Remembering Dr. King & Realizing the Dream
Posted Friday, January 15 2010 @ 07:06 AM by MLP Admin
On January 18, 2010 we are called to remember the life,
teachings and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and
the Civil Rights Movement. Over 100 countries
celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
More Light Presbyterians is committed to ending racism along with removing sexism, heterosexism and homophobia from the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the body of Christ.
Today, we call all Presbyterians to study for the first time, or again, the teachings, sermons and writings of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his challenge to end prejudice and discrimination against African-Americans and their families.
Today, we call upon all Presbyterians to take seriously the life-taking force of racism within our Church, communities and the world… and for those of us who are white, to be mindful of white privilege and internalized racism within us.
We have much to be grateful for and to learn from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King, The King Center in Atlanta, the Civil Rights Movement and the Women's Movement, to be sure. What are some of the parallels and lessons for us, for the Pro-LGBT Equality Movement in the Presbyterian Church (USA)?
Prejudice and discrimination distort the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and prevents people from knowing that they are children of God, created in the image of God and unconditionally loved by God. Oppression of others affects all of us, for we are all the Body of Christ and one human family. Oppression affects the soul of the Church.
I was in third grade when Dr. King gave his historic "I Have a Dream" speech at the March on Washington in 1963. It would be years later before I would be taught about Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement. Growing up in southern Louisiana, white privilege shielded me from learning about Dr. King and the turmoil of that day; but it did not innoculate me from internalized racism. When I was a child, I do not know if my parents and the other adults at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Sulphur, Louisiana spoke about Dr. King, racism and the Civil Rights Movement. They were good people and faithful Presbyterians, and my guess is that their response to Dr. King and the March on Washington was a prevailing silence.
Now is the time… Dr. King said over and over again in his "I Have A Dream" speech on that day in our Nation’s Capital in 1963. What did Dr. King have to say about time itself?
"First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. 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.'"Letter from Birmingham Jail as found in A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., p. 295.
"The hour has come for everybody, for all institutions of the public sector and the private sector to work to get rid of racism. And now if we are to do it we must honestly admit certain things and get rid of certain myths that have constantly been disseminated all over our nation. One is the myth of time. It is the notion that only time can solve the problem of racial injustice. And there are those who often sincerely say to the Negro and his allies in the white community, 'Why don't you slow up? Stop pushing things so fast. Only time can solve the problem. And if you will just be nice and patient and continue to pray, in a hundred or two hundred years the problem will work itself out.' There is an answer to that myth. It is that time is neutral. It can be used either constructively or destructively. And I am sorry to say this morning that I am absolutely convinced that the forces of ill will in our nation, the extreme rightists of our nation - the people on the wrong side - have used time much more effectively than the forces of good will."
From a sermon titled Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution delivered March 31, 1968. It was Dr. King's last Sunday morning sermon. The quote can be found in A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., p. 270.
Now is the time for change and healing for our Church, not some far-off distant place when enough people are “comfortable enough” with that change. We can learn from the Presbyterian Church’s journey to confront racism, sexism and heterosexism. Our Church was wrong about African-Americans and women by misusing the Bible and church law to support prejudice and discrimination.
Moreover, the Church is wrong now in its exclusion and discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons and their families... and how we misuse the Bible and church law once again to do so. The vision and inspiration of Dr. King offers us a way out by holding up the life, teachings and Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In 1963, Dr. King held up for us a Dream of a nation and world without prejudice and division, a world that recognizes the dignity and sacred worth of all human beings, a world of justice and peace. The dream and vision of Dr. King reflect the life and teachings of Jesus. It’s time for King’s Dream of our nation, Church and world to be realized. Let's do it together.