Facing the Issue of Race in America

03-18-2008

The Brody File producer Robin Mazyck here with a guest blog for The Brody File.

As an African American, I'd like to share my perspective on Sen. Barack Obama's speech on race in America.

Earlier today Obama finished giving what many are calling "the most important speech of his political career" -- one that could help his campaign refocus and get back on track. Click here to read and/or watch the speech.

When Obama threw his hat in the ring and decided to run for President, he vowed to keep his race out of the race. But that hasn't happened. And as a result he shared some ugly truths with the nation today about his personal life and about the struggles that African Americans have faced and in many cases continue to deal with every day.

It was very apparent from this speech that Obama understands the role that race plays in his life and the lives of Americans - whether black, white, brown, yellow… His speech pointed out aspects of American's ugly past and how it still affects us.

On the issue of slavery, Obama noted that it was a part of the Constitution.

The answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution... And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States.

What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part - through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.

And for many Christian denominations, slavery couldn't be challenged because they believed it was ordained by God. I've spoken with many African-American and white scholars who say that many slaves were taught key verses and scriptures in the Bible - not as a way to salvation and freedom, but as a way of ensuring that a "slave would honor and serve his master."

As for his relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright, until Wright's sermons surfaced, many were surprised - even shocked to learn that there is such a thing as the black church and black theology.

And while Wright's comments are offensive, over the top and downright awful, they have a similar theme (not tone) to sermons that take place in predominately black churches every Sunday. These sermons ultimately focus on God's redeeming love and the salvation of Jesus Christ, but they use real life experiences to make a point. I can't begin to tell you how many sermons I've heard that talk about the horrors of slavery, the humiliation of having to abide by Jim Crow laws, the covert and overt racism and discrimination when it comes to hiring practices and pay equity.

For example, the following is an excerpt from a sermon that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. preached many, many years ago. In it he talks about racism:

Do you know that a lot of the race problem grows out of the drum major instinct? A need that some people have to feel superior. A need that some people have to feel that they are first, and to feel that their white skin ordained them to be first. And they have said over and over again in ways that we see with our own eyes. In fact, not too long ago, a man down in Mississippi said that God was a charter member of the White Citizens Council. And so God being the charter member means that everybody who's in that has a kind of divinity, a kind of superiority. And think of what has happened in history as a result of this perverted use of the drum major instinct. It has led to the most tragic prejudice, the most tragic expressions of man's inhumanity to man.

These sermons deal with the realities, but encourage blacks to persevere. They also promote an attitude that tells them that they can make it out of their poor living conditions, start a business, get off welfare, go to college, buy a house, save money…. All with the help of our Savior!

And it's more than just the sermons. It's reflected in the songs that are sung - praise and worship songs along with hymns that proclaim "victory is mine," and talk about "making it through," "looking back in wonder," "not being tired yet," and "getting to Heaven."

For the most part, blacks have always turned to the church for help, encouragement, salvation and more. The church is the bedrock of the black community, and it reflects the needs of that specific population. It provides hope. Hope for people who want to do better, live better and leave a meaningful legacy to their children. So when black ministers tell their congregants to support each other -- it's truly based on the African proverb -- it takes a village.

Obama spoke of this in his speech when he spoke of his first visit to Trinity United Church of Christ:

People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend's voice up into the rafters….And in that single note - hope! - I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion's den, Ezekiel's field of dry bones.

Those stories - of survival, and freedom, and hope - became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn't need to feel shame about…memories that all people might study and cherish - and with which we could start to rebuild."

That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety - the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity's services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor.

They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.

Obama noted that many ministers, priests and rabbis at some point have made statements that many disagree with. That is evidenced with statements made, for example, by Rev. Jerry Falwell when he preached and promoted segregation. Of course he repented, but he made those statements.

Back in 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. said that the church was "the most segregated major institution in America." He said that Sundays at 11 a.m. marked the most segregated hour in the country.

I don't know about you, but I'm doing my part to make a difference.

I attend a church that is very diverse. In fact, my pastor is Filipino. It's a small church, but there are people in the pews of all colors and hues and countries. During my life, I have attended churches of every denomination with every ethnicity -- from Lutheran to Presbyterian to Catholic and non-denominational. And while things are getting better, we're still divided.

Even though Obama wanted race to stay out of the Presidential race - it hasn't and isn't and won't.

Perhaps it shouldn't.

What do you think? Email me your thoughts.

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