MLK Day Remembered: Racism, Inconvenient Time
“I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, ‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action;’ who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a ‘more convenient season.’ Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”—Martin Luther King Jr, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” April 16, 1963.
I receive letters, emails, and blogs from friends encouraging me to speak against racism. I also remember being at a dream retreat, where my spiritual director told the story several times about Jacob’s dream of a heavenly ladder. Jacob renames the place of his dream Bethel, the house of God or God is present. I remember Bethel AME Church in Little Rock, where I fell in love with that African American congregation. They taught us about racism and poverty when I was a deacon at Trinity Cathedral in Little Rock. We plan with Bethel a celebration of the anniversary of the 1957 desegregation of Central High School. Later, our daughter and two grandchildren would attend that historical school.
I recently participated in a prayer breakfast at our sister St. Mark Baptist Church to celebrate MLK’s birthday with my spiritual director. Being there was empowering for both of us.
Yesterday, people worldwide celebrated the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. on the third Monday of January. His actual birthday was January 15th, 1929.
Our liturgical calendar also honors MLK on his death on April 4th, 1968. I feel ownership in his death, since I was a senior medical student in Memphis when he was assassinated. At that time, my world focused solely on finishing medical school. His death made it more difficult for me to get to the hospital, since Memphis was briefly under a curfew and martial law.
I do remember that the dean of St. Mary’s Cathedral carried the processional cross from the cathedral and marched with other ministers in Memphis to Mayor Loeb’s office, petitioning to end the injustices that brought King to Memphis. I also remember that Dean Dimmick’s speaking out with his feet had significant consequences for him at the cathedral, losing nearly half of its members.
So here we are over fifty years later. How do we carry that cross, as previously modeled for us, walking out into the streets, homes, schools, hospitals, and countryside, speaking and acting the truth with love against violence, hatred, and injustices still present? The examples of MLK and Dean Dimmick would tell us that nonviolence and love are still the way. The events of recent years, recent weeks, remind us how overcoming violence with violence never is the answer. We are called to pray on our knees, to pray standing and walking as we listen to so many in our country who are hurting.
I am a storyteller. I share my story with you, but especially with our children and grandchildren, as we surround them with love and prayers, hoping that we can empower them to do a better job than we have done.
