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Bishop’s letter to King finds surge in racism

 
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Editor’s note: Each year, United Methodist Bishop Woodie W. White writes a “birthday letter” to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. about the progress of racial equality in the United States. White was the first chief executive of the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race.

Retired Bishop Woodie White composes his annual letter to the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., in advance of the civil rights leader’s January 15th birthday. A UMNS web-only file video image.
Retired Bishop Woodie White composes his annual letter to the late
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., in advance of the civil rights leader’s
January 15th birthday. A UMNS web-only file video image.

7:00 A.M. EST Jan. 17, 2011

Dear Martin:

I write on the anniversary of your birth with continued gratitude for your efforts to challenge the nation to live out its creed of equality and justice for all its citizens. I miss your voice of moral clarity and your ability to inspire others to this noble cause.

During my lifetime, gigantic gains have been made in race relations. I remember them law by law. It was not all that long ago, surprisingly. America has been changed dramatically and fundamentally by legislative actions that included an anti-lynching bill, a Fair Employment bill, a Supreme Court decision declaring segregation in public education unconstitutional, a Voting Rights Act and a Civil Rights bill.

So many paid a high price for these achievements. How can those of us who lived through those turbulent days take them for granted or minimize their significance? They remain prominent in my storehouse of memories.

Lingering racism

Indeed, so much has been accomplished in such a relatively short period. It is a changing America, a changed America.

Yet, Martin, there is a persistent core racism in American life that refuses to go away. In fact, over the past few months, there has been a resurgence of racist rhetoric and activity. I thought I might be simply overreacting, but friends and colleagues across the country share their own observations and stories as well.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. A 1964 photo courtesy of The Library of Congress, Dick DeMarsico photographer.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. A 1964
photo courtesy of The Library of
Congress, Dick DeMarsico photographer.
View in Photo Gallery

Perhaps it is inevitable. Almost daily, television and radio talk-show hosts spew their racial hate and stir fears. It is as though they are afraid of racial harmony and a more racially and ethnically inclusive America. Sadly, throughout our nation’s history we have witnessed the exploitation of racial, ethnic and religious differences.

Martin, what seems most troubling is the silence from the voices of good will. There seem to be few who challenge the Babel of racism, at least in the public arena. But I have no doubt that the vast majority of Americans have not and do not subscribe to this latest chant of hate.

Every day America moves toward a more full expression of a nation where citizens of diverse racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds interact and intersect routinely. Perhaps no other nation has been able to assimilate such a wide diversity of citizenry.

It may well be that those who do not like this new kind of America see the handwriting on the wall, which displeases them. Perhaps they are unable to see character, only color. Perhaps they are unable to hear voices, only accents.

It may well be what many of them mean when they long for the “good old days” of an America characterized by discrimination, segregation, racial dominance and homogeneity.

Old America is gone

While we may not yet have achieved the level of racial inclusiveness and understanding we aim for, there is no doubt that the broken, fractured, racially divisive nation — the one that many desire — is no longer.

Still, old ways die hard in the hearts and minds of many Americans. Such race hatred is very deep, even if it is not as broad as years gone by.

Retired Bishop White speaks about principled living and making a difference in his 2008 convocation address for Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe. A UMNS file photo by Andra Stevens.
Retired Bishop White speaks about principled living and making a difference in his 2008 convocation address for Africa University in Mutare, Zimbabwe. A UMNS file photo by Andra Stevens.
View in Photo Gallery

Martin, it was in 1936 that your fellow Atlanta native, author Margaret Mitchell, penned a classic work, which some would argue became one of the best movies of all time. She wrote of another era, another way of life that divided Americans into racial castes.

Miss Mitchell was prophetic; that old America is no more. She wrote, “Look for it in books, for it is no more than a dream remembered, a civilization ‘Gone With the Wind.’”

I am persuaded, Martin, on this, the anniversary of your birth, that you would be pleased to know that the recent voices of intolerance who long for an old order, as well as those who may be discouraged or disillusioned in the wake of such hateful rhetoric, are both short-sighted. A new America has emerged and is still emerging. The old one is indeed gone with the wind!

Now Americans of good will, of every race, ethnic group, faith and political expression, will work together to achieve and perfect The Dream.

Happy Birthday.

Woodie

*Retired Bishop White is the denomination’s Endorsing Agent for Chaplain Ministries and bishop-in-residence at Candler School of Theology.

News media contact: Heather Hahn, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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