Category Archives: Racism

REFLECTION: Response on the 50th Anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from the Birmingham Jail”

Posted on May 10, 2013 | Leave a comment

by Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D.

MLK_Memorial_NPS_photoPeace be with you! It is an honor to join my remarks with those of Rev. Jim Wallis and U.S. Representative John Lewis on this august occasion and to join with Rev. Bernice King, daughter of Dr. King, whose presence honors this two-day event.

Letters deserve a response, and in fact, some demand one. Such is the letter that we gather to remember. Fifty years ago in this city of Birmingham, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. sent a letter, actually a reply to one that he had received from religious leaders at the time. Making use of the edges of newspapers and stubs of pencils available to him in the jail, Reverend King set out what has become a classic letter, quoting from Socrates to St. Paul and St. Augustine to St. Thomas Aquinas. This letter, which is rich in foundations of scripture and human philosophy, direct, and prophetic, gave a rationale for strong action as well as marching orders for the steps we must follow to lift us, as the letter states, “from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.” Rightly, he uncovered the words of St. Thomas Aquinas that the unjust law is “the human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law” and so is, as Dr. King says, “out of harmony with the moral law.”

Though at that time I was only 16 and taking my seminary entrance examination in my home state of Pennsylvania, I can look back to his response to religious leaders of that day, who had cautioned him against action that they claimed was “unwise and untimely.” We now see clearly his response as true wisdom, whose time had long since come.

Such a letter deserves a response …

Click here to read the entire response.

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Posted in Bread for the Journey, Human Rights, Peacemakers, Racism, Reflection

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RACISM: Pax Christi USA signs onto campaign for a National Plan of Action for Racial Justice

Posted on April 5, 2013 | 1 Comment

Pax Christi USA has signed onto the “Once and For All” campaign, calling on the Obama Administration to develop a “National Plan of Action for Racial Justice.”

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The U.S. Human Rights Network and the Human Rights at Home Campaign launched the Once And For All campaign on March 21, 2013. The campaign is a national call for the Obama Administration to develop a National Plan of Action for Racial Justice. 126 national and local organizations signed an open letter calling on the Administration to adopt this comprehensive plan. Join the call and sign the petition!

The National Plan of Action for Racial Justice is a comprehensive action plan that would be adopted by the federal government and applicable to all levels of government to address persistent contemporary forms of racial discrimination and race disparities in almost every sphere of life. Our current civil rights laws are simply not enough to advance racial equality and human rights for all. They do not address inequalities in access to healthcare and housing, or address the legacies of racism inherent in immigration law, or law enforcement policies that result in excessive incarceration of African Americans and Latinos.

Read more about the campaign by clicking here.

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Posted in Endorsed Campaigns, Racism

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REFLECTION: Teacher’s witness helped to solidify the gains of the Civil Rights Movement

Posted on March 12, 2013 | 2 Comments

Shelley Douglassby Shelley Douglass
Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace

I’ve been thinking a lot about my friend Johnnie Mae Coleman this month. Here in Birmingham we are celebrating 50 years since the cataclysmic events of the 60’s – marches, police dogs, fire hoses, culminating in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. I think of my friend because she lived through those events as a forty year-old woman, too old to be one of those child marchers yet profoundly affected by their actions. Born and raised in Bessemer, Alabama, she managed to study at Miles College and then to teach for years, doing her own important part in the work to achieve freedom. Like many people in the South, she adjusted and readjusted to change as it came. The stories she told were not of public demonstrations and violent responses, but of small steps taken and sometimes vicious reactions. She was one of the many who solidified the gains of the Movement, making them part of everyday life.

johnneye maeWhen I met Mrs. Coleman she was in the later stages of her life, retired from teaching and taking up a new focus. She was spending more time working for her church, St. Francis of Assissi in Bessemer, visiting the sick, playing the organ for daily Mass, and attending lay ministry classes sponsored by the Diocese of Birmingham. She was the oldest person in the class, and took delight in being a sort of mascot for the rest of us. She had long since put aside “Johnnie Mae” and adopted “Johnneye”, soft J, emphasis on the ending, pronounced “ay” – a kind of French elegance that fit her careful dress and stylish persona.

Johnneye was one of the oldest members of St. Francis; she remembered when the friars first arrived in Bessemer. Her childhood home was near the original store-front church, where she went with her mother. She told stories of going to early Mass as a girl, wearing her coat over her pajamas. I could believe it! In Johnneye’s stories, the prejudice she undoubtedly met – against Catholics, as well as against African Americans – was the backdrop, not the story itself. Her stories were about triumph over adversity, about fun and laughter, and about her own foibles.

In her time as a teacher, Johnneye taught all the grades. She was trained in English, but she taught math too. She said that one year she was told she would teach Algebra, and when she said that she couldn’t do algebra, she was asked, “Do you want to teach?” She found a friend who taught her algebra, lesson by lesson, one step ahead of her students. She taught. When desegregation came around, it was necessary for some black teachers to move to white schools. Johnneye was given that assignment. One of her stories was about the young man who was unfailingly hostile to her in class – until through her work with him he began to understand the subject. She said that all the students “came around”, but she never mentioned the staff. I can only imagine the fortitude it took to go to that school every day, teach those children, and put up with the attitudes of the other teachers. My friend knew a lot about forgiveness.

She also knew a lot about fun. All her life she was a card shark, playing all kinds of games from bridge to poker, and winning most of them. As a young teacher she had a group of friends who played cards all night (and weren’t averse to a drink or two) and then taught all day. When we asked her how she had enough energy, she just laughed. She loved to sing and was a self-taught pianist who never learned to read music. After one or two hearings she could play any song, and accompanied worship on Sundays at several churches, moving from one to the next as the day progressed. She had an eye for cars, too – when I knew her she drove a leased one, and changed it every year for the new model. They were usually in pearlized shades of lavender. She was known for speed – she drove her pastor wherever he went, and however late they left, they always arrived on time. I don’t think Johnneye ever got a ticket although she was certainly stopped often enough. Usually the officers who pulled her over were her former students, and would let her go with a warning. When they weren’t, she would apologize prettily and explain that she was late to play for church. Then she would drive sedately away.

Johnneye died about a year and a half ago. Almost to the last we played a weekly card game. I would walk into her room at the assisted living facility, she would look up – she might not remember my name – but she would say, “Deal!” And we would spend a couple of hours playing her favorite game. Until the last six month of her life, I would drive her to doctor’s appointments. We always took the cards with us, and we’d play in the waiting room. Once we made it into the examining room we would switch to singing – lots and lots of hymns while we waited. No one ever forgot that we were there!

Spending time with Johnneye was a lesson in how to overcome. Born poor, a black woman in a racist and sexist system, she gained an education, taught generations of students, was respected and revered by people throughout her community. She was well aware of the evil that still remained; until her dying day there were women at her retirement home who would wheel themselves away from the table rather than sit with her. She knew when she went into white churches that she wasn’t always welcome. She faced injustice in many venues, and it hurt. It made her angry. Sometimes it made her discouraged. When I think of her as someone who could overcome, it’s not because she made great changes in the world – although sometimes she did. It’s because somehow, through her worship and her hymns, her fun and her friends, she remained a sweet and loving spirit, open to the world and those around her. She was a grace-filled presence in many lives, including my own.

I think this year I’ll spend some time remembering and meditating on Johnnie Mae Coleman, asking her intercession as we continue the struggle she lived.

Shelley Douglass is a Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace. She is the hospitaller at Mary’s House Catholic Worker in Birmingham, a member of Holy Family Parish, and active especially against war and the death penalty.

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MLK DAY 2013: If not now, when?

Posted on January 21, 2013 | Comments Off

pearletteby Pearlette Springer
former National Council Chair, Pax Christi USA

In April 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote an exceeding long letter while in a jail cell. The letter is addressed to eight Birmingham clergy members, responding to their criticism that now is not a good time for standing up for what is right and just. Forty-nine years later in April 2012, while discussing the unfair treatment from a supervisor, an African American is advised by the African American Human Resource Director to ‘tone it down’ because “white people don’t understand African Americans.”  If not now, when?

MLK, Jr.Dr. Martin and Coretta Scott King made a choice between the overt racial divide of the south and the covert racial divide of the north, they chose the south – Montgomery, Alabama in particular. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with the help and support of the hundreds of thousands of people from across the country – white, black, Asian, Hispanic, pacific islander, native  – and across the world – Europe, Africa, Asia, Canada,  Central and South America – fought a long and difficult battle and in the end legal overt racism was overthrown. But Dr. King’s achievements did not end there. Once the Civil Rights Bill was signed, the central focus, while still addressing the injustice of racial segregation, changed from just ‘Negros’ in the south to the unjust treatment of the poor in America and the American Dream (July, 1965) “…every man is an heir of the legacy of dignity and worth.” Dr. King’s 1965 sermon goes on to state that “…the price that America must pay for the continued oppression of the Negro and other minority groups is the price of its own destruction…” Is that what we are witnessing now with the mass shootings in middle class ‘white’ neighborhoods?  If not now, when?

Dr. King did come to realize that it was not only ‘Negros’ that were not afforded access to the basic necessities. He recognized that the poor of all racial groups lived alongside and amongst the Negros, especially in the north. Since 1968, accessibility has improved and yet studies still show economic disparities inside of the racial disparities in education, income, health and housing. Having access to the basic necessities would start to become accessible as long as we continue to chip away at the race issue.

Across the United States, on the third Monday of January there will be music, speeches and good deeds to celebrate the life and achievements of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Our society has changed tremendously since the days of Martin Luther King, Jr.  The terminology that Dr. King used such as ‘we, our, us’ are not part of our everyday language. We now live in a ‘me, I, mine’ society, a society of self-centeredness, self-absorption and fifteen minutes of fame. We no longer live in a society that believes that our brother’s problem is our problem.  How do we begin to unite our splintered groups? “… We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for the victims of our nation, for those it calls “enemy,” for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers.” (Beyond Vietnam, April 1967) Martin and Coretta wanted to give back to those whose shoulders they stood on. Martin and Coretta wanted to make a difference in their society. As we stand on the shoulders of Martin and Coretta, what difference will we make?

Reflection Questions:

  • How can you and/or your group narrow the racial divide that will in turn narrow the economic divide?
  • Can you and/or your group define and recognize internalized oppression and internalized superiority? In yourself? In your group? In your family? In your community?

For further reflection:

As a group or individual, participate in the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday celebration in your community. Afterward:

  • Reflect on the purpose and outcome of the celebration. Did this event address and continue the work of Martin Luther King, Jr.?
  • Is there a concrete plan to be carried out in the upcoming year?
  • Are there elements of internalized oppression and internalized superiority present? What can I do?

Read Dr. King’s Letter From Birmingham Jail, April 1963.

  • Do his comments resonate with actions of today?
  • What are the issues today that are considered ‘unwise and untimely’?
  • Develop a plan using the four-step approach of collection, negotiation, self-purification and direct action.

Read this Pray-Study-Act e-bulletin for MLK Day.

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MLK DAY 2013: If not now, when?

Posted on January 16, 2013 | Comments Off

pearletteby Pearlette Springer
former National Council Chair, Pax Christi USA

In April 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote an exceeding long letter while in a jail cell. The letter is addressed to eight Birmingham clergy members, responding to their criticism that now is not a good time for standing up for what is right and just. Forty-nine years later in April 2012, while discussing the unfair treatment from a supervisor, an African American is advised by the African American Human Resource Director to ‘tone it down’ because “white people don’t understand African Americans.”  If not now, when?

MLK, Jr.Dr. Martin and Coretta Scott King made a choice between the overt racial divide of the south and the covert racial divide of the north, they chose the south – Montgomery, Alabama in particular. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with the help and support of the hundreds of thousands of people from across the country – white, black, Asian, Hispanic, pacific islander, native  – and across the world – Europe, Africa, Asia, Canada,  Central and South America – fought a long and difficult battle and in the end legal overt racism was overthrown. But Dr. King’s achievements did not end there. Once the Civil Rights Bill was signed, the central focus, while still addressing the injustice of racial segregation, changed from just ‘Negros’ in the south to the unjust treatment of the poor in America and the American Dream (July, 1965) “…every man is an heir of the legacy of dignity and worth.” Dr. King’s 1965 sermon goes on to state that “…the price that America must pay for the continued oppression of the Negro and other minority groups is the price of its own destruction…” Is that what we are witnessing now with the mass shootings in middle class ‘white’ neighborhoods?  If not now, when?

Dr. King did come to realize that it was not only ‘Negros’ that were not afforded access to the basic necessities. He recognized that the poor of all racial groups lived alongside and amongst the Negros, especially in the north. Since 1968, accessibility has improved and yet studies still show economic disparities inside of the racial disparities in education, income, health and housing. Having access to the basic necessities would start to become accessible as long as we continue to chip away at the race issue.

Across the United States, on the third Monday of January there will be music, speeches and good deeds to celebrate the life and achievements of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Our society has changed tremendously since the days of Martin Luther King, Jr.  The terminology that Dr. King used such as ‘we, our, us’ are not part of our everyday language. We now live in a ‘me, I, mine’ society, a society of self-centeredness, self-absorption and fifteen minutes of fame. We no longer live in a society that believes that our brother’s problem is our problem.  How do we begin to unite our splintered groups? “… We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for the victims of our nation, for those it calls “enemy,” for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers.” (Beyond Vietnam, April 1967) Martin and Coretta wanted to give back to those whose shoulders they stood on. Martin and Coretta wanted to make a difference in their society. As we stand on the shoulders of Martin and Coretta, what difference will we make?

Reflection Questions:

  • How can you and/or your group narrow the racial divide that will in turn narrow the economic divide?
  • Can you and/or your group define and recognize internalized oppression and internalized superiority? In yourself? In your group? In your family? In your community?

For further reflection:

As a group or individual, participate in the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday celebration in your community. Afterward:

  • Reflect on the purpose and outcome of the celebration. Did this event address and continue the work of Martin Luther King, Jr.?
  • Is there a concrete plan to be carried out in the upcoming year?
  • Are there elements of internalized oppression and internalized superiority present? What can I do?

Read Dr. King’s Letter From Birmingham Jail, April 1963.

  • Do his comments resonate with actions of today?
  • What are the issues today that are considered ‘unwise and untimely’?
  • Develop a plan using the four-step approach of collection, negotiation, self-purification and direct action.

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Posted in Bread for the Journey, Peacemakers, Racism, Reflection, Springer

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REFLECTION: After the election, much work to be done

Posted on December 6, 2012 | 2 Comments

Shelley Douglassby Shelley Douglass
Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace

It’s afternoon at Mary’s House, the day after Thanksgiving.  Our guests are out – Ashley, who is just 21, has gone with her two girls to sign the lease on an apartment.  She is packing and expects to be moving out on December 1st.  She will be living with her baby’s father, who has begun a new and better job as a warehouseman after working for WalMart for over a year.

Bernice, who has just begun receiving Social Security, is also out.  She stayed with a friend over the holidays, and drove around distributing turkeys from their church like Lady Bountiful. She will probably be home tonight, and spend the weekend recuperating from all her activity.  She will also be packing, having found an apartment for the first of the month.

Being able to share food is one of the joys of Mary’s House too, and thanks to a couple of parishes we were able to share bags of groceries, and even a ham and a turkey.  In about two weeks we’ll be distributing toys and clothing as part of Angel Tree programs – another happy time.

When Ashley and Bernice move out, the house will be quiet and empty.  Our third room is already vacant, its occupant having moved in with a friend a couple of weeks ago.  Now we are preparing for our Advent Retreat, this year with Dr. Vincent Harding.  Mary’s House will provide beds and some quiet space for a few folks during the retreat, and after that we will take our yearly break for rest & rehab – rest for us, and rehab for the house.  I’m looking forward to a quiet Advent after the excitement of the retreat, with some time to reflect on the ideas Vincent shares.

Alabama is preparing now for winter – our first freeze is on the way.  I pulled some old drop cloths out of the shed to put over the gerbera daisies so they’ll last for a while.  We will go around and lock all the windows, creating an airtight seal, and we’ll all wear lots of clothes because we keep the house chilly to save money on gas.

Right now the house smells wonderful because the tenth pan of retreat lasagna is almost ready to come out of the oven.  I’m in my favorite chair, and our two parrots are napping on their cages.  Jackson, our hospitality dog, is snoozing on his pad, worn out from cleaning all the cottage cheese containers as I emptied them.  The never ending chore list is over on the desk, waiting further action, but for now there’s time to be quiet and mull over the last few weeks, a busy and sometimes noisy time.

As I go about the business of the house, I’ve been thinking over the results of the election two weeks ago.  I have major reservations about President Obama’s policies in a number of areas, yet I am very glad that he won.  I think his victory sends a message about the direction in which people want to move, whatever his actual policies will do.  In general people seemed to be voting for  inclusion, help for those who need it, and a sense of the common good.  I find that hopeful even when I doubt that the current policies will lead to those ends.

We actually watched the election results for a while – we have a working tv at the Tracks House, where Jim writes.  I was struck by the contrast between the two campaigns.  The network we watched had a split-screen setup, which showed the Romney and the Obama election night gatherings side by side.  What a difference – the Romney campaign group seemed to be totally white (and older); the Obama group was a wonderful mix of everybody, a colorful blend of “all of us”.  You  didn’t really need to read all the analysis of the election after seeing that.

I’ve been watching the PBS series “Eyes On the Prize” over the last month – it’s in our library system and easy to check out.  Vincent Harding, our retreat leader, was an advisor to the series.  Out of that experience he wrote a book, Hope and History (Orbis) which I’ve also been reading.  The combination of Dr. Harding’s book, the filmed history, the movie “Lincoln” – which we saw on our anniversary – and the election – made a deep impression on me.  It said that we are part of a struggle that began long ago and will continue into the future.  Those of us who worked for justice in the 50’s and 60’s, in however small a way, were building toward today.  And those of us who are working today are building toward a future that we can hardly imagine.

There are huge questions unanswered by this election.  As Bill Quigley rightly pointed out in his PCUSA blog, major issues were never addressed.  No one mentioned the death penalty.  No one seriously mentioned global warming.  They both supported nuclear power; no one mentioned nuclear weapons.  No one questioned government violation of our civil liberties, or Guantanamo. No one mentioned the high rate of incarceration, especially of men of color.  No one talked about a just wage. They did argue about abortion, but not in a way that would allow any kind of progress on that issue.  Worst of all, both candidates agreed on drone warfare and all that goes with it.  The good feelings generated by that multi-hued crowd must give way to a sense of work to be done.  There is a huge amount of work to be done!

One of the frustrations of this election campaign was that basic questions could not be raised in a way that was heard by the public.  The Democrats and Republicans are enough alike on most basic issues that only minor adjustments hinge on the election.  Those minor adjustments are crucial in many ways, but the big issues of empire, world domination, greed, control – those never get raised because both parties agree on them.  Some third parties work to ask those questions, but they are not given a voice in the public forum.

The questions we are facing as we become conscious of ourselves as a multi-hued nation are the same questions that faced the Civil Rights movement and the feminist movement:  are we struggling for a piece of the pie, or are we making a whole new pie?  Do we want an empire in which we all share in exploiting the rest of the world?  Or do we want to work for a world where no one is exploited?

As we have seen already, when oppressed people take power in an oppressive system, they become oppressors.  Margaret Thatcher, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, Hillary Clinton – women and people of color can internalize the values of empire just as efficiently as white men can.  Indeed, we have all internalized those values, even those of us who struggle against them.  With the election now in our past, we go back to every-day living in this empire.  Our efforts to ask the deeper questions must continue, be more reflective, and cost more.

Continue, because we are only scratching the surface; be more reflective, because we need both to find the roots of empire within ourselves and to raise the question of empire in ways that can be heard; cost more, because questioning the status quo is not popular, and empires don’t just give up their power.  If we were to be at all successful at proposing an alternative kind of nation/people, we can assume that it would be a dangerous proposition.

Post-election, moving into Advent – now is a good time to reflect on the stable where our faith was born.  From the very beginning, the birth of an alternative to empire was threatened by the powers.  Ultimately Jesus’ nonviolent, revolutionary Way of living brought him to the cross. Will we take some steps along that road?

Shelley Douglass is a Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace. She is the hospitaller at Mary’s House Catholic Worker in Birmingham, a member of Holy Family Parish, and active especially against war and the death penalty.

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Posted in Advent 2012, Bread for the Journey, Douglass, Election 2012, Nonviolence, Racism, Reflection, Teach Peace

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REFLECTION: Selma and the legacy of prejudice and privilege

Posted on November 2, 2012 | 3 Comments

Shelley Douglassby Shelley Douglass
Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace

Selma, Alabama is a beautiful little town.  It has big old oaks with moss hanging down from them and lots of antebellum architecture, including some huge mansions that have been refurbished and are open for tours. Selma covers about fourteen and a half square miles, sitting on the banks of the Alabama River.  It’s the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama.

Selma, a major producer of ammunition for the Confederacy, was the scene of one of the last battles of the Civil War, the Battle of Selma, fought on April 2, 1865, in which General James Wilson of the Union Army defeated Southern troops and burned the ammunition factories and much of the city as well.

Roughly a century later, Selma was the scene of another battle, a battle for freedom and equality for an entire nation.  After the savaging of marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965, Selma became shorthand for the voting rights struggle and the deeper struggle for democracy in this country.  The ensuing march from Selma to Montgomery called worldwide attention to the continuing struggle for civil rights in the United States, and helped force passage of the Voting Rights Act that guaranteed the right to vote to all American citizens.

Selma stands for our best, and for our worst.  Selma isn’t in the news much any more, yet the struggles that continue there are just as emblematic of the state of our consciousness as were the struggles in 1965.  These struggles are deeper, and have to do with our understanding of our history – and our selves.  I went to Selma a couple of weeks ago to take part in a walk through the city and to deliver a petition to the city council.  The petition, which originated in Selma, carried over 300,000 signatures from across the globe.  It asked the Council to rescind an earlier decision to build a statue of General Nathan Bedford Forrest with public money.

Nathan Bedford Forrest is known for several things.  Forrest was a self-made man, becoming wealthy through trade (in slaves, among other commodities).  Although he had no military training, he became a lieutenant-general in the Confederate Army, known as the “Wizard of the Saddle” because of his innovative mobile cavalry tactics.  Forrest won battles for the Confederacy, including the Battle of Fort Pillow, after which he is accused of allowing his troops to slaughter captive African-American and Union soldiers.  After the civil war, Forrest moved to Tennessee, where he was an early member of the Ku Klux Klan and eventually served as Grand Dragon.

After the march, a divided Selma City Council finally voted not to fund the statue, but the controversy continues.  The “Friends of Forrest” group continues to promote a statue; a diverse group of residents oppose it.  Todd Kiscaden, of “Friends of Forrest”, is quoted (Blackstar News, 10/25/12, Carolyn Jenkins) as saying:  “There’s a monument to Martin Luther King, Jr. in town.  We don’t deface that monument.  We don’t harass people.  So let us have the same treatment.”

The controversy in Selma echoes a struggle that goes on in many places around the United States:  Do “we” have a history?  Can we agree that some things in our national history are wrong/shameful/evil – or will we be fragmented into interest groups, each claiming an individual interpretation of history?  Separate-but-equal history?

That question is most urgent for people like me, white/European folks, who profit in many unseen ways from the injustice that has gone on in this country.  Perhaps it’s most visible in the South because so many vocal people still identify with the romantic notion of the Old South and the chivalrous rebel army, and so on – the kind of identification that builds monuments to Nathan Bedford Forrest, the kind of identification that doesn’t admit the ugliness and evil of slavery and segregation and systemic racism.

For many of us our participation in the system of evil is less visible.  My forbears were poor and picked tobacco in Maryland.  Far from owning a plantation they were themselves probably share croppers of a kind.  Life was very hard for them. And yet …  the fact that we had white skins gave us a place ahead of most people who did not.  Life was easier for us than for African-Americans who were similar in every other way.  We had a sense of entitlement, of having  a chance, a presence, of being visible, of having a voice.  We had a chance to move up and blend in.  Although as Irish and German immigrants we certainly faced discrimination, we were not at risk at first sight, merely because of our skin color.

White-skin folks still profit from that systemic evil.  An example:  a friend of mine, visiting from the Northwest, went with me to the store.  He finished his business first and went to the car, where he leaned on the fender and waited for me.  He was accosted by a young black man who asked him what he was doing, and when George explained the young man said, “If that was me in a white neighborhood, I’d be up against the car and being searched by the police!”  The young man was angry, not at George, but at the assumptions that are still attached to race.  We whites benefit all the time, in ways that are usually invisible to us.  It’s impossible to withdraw from that privilege, but it is possible to recognize it and work to oppose it.

In the tradition of the Catholic Church (and of Alcoholics Anonymous), we need to name our sin, feel contrition for it, and make a firm purpose of amendment.  If white folks in general were able to do that, we might move beyond our current politics of division.  South Africa had Truth and Reconciliation Commissions.  Perhaps it’s too much to hope that such a thing could happen here and now, (although one did happen in Greensboro, NC) but we could each face the truth about racism, and take our own steps toward reconciliation.  Part of the process might be a search for more appropriate heroes for white folks to emulate.

It’s possible that even Nathan Bedford Forrest could become a positive example:  according to the information on Wikipedia, Forrest may have changed toward the end of his life.  It is reported that he spoke at a meeting of African-American citizens, where he accepted a welcoming bouquet from a Black woman, and seems to have advocated “reconciliation” between the races.  It’s unclear to me whether Forrest actually repented, or whether he was accommodating to practical changes – but it would certainly bear further investigation.  A racist who repented would be an ideal role model for the changes we need to make.

Shelley Douglass is a Pax Christi USA Teacher of Peace. She is the hospitaller at Mary’s House Catholic Worker in Birmingham, a member of Holy Family Parish, and active especially against war and the death penalty.

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