A Reading From Dr. Martin Luther King’s Commencement Address
at Oberlin College in 1965:
There are all too many people who, in some great period of social change, fail to achieve the new mental outlooks that the new situation demands. There is nothing more tragic than to sleep through a revolution.
Sermon
As most of you know – I was born here in Statesboro in
1950. I grew up with Jim Crow laws. But of course, I was among those privileged
by those laws. Nevertheless, I
noticed. I’ve shared with this congregation
before my experience at the Dairy Queen in line with my dad when I questioned
the need for two lines. He told me the
colored people were in one line and got chocolate ice cream and that we were
white and got vanilla ice cream in our line.
Of course, I told him I wanted chocolate. He told me that I was white and I got vanilla
and would just have to accept that – because that’s the way things were. And I didn’t question him much about the
differences after that. Jim Crow laws
were not just about separating folks, though.
They were designed to oppress and keep folks in their place by denying
all kinds of privileges. Then in the
60’s and 70’s, with the help of the Civil Rights Movement and the courts –
those laws were thrown out – and Jim Crow was no more – at least not officially
and legally.
But NOW, here’s civil rights activist, author and professor
Michelle Alexander claiming that there is a New Jim Crow --- what’s that
about? I’m going to let you hear this in
her own voice as she shares the major thesis of her book with this 4 ½ minute audio clip from a
talk she gave at our Unitarian Universalist General Assembly. Preceding this clip she shared with her
audience the quote from Dr. King that I shared in our reading this morning
about sleeping through the Civil Rights revolution. And then she shares about
another more recent revolution – a counter- revolution that many of us have
slept through. Stay awake now – and
listen:
“We have not ended
racial caste in America – we have merely redesigned it.”
Michelle
Alexander
Now Alexander’s book is full of wonderful data in narrative
form, and I hope you will read it. But
to make it a little easier for you to grasp what she’s referring to today – I’d
like to share some visuals that I’ve gathered from the internet – primarily
from a non-profit called “Beyond Bars.”
I subscribe to their Facebook page and therefore have these memes pop up
to greet me and challenge me. Fans of
Richard Dawkins will recognize his term meme (spelled m-e-m-e) --- meaning some
construct that reproduces through cultural exchange. And of course, the
biggest use of this term now is with internet memes—usually pictures or charts with
some pithy facts or sayings that help us to visually understand some
concept. Here are a few of these.
Here are the incarceration rates from 1925 to
2008. Why the sudden rise?
Most folks will point to the War on Drugs.
Well, you say maybe its because of an increase in other
crimes – property crimes or violent crimes.
This graph below indicates that is not the case.
Well – what’s race got to do with it? Take a look at this comparison.
Some may ask where have all the young African
American men gone? --- Take a look at this graph – comparing by ages? And of course – when they get out if they are
felons, they face another kind of Jim Crow oppression – perfectly legal.
Are more people of color taking drugs? Here’s a meme
with an interesting statistic.
And, yes, I’ve
checked these out with various research groups.
Well – this is just the way the world is – you say? NO – this is just the way of the USA.
Look at this chart comparing our incarceration rates with
other countries. There IS no comparison.
Here’s a couple of memes that illustrate that.
And these are not for violent crimes. Here’s another meme with a Michelle Alexander
quote:
This one asks what the real cash crop is? Prisoners!
Why don’t many of these folks do something about this
politically? It’s pretty hard to do when you can’t vote!
If none of these have swayed you -- perhaps this one will. "What are the odds that your American dream will end up behind bars?
The effect of the War on Drugs and mass incarceration hit
close to home for me this summer while I was on sabbatical. My son Fred has given me permission to share
anything of his life story that may help others – so I’m going to share a
little bit of this with you today.
This is not a picture of Fred, but this
fellow and Fred were wearing the same outfit recently. He
wore it the first time though – about a decade ago. Fred was arrested for
manufacturing Crystal Meth. He was
deeply addicted himself. He was
fortunate to only spend a little time in jail before being released on
probation to a half-way house in Valdosta – but he was a convicted felon for
life – having used up his “first offender” possibility when he was just in high
school. He married a woman from Valdosta
and stayed clean till recently when their marriage and his work situation went
sour. Because of heated confrontations
with his wife, I encouraged him to leave their home in Flagler Beach, FL where
they had moved – while she came back to get her things. He flew to Texas on August 3 to spend a
couple of weeks with a friend. Two days
later, he was in a federal detention facility in Texas with huge charges that
carried with them 10 years to life in a federal prison because he was the
passenger in the truck pulling a piece of farm equipment that had over a ton
and a half of marijuana hidden in it.
Long story short, he went through hell and we went through hell. He declared that he had no knowledge of what
was in the equipment, but was indicted.
At first – before I knew the consequences – I thought, well, he made a
bad decision in going to Texas and will have to live with it. But then I found out that these federal drug
charges were not like state charges.
There was no probation that let you out early. And indeed since he had previous drug charges
there was a chance for a very long sentence – for him – possibly
life-long. How could this be? My son may have may have a problem with addiction – but he
did not deserve life in prison. And he
was not involved with some drug cartel. He just went out there. So, I hired a lawyer and we spent most of the
rest of my sabbatical going back and forth to Texas – bailing him out then
going for arraignment, pretrial hearings, etc.
And listening to Fred tell what went on and seeing others in that
courtroom with really no chance – no chance at all -- was enough for me to make
sure I no longer stayed on the sidelines of mass incarceration. Of course, Fred was privileged. He had a mom who could bail him out – and a
lawyer who could talk to the prosecuters and convince them that they did not
have a good case against Fred, and it was dropped.
I also have been
given new insight into the prison system through my relationship with my UU
Church of the Larger Fellowship penpal -- Jacob. Jacob is in a prison in California and we’ve
been writing for over a year. How he
remains positive in the midst of what has happened in the prison system is a
miracle. He has shared stories with me
that bring tears to my eyes – and I don’t cry easily.
So why does it seem that nothing is being done?
Well for one thing – because folks who you would think would
normally be upset – have been too silent.
The emphasis on civil rights for many has been on things like the
continuation of affirmative action for those in more elite positions. Fortunately
that is changing. And then those who really care -- like moms and other family members – are often too ashamed to speak up
for their own sons who are in these situations.
I know that feeling.
Meanwhile, this mass incarceration has evolved into a huge
prison industry, with private prisons making a lot of money by keeping prisons
full – and then hiring cheap labor out to companies. And others are making money off of this as
well. And of course they have big
lobbies now to make sure this continues.
Quentin Tarontino recently made a movie that Greg and I saw
over the holidays called Django that was about slavery – and in an interview
with a talk show host, he was bold enough to call compare today’s situation
with slavery. Here are his words about
the today’s prison industry and why it continues to exist.
"All the reasons that they had for keeping this going
are all the same reasons they have for keeping slavery going after the whole
world had pretty much decided that it was immoral. Because it's an industry,
one, what are we gonna do with all these people who are let loose, these black
people let loose, and two, what are we gonna do about all the people who make
money off this industry?"
Michelle Alexander admits that she herself has been asleep
while this has happened.
But now she and others are out clanging bells to wake us
up!
Will we wake up?
Will we SEE what is happening?
Will we work with others to make a difference?
King recited that famous protest song we sang earlier and said:
"We shall overcome. We shall overcome. Deep in my heart I do
believe we shall overcome.
And I believe it because somehow the arc of the moral
universe is long, but it bends towards justice."
Oh, may it be so!
Amen and Blessed Be