The right side of history was a phrase I heard listening to the news. I am sure the writer for that news program was intentional in using it. It came at the end of a story about Congressman, John Lewis, who recently died. Lewis was a giant in his times. I know him from the 60s and his involvement in the civil rights movement. He was the youngest speaker at age 23 at the famous March on Washington in 1963 when ML King delivered the amazing, “I Have a Dream” speech. And the saga of John Lewis will go on, even in his death.
John Lewis was born in a little town in Alabama in 1940 to a family of sharecroppers. Young folks today would have a difficult imagining what that would have been like. And yet, African Americans who are born into an inner-city suburb or in a ghetto part of a city can more easily imagine. While they may not be surrounded by sharecroppers, they nevertheless know something about the racism and segregation that Lewis knew. Since the 60s, it is easy to deceive ourselves into thinking our schools are not segregated anymore. But this is simply not true in so many schools across our land.
It is still a fact that your zip code determines with amazing accuracy the likelihood that you will go to college, live without poverty and have good healthcare. It is not predestination in the sense that religious traditions talk about it, but it is a social and economic equivalent. And it tends to be systemic. To say it is systemic is to say that it becomes a generational problem. It can be a bondage which isn’t obvious to the eyesight. And to those of us who don’t live in that situation, it can even be difficult to believe.
So how did someone like Lewis escape the system? I would first suggest that he only escaped his own system. I think it can fairly be argued the system still exists in some form. He found a way out because he was inspired by the movement of the 60s which was led by Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr and others. Lewis was aware of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and other incidents. He managed to get to Nashville to attend Fisk University, one of the historic Black colleges in our land. There he participated in sit-ins at segregated restaurants.
He was identified as one of the “Big Six” civil rights leaders in the country. He helped plan and speak at the famous Washington, which we already referenced. This followed on the heels of his experience as a demonstrator, first arrest in 1960 and ability to marshal the passion and compassion of countless followers to take up the cause. I am old enough to know those days and to have my own memories of participating in demonstrations and hoping that we would change the world.
Those were heady times when we did think we were changing the world. Not only was it the racial issue. There was Vietnam, the Cold War and immigration. I am so sorry, as I look back, to find that we are still talking about these issues as unfinished work. In many ways the work is harder these days because the issues feel more subtle. Of course, there are rules against segregation. But rules can be circumvented by choosing a different zip code in which to live. You can avoid issues by building interstate systems which allow you to whiz by problems and remaining ignorant of the problems right in your own backyard.
We fight in wars today, but we don’t necessarily call them wars. We don’t ask Congress to authorize war. Instead, we get involved in “conflicts.” But we still send troops. The scary part today is seeing some of those same troops sent into our own cities. Law and order become a tricky slope to walk. Sometimes we don’t stop to ask whose law and whose order? It all seems so self-evident from one’s own perspective. But I realize how easy it is to confuse perspective with truth!
John Lewis participated in the march in Selma in 1965 where he was beaten, along with many others, by “troops.” These were troops of the town and the state and these troops felt like they were upholding the laws of the land and they simply were trying to restore law and order. I had friends who were on that Selma march along with Lewis. Their stories were both scary and courageous.
Lewis was elected to Congress in 1986 and served till his death. I counted on him to help me see which side of the law I want to be on. We usually don’t think the law may have different sides, but it often does. Again, it is very easy to assume the way I see it must be the right way to see it. Only with corrective lenses can I see clearly. John Lewis was this kind of lens on our country and our culture. Thank God for his sight and insight.
His legacy appeals to all of us who are living to get on the right side of the law. I will continue to need the help of people like Lewis to help me find that side and to have sufficient courage to stand on that side of the law. It may well ask for some sacrifice, which may be the most likely reason so many of us don’t want to go there.
Oh, it is not that we are against sacrifice. But we prefer others to sacrifice for us…
John Lewis was born in a little town in Alabama in 1940 to a family of sharecroppers. Young folks today would have a difficult imagining what that would have been like. And yet, African Americans who are born into an inner-city suburb or in a ghetto part of a city can more easily imagine. While they may not be surrounded by sharecroppers, they nevertheless know something about the racism and segregation that Lewis knew. Since the 60s, it is easy to deceive ourselves into thinking our schools are not segregated anymore. But this is simply not true in so many schools across our land.
It is still a fact that your zip code determines with amazing accuracy the likelihood that you will go to college, live without poverty and have good healthcare. It is not predestination in the sense that religious traditions talk about it, but it is a social and economic equivalent. And it tends to be systemic. To say it is systemic is to say that it becomes a generational problem. It can be a bondage which isn’t obvious to the eyesight. And to those of us who don’t live in that situation, it can even be difficult to believe.
So how did someone like Lewis escape the system? I would first suggest that he only escaped his own system. I think it can fairly be argued the system still exists in some form. He found a way out because he was inspired by the movement of the 60s which was led by Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr and others. Lewis was aware of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and other incidents. He managed to get to Nashville to attend Fisk University, one of the historic Black colleges in our land. There he participated in sit-ins at segregated restaurants.
He was identified as one of the “Big Six” civil rights leaders in the country. He helped plan and speak at the famous Washington, which we already referenced. This followed on the heels of his experience as a demonstrator, first arrest in 1960 and ability to marshal the passion and compassion of countless followers to take up the cause. I am old enough to know those days and to have my own memories of participating in demonstrations and hoping that we would change the world.
Those were heady times when we did think we were changing the world. Not only was it the racial issue. There was Vietnam, the Cold War and immigration. I am so sorry, as I look back, to find that we are still talking about these issues as unfinished work. In many ways the work is harder these days because the issues feel more subtle. Of course, there are rules against segregation. But rules can be circumvented by choosing a different zip code in which to live. You can avoid issues by building interstate systems which allow you to whiz by problems and remaining ignorant of the problems right in your own backyard.
We fight in wars today, but we don’t necessarily call them wars. We don’t ask Congress to authorize war. Instead, we get involved in “conflicts.” But we still send troops. The scary part today is seeing some of those same troops sent into our own cities. Law and order become a tricky slope to walk. Sometimes we don’t stop to ask whose law and whose order? It all seems so self-evident from one’s own perspective. But I realize how easy it is to confuse perspective with truth!
John Lewis participated in the march in Selma in 1965 where he was beaten, along with many others, by “troops.” These were troops of the town and the state and these troops felt like they were upholding the laws of the land and they simply were trying to restore law and order. I had friends who were on that Selma march along with Lewis. Their stories were both scary and courageous.
Lewis was elected to Congress in 1986 and served till his death. I counted on him to help me see which side of the law I want to be on. We usually don’t think the law may have different sides, but it often does. Again, it is very easy to assume the way I see it must be the right way to see it. Only with corrective lenses can I see clearly. John Lewis was this kind of lens on our country and our culture. Thank God for his sight and insight.
His legacy appeals to all of us who are living to get on the right side of the law. I will continue to need the help of people like Lewis to help me find that side and to have sufficient courage to stand on that side of the law. It may well ask for some sacrifice, which may be the most likely reason so many of us don’t want to go there.
Oh, it is not that we are against sacrifice. But we prefer others to sacrifice for us…
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