We must reach out, speak out, act out against injustices in society

 

 

 

 

My View

Edgar Hoover, former head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is quoted as saying that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was “the most dangerous man alive.”
King spoke with great boldness that still stands against the context of time.
When King completed his doctoral studies at UM-related Boston University in 1955, American lynching was prevalent. Poverty gave way to cruelty. The lives of African Americans continued to be considered less than fully human.
King’s work transcended this hurt of race and perception. He is quoted as saying, “All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.”
The era’s poverty of spirit resonated with the lyrics of a song by Andy Razaf and Louis Armstrong, which asked: “What Did I Do To Be So Black and Blue?”
The lyrics, written in 1929, the year King was born, spoke of how African Americans felt about themselves and their culture.
The question raised by the song continues today.
The Rev. Chester R. Jones, chief executive of the General Commission on Religion and Race, wrote, “Recent and ongoing incidents of racial bigotry and stereotypes reported and portrayed in the media, particularly targeting racial and ethnic minorities, injures the dignity and humanity of all people.
“It is past time to stop this sinful insanity. But can we?”
I believe, based on King’s teachings, that we can. However, the silent majority must step forward!
“In the end,” King said, “we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.”
The “Poor People’s Campaign,” which transcended race and sex, addressed issues of economic injustice. King’s economic bill of rights called for massive government job programs to rebuild America’s cities.
His vision was for change more revolutionary than mere reform: He cited systematic flaws of racism, poverty, militarism and materialism. He professed that “reconstruction of society itself is the real issue to be faced.”
In a day when the federal government seemed above the law, King wrote a speech entitled, “Beyond Vietnam.” “True compassion,” he said, “is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice that produces beggars needs restructuring.”
King also proclaimed that “human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.”
So where is the church today? I wonder what King would say about the insanity of race and sex that still divides our churches and our country.
Most mainline denominations are divided not over religious points but over issues of power and control. Many churches don’t understand the magnitude of their calling. The church can help all people living in lack.
However, issues of those in need won’t be overturned with light gestures of goodwill. There has to be real commitment, bold commitment.
We must speak out to the political halls of power to call attention to injustices in our system. We must be catalysts for change from within our churches and in our communities.
If we are to carry forth King’s dream in these hard times, we must be involved in reaching out, speaking out and acting out.
Terrence Hayes is cabinet liaison to the Commission on Religion and Race.