mlk day, obama and sharing at Iowa Mennonite

I was asked to share briefly in chapel today to provide some context for the excitement surrounding President Obama's inauguration. Here is what I shared, with a few minor changes.

"America is a dream,
The poet says it was promises.
The people say it is promises-that will come true.
The people do not always say things out loud,
Nor write them down on paper.
The people often hold
Great thoughts in their deepest hearts
And sometimes only blunderingly express them,
Haltingly and stumblinly say them,
And faultily put them into practice.
The people do not always understand each other.
But there is, somewhere there,
Always the trying to understand,
And the trying to say,
'You are a man. Together we our building our land.'"
from Freedoms Plow by Langston Hughes

As I watched several news programs yesterday it became clear that this year MLK day is linked with the inauguration of Barack Obama as our nations forty-fourth President. The reasons for this are probably obvious to most. Today, we have seen and heard some of Dr. King's words. For you young people I want to provide just a bit of context for why the two events are linked. Why yesterday it was not unusual to see a tear in the eyes of reporters or to hear a catch in the voice of commentators as they tried to describe the significance of this weeks events.

Our country was born of contradictions. Lofty ideals of freedom, equality and justice were not evident in the treatment of African Americans, indigineous peoples, and women. 230 some years ago the Declaration of Independence held forth this bold principle, "that all men are created equal." Yet the man who wrote those words owned slaves. Eighty years later, when the Civil War began there were some 4 million people living in slavery in the United States. At the wars end, they were freed, but most faced overt racism, discrimination and lives of poverty. A black man could be lynched, as hundreds were, for no good reason. In his poem, "Let America Be America again," Langston Hughes points out this contradiction when he writes,

"O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")
Hughes

In his 1963 speech given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King shared his dream, "deeply rooted in the American dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of tis creed-we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

In his poem, Harlem, Hughes, asks, "What happens to a dream deferred?" Kings dream that "little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers," was deferred, left to rot and fester. In much of the United States, black children still could not go to school with white children, hotels and restaurants hung signs which said "whites only," blacks were prevented from voting and faced discrimination throughout society.

Though attacked by his detractors as a trouble maker, a communist and unpatriotic, throughout his writings, King called the United States to live up to the ideals it had expressed in its founding documents. His writings can exhibit a patriotic fervor which at times makes this Mennonite a bit nervous. King also invited all peoples to participate in his efforts to promote the spread of human dignity and freedom, much as I think Obama has done. In this they are similar to the best of our leaders and politicians who have inspired us to accomplish tasks we felt were impossible to achieve.

"O, let America be America again--
The land that never has been yet--
And yet must be--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again."
Hughes

In calling the nation to live up to its ideals, King and Obama draw from a long tradition within the African-American community that has been able to see in ways that most of us have not, that America has not lived up to its ideals, and in doing this they have called us to be a better place.

"Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain--
All, all the stretch of these great green states--
And make America again!"
Hughes

So today and tomorrow, whether you like President Obama or not, realize that it is a historic occasion. An African American family will be living in the White House. The same White House that was built by slaves, the White House where Teddy Roosevelt was rebuked for inviting Booker T Washington to dinner, the same White House where for much of our nations history, it meant that if you were black and in the White House, you were probably a butler, a cook or a cleaner.

Realize that for those who confronted the evils of racism, those who faced the fire hoses, attack dogs and billy clubs wielded by the white establishment; realize that for those who suffered daily from racism and discrimination, realize that tomorrow is a symbol that the dream is no longer being deferred. The dream is no longer festering or threatening to explode.

If I were asked to write something for the inauguration speech I would want to refer to the end of Langston Hughes poem, "Freedoms Plow."

"A long time ago,
An enslaved people heading toward freedom
Made up a song:
Keep Your Hand On the Plow! Hold On!
The plow plowed a new furrow
Across the field of history,
Into that furrow the freedom seed was dropped.
From that seed a tree grew, is growing, will ever grow.
That tree is for everybody,
For all America, for all the world.
May its branches spread and shelter grow
Until all races and peoples know its shade.
KEEP YOUR HAND ON THE PLOW! HOLD ON!
Hughes

May the words, the work and the dreams of King inspire us to keep our hands on the plow and to hold on.

marcus

Bill Moyer's on Israel and Gaza

A cousin pointed out this video to me from Bill Moyer's Journal. I missed it Friday night because I was asked to fill in to drive the bus. The commentary along with the images are powerful and I wish more people would see what he has to say. Unfortunately Moyer is not one of those television pundits who will yell, berate or humiliate his guests, or go for the easy joke. Anyway, I hope I enclosed the link correctly. I didn't do it right the first time - I'll try again. I'm not figuring this out and I need to do some other things. Here is a link where you can see the segment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1Zunx_goz4

Gaza

A couple of folks have asked what I think about what is going on in Gaza. So, this is my opinion coming as it does, from the middle of a cornfield.

Gaza is the small strip of land towards the southern end of Israel. It is home to approximately 1.5 million Palestinians. From what I read in news accounts, access to Gaza is controlled primarily by Israel though there is one border crossing under Egyptian control. Israel controls the electricity, gas and many of the other items considered to be essential by most people. I have heard the area described as a large prison though perhaps "reservation" might be a more appropriate term. In the past year I have met Palestinians in Iowa City who cannot return home to visit their families in Gaza because they are certain one of two things would happen. Either Israel would not let them enter Gaza and they might be detained, or they would be allowed into Gaza, but would never receive permission to leave to return to Iowa City to continue their studies.

The area has been controlled by Hamas since they won elections held in 2006. Hamas is generally described by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization. When I visited the West Bank, we learned that Hamas has also worked to provide basic social services to Palestinians, one of the reasons they have been able to create and maintain political support. We were also told many times that most Palestinians did not want to hold elections in 2006, but did so at the insistence of the Bush administration. When Hamas won, seemingly surprising Bush and Condeleeza Rice, the U.S. government refused to recognize Hamas, making the U.S. look like hypocrites in the eyes of many Palestinians. "You force us to have elections, then refuse to accept who we choose and you call this democracy?" ( I didn't have the heart to explain the 2000 election, the electoral college, or the supreme courts intervention)

So you have a situation where 1.5 million Palestinians are kept as virtual prisoners and where according to Time magazine unemployment in Gaza is 49%. Is it any wonder there is frustration, bitterness, and the desire to strike at those who keep you oppressed? Since 2004 Hamas has chosen to launch homemade rockets into nearby Israeli settlements, killing 23 Israeli citizens. Just in case any one might be confused, I do not condone violence, or in this case shooting missiles, especially at civilians, but I think I can understand why some Palestinians might want to shoot off rockets hoping to hit Israeli's.

Unfortunately when a group resorts to violence, a violent action often results. Last week Israel began bombing sites in Gaza and today they sent in ground troops. The death toll quickly mounted as Palestinians died in the bombings. Today the number of Palestinian deaths over the last week reached the 500 mark. Four Israeli's have died this week as a result of rockets fired by Palestinians.

It is frustrating to hear President Bush lay the blame for this weeks actions squarely on Hamas. Today the U.S. made it even worse, rejecting a UN vote/plan to encourage a ceasefire. It seems odd to me that the Palestinians, the weakest of the groups in this conflict are blamed for causing the violence. It is like blaming African-Americans for causing trouble during the Civil Rights movement, or criticizing Native Americans for the violence which resulted in their deaths or forced removal to reservations.

It is frustrating to know that planes and helicopters produced in the U.S. and paid for with U.S. tax dollars are being used to drop bombs or to fire rockets into Gaza.
It is frustrating to read the celebratory articles proclaiming the death of an Hamas leader in big headlines, and then to read, in small print that the bomb killed eighteen others including his young daughters.

It also brings to mind another question people often asked me after my CPT trip. Are there any Palestinians who are pacifists? The answer is yes, there are many Palestinians who practice nonviolence every day, but like most humans, the vast majority see violence as quick, efficient, and the only way to deal with problems. The U.S. certainly has no business talking to Palestinians about nonviolence. The US has already claimed control of the hypocritical high ground.

Still, I wonder what would happen if a Palestinian leader could lead a mass nonviolent movement similar to the way Gandhi did in India. Even though the rockets fired by Hamas are inaccurate and rarely deadly, they are violent and the Palestinians lose the moral high ground they might otherwise easily claim. If Palestinian protests in Gaza had been completely nonviolent I think it would have been difficult, if not impossible for Israel to respond militarily. In fact, I think they would struggle with how to respond to a mass nonviolent movement. The British struggled during the Indian independence movement. State and local governments throughout the south weren't sure how to respond when African-Americans held nonviolent protests and actions.

It would be nice to see the U.S take the lead to bring about a peaceful resolution to the situation, however I don't see that happening any time soon. President Bush is in "coasting mode" and he has yet to say no to anything Israel wants or does and I don't expect him to change now. It would be nice to hear something from Obama but then there isn't much he can do until after inauguration. Even then, my guess is that he has other issues he would prefer to focus on first as he begins his presidential term.