This is an op-ed submitted for print in the Allentown Morning-Call
By REV. DR. LARRY D. PICKENS
As we celebrate the life and ministry of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. this week, it’s clear we have much more to achieve in seeking to create his vision of a “Beloved Community.”
The violence that took place inside our nation’s majestic Capitol last week is grounded in the politics of grievance and white entitlement, representing much of the division in our nation. We must never forget that we are not enemies, but as Dr. King taught, we are siblings obliged to make his vision of Beloved Community real.
In 2020 we repeatedly witnessed, and in many communities, experienced, a series of troubling reminders of what Dr. King faced and challenged during his lifetime. Social inequities turned lethal. We saw the murder George Floyd, as Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis police officer, fixed his knee in the prone man’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. We have been besieged by a horrible pandemic called Covid-19, which globally has killed nearly two million of people. The Covid-19 crisis has also highlighted the impact of barriers to health care for certain groups and people with physical and medical preconditions. Covid-19 has sparked job losses concentrated amongst the less skilled, educational disruption harming poorer children and even greater divisions in our nation. The virus points out disparities and the gnawing reality that some lives seem to be more threatened and less valued than others.
When the United Nations’ Human Rights Commission developed the framework for a Universal Declaration of Human Rights two basic concepts applied: 1. every human being has a right to be treated like every other human being and 2. universal rights are grounded in the fundamental principle of the unity of all humankind. Racism was introduced to this country by European exploration and slavery. This is how the concept of “race first” entered our consciousness. Race is not a biological category, it is a social and political appellation, which defines and designates the lower caste position of people of color in relation to the more privileged.
African Americans have also been defined by our experiences in the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow segregation, domestic terrorism – personified by the Ku Klux Klan –Black Codes, and extrajudicial killings known as lynchings. My grandfather was lynched in Eutaw, Alabama during Jim Crow segregation because “he did not know his place.”
It was against this backdrop that the Civil Rights movement gave rise to Dr. King’s advocacy, which called for the liberation of Black people, while affirming our ultimate worth and equality. The words of the Declaration of Independence affirm that we are, “endowed with certain inalienable rights, chief among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Freedom and equality, Dr. Danielle Allen describes in her work, “Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence,” are two twin pillars of the democratic experiment.
In addition to Scripture, Dr. King understood the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution to be foundational to challenging segregation, voter suppression, domestic terrorism and economic apartheid. Today in death and martyrdom Dr. King is widely viewed as an American icon and hero. This was not the case during his life; he was a terrifically polarizing and controversial public figure. He was hated because his work rocked the very foundations of a nation that found comfort in its racism and social inequities.
In many ways the hatred that continues to be directed toward Dr. King represents the wrath people of color continue to feel as they rebuff the manacles of white supremacy. James Baldwin once said: “I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.” This is an era of white anger directed toward black and brown people, the immigrant, anyone or group that is perceived to be taking benefits and opportunities to which white people feel entitled. The hate and animosity reflect the pain and sense of loss that many white people may have.
We have not successfully communicated that when people of color make gains it is not a sign of retrenchment for white communities. When the Declaration of Independence was written, it was John Adams who understood that government is organized to promote human happiness. Happiness is measured by the opportunity that each of us has to develop our minds, seek opportunity and grow into the capacity of our potential. This is not an exclusive exercise that is provided for some; it is a reality of community building which affirms, as Dr. King would say, that “we are all inextricably bound.” It should be color-blind.
(The Rev. Dr. Larry D. Pickens in executive director of the Pennsylvania Council of Churches.)