. Böckler had been deeply impressed by a forum attended by 190 leading industrialists, hosted by Dr. Heinrich Kost, the head of the German Coal Board. Kost had opened the meeting by saying, “Gentleman, it is not a question of whether we change, but how we change. It is not for us to wait for Labor to change. Change is demanded of us.”
According to my father’s report of the conversation, Böckler said, “Some people hold the doctrine that you have to change the system in order to change society. That is, of course true, but it is only half the truth. People must change drastically like those men who spoke at Kost’s meeting. Both must be done, and you fight for both. I am convinced of that.”
A few months later, my father chaired an international forum at the Caux conference center at which Böchler delivered his carefully worded conclusion: “When men change, the structure of society changes, and when the structure of society changes, men change. Both go together and both are necessary.” *
The recent conference in Caux, which focused on healing and equity and where we heard the call for personal transformation as well as justice, seemed a good moment to recall this prophetic insight.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Twin strands of honesty and hope
Picture this
scenario: An armed 17 year-old black male follows a white man at night on the suspicion
(based largely on his skin color) that he has criminal intent. A struggle
ensues – the black man says he was attacked – and a shot is fired. The white
man is killed. When the police arrive they question the black man, return his
gun to him and do not press charges. Only after a public outcry does the case
go to trial. The black man is acquitted.
The unlikelihood of this scenario went through my mind when I heard that George Zimmerman had been acquitted by a Florida jury of second degree murder in the case of the death of Trayvon Martin. (Zimmerman is a Latino of mixed racial heritage; Martin was African American.) The verdict will confirm the widely held belief that the life of a black person is worth less than that of people of other skin tones. The Stand Your Ground laws in effect in many US states reflect America’s obsession with violence, individualism, fierce protection of property rights, and – above all – fear of the non-white male. Legal scholars note that the Second Amendment was originally written to preserve states’ slave patrol militias, which was necessary to get Virginia's vote in ratifying the Constitution.
"Justice involves claiming a shared, mutual humanity," writes john powell from the Berkeley School of Law, in the opening sentence of his latest book, Racing to Justice: Transforming our Conception of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society. powell’s statement could be read as a commentary on Trayvon Martin’s death and Zimmerman’s acquittal, but it could well serve as a summary of a remarkable three-day international forum on Healing History in Caux, Switzerland, which brought together an array of racial justice advocates, healing practitioners, scholars, faith leaders and government officials to address the pathology of racism through the lens of healing, equity, and community.
While the largest delegation was from the US, significant groups came from Africa and Europe as well as South Asia and Australia. As Rajmohan Gandhi remarked, “the fallacy of human hierarchy has wounded and humiliated millions…every part of the world has felt the whiplash of racism.” The conference combined arresting data with powerful personal stories. Participants not only discussed together but built relationships as they chopped vegetables, washed dishes or made beds. Caux is a living community.
In the final conference session, Scott Morris, the founder of the Church Health Center in Memphis, which serves some 60,000 uninsured people concluded, "The daily work of justice and mercy are the tools needed to create a city of good abode." Committing ourselves to this task is the best response to the tragedy of Trayvon Martin’s death.
Perhaps the days in Caux saw the start of a global conversation on racial healing and equity that reflects what Edward Ayers, president of the University of Richmond, called “the twin strands of honesty and hope.”
The unlikelihood of this scenario went through my mind when I heard that George Zimmerman had been acquitted by a Florida jury of second degree murder in the case of the death of Trayvon Martin. (Zimmerman is a Latino of mixed racial heritage; Martin was African American.) The verdict will confirm the widely held belief that the life of a black person is worth less than that of people of other skin tones. The Stand Your Ground laws in effect in many US states reflect America’s obsession with violence, individualism, fierce protection of property rights, and – above all – fear of the non-white male. Legal scholars note that the Second Amendment was originally written to preserve states’ slave patrol militias, which was necessary to get Virginia's vote in ratifying the Constitution.
"Justice involves claiming a shared, mutual humanity," writes john powell from the Berkeley School of Law, in the opening sentence of his latest book, Racing to Justice: Transforming our Conception of Self and Other to Build an Inclusive Society. powell’s statement could be read as a commentary on Trayvon Martin’s death and Zimmerman’s acquittal, but it could well serve as a summary of a remarkable three-day international forum on Healing History in Caux, Switzerland, which brought together an array of racial justice advocates, healing practitioners, scholars, faith leaders and government officials to address the pathology of racism through the lens of healing, equity, and community.
While the largest delegation was from the US, significant groups came from Africa and Europe as well as South Asia and Australia. As Rajmohan Gandhi remarked, “the fallacy of human hierarchy has wounded and humiliated millions…every part of the world has felt the whiplash of racism.” The conference combined arresting data with powerful personal stories. Participants not only discussed together but built relationships as they chopped vegetables, washed dishes or made beds. Caux is a living community.
As I flew
back across the Atlantic I reflected on some of what we heard and learned.
- “We need to be in the business of changing our belief system...asserting our true humanity as equal human beings," said Gail Christopher of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Rajmohan Gandhi quoted Martin Luther King, Jr. “Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies.”
- We learned that ending false hierarchies makes good business sense. “Experience shows that racism is bad economics,” said Tim Carrington, a journalist and development specialist who worked with the World Bank in Africa. “Race has led America to make non-rational economic decisions,” according to Algernon Austin of the Economic Policy Institute in Washington DC. Noting that the US imprisons more of its citizens than any other county he said, “Emphasizing prevention makes more economic sense than emphasizing punishment.”
- We learned that the human brain processes 11 million bites of information every second but we are conscious of only 40 of these at best. “Only 2 percent of emotional cognition is available to us consciously. The process of ‘Othering’ occurs in our subconscious network,” says john powell.
- We learned that place matters. According to David Williams of the Harvard School of Public Health, a national study of the effects of segregation on young African American adults found that the elimination of residential segregation would erase Black-White differences in high school graduation rates, in unemployment rates, and in earnings. It would also reduce racial differences in single motherhood by two-thirds.
- We were urged to exert citizen power. Mee Moua, a former state senator from Minnesota whose family came from Laos as refugees, told us, “If you don’t make room for yourself on the table you will be on the menu.... We have to make ourselves relevant to those in power.” We need a “racial impact assessment on every piece of public policy before it becomes law.”
- Empathy drives public policy. Stories have the power to move people. How can a movement to uproot belief in racial hierarchy tell its stories in such a way that actually impacts structures? We were reminded of W.E. B Du Bois who wrote, “The most difficult social problem in the matter of Negro health is the peculiar attitude of the nation toward the well-being of the race. There have… been few other cases in the history of civilized peoples where human suffering has been viewed with such peculiar indifference.”
In the final conference session, Scott Morris, the founder of the Church Health Center in Memphis, which serves some 60,000 uninsured people concluded, "The daily work of justice and mercy are the tools needed to create a city of good abode." Committing ourselves to this task is the best response to the tragedy of Trayvon Martin’s death.
Perhaps the days in Caux saw the start of a global conversation on racial healing and equity that reflects what Edward Ayers, president of the University of Richmond, called “the twin strands of honesty and hope.”
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
From Civil Rights to Human Rights
The international conference that opens this week in Caux, Switzerland, to address healing history and racial equity could not be more timely.
More than 70 Americans will attend the forum which comes on the heels of the ruling by the US Supreme Court to invalidate key articles of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The stampede by several states to pass more restrictive voting laws immediately following the news of the SCOTUS decision is the clearest possible evidence that federal oversight is still needed. Since voter fraud is negligible the only real goal can be to lessen the electoral influence of minorities.
By not updating the law and thus leaving it open to challenge, Congress has been derelict in its duty. A case could be made that rather than continue to focus only on southern states, reporting requirements should have been applied more widely to include states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania. Better still would be uniform electoral laws for all states and a standard voter ID card mailed to each person at age 18.
The earlier ruling which challenges Affirmative Action was more expected. It has been obvious for some time that higher education admission policies need re-thinking. Affirmative Action played a vital role in giving access to people of color but it left the underlying factors of unequal grade school education untouched. The most disadvantaged of the population have not benefited nearly as much as those in middle and upper income levels.
Issues of poverty, affordable housing, health care and access to public transportation require bold public action. As far as criminal justice is concerned, Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, says the civil rights movement has “allowed a human rights nightmare.”
The conference in Caux will no doubt debate some of these issues. Is this the time to move from a focus on affirmative action to racial equity? While jealously guarding hard-won civil rights, could we build an unstoppable momentum for human rights for Americans of all races and classes?
More than 70 Americans will attend the forum which comes on the heels of the ruling by the US Supreme Court to invalidate key articles of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The stampede by several states to pass more restrictive voting laws immediately following the news of the SCOTUS decision is the clearest possible evidence that federal oversight is still needed. Since voter fraud is negligible the only real goal can be to lessen the electoral influence of minorities.
By not updating the law and thus leaving it open to challenge, Congress has been derelict in its duty. A case could be made that rather than continue to focus only on southern states, reporting requirements should have been applied more widely to include states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania. Better still would be uniform electoral laws for all states and a standard voter ID card mailed to each person at age 18.
The earlier ruling which challenges Affirmative Action was more expected. It has been obvious for some time that higher education admission policies need re-thinking. Affirmative Action played a vital role in giving access to people of color but it left the underlying factors of unequal grade school education untouched. The most disadvantaged of the population have not benefited nearly as much as those in middle and upper income levels.
Issues of poverty, affordable housing, health care and access to public transportation require bold public action. As far as criminal justice is concerned, Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, says the civil rights movement has “allowed a human rights nightmare.”
The conference in Caux will no doubt debate some of these issues. Is this the time to move from a focus on affirmative action to racial equity? While jealously guarding hard-won civil rights, could we build an unstoppable momentum for human rights for Americans of all races and classes?
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