Monday, December 29, 2014
Ella Baker: the Humble Intellectual, the Master Teacher, the Community Organizer
Ella Jo Baker, the Humble Intellectual, the Master Teacher, the Community Organizer.
Ella Baker, though a bi-cultural individual, remained anchored in the poor, oppressed black community she grew up in. By orthodox standards, she was a unorthodox teacher, usually the smartest/wisest person in the room who
*usually listened more than she lectured
*asked questions more than she gave answers
*genuinely believed that even illiterate poor had valuable insights and wisdom
*understood that emotional conflicts could reveal depth or lack of understanding
*that strong emotions could reveal a person's true passion
Baker viewed traditional teacher training with suspicion because she noted that after the training was completed "anyone with spirit [creativity and curiosity] would be curbed." So she appeared to many to be a radical rebel which in many good ways, she was. She was a teacher-activist who was always learning much from her pupils. Baker was always larger than any single ideology.
Joyce Ladner said of Baker: "She was a quiet presence in a way. What she did was to distill, sum up and take [discussions] to the next level."
Barbara Ransby asserted: "In Baker's view, people had many of the answers within themselves; teachers and leaders simply had to facilitate the process of tapping and framing that knowledge, of drawing it out."
For Baker, the best knowledge came from collective wisdom, not ego-driven knowledge. Leaders come and go so the people must be or become their own leaders, sooner or later. She had both a moral and intellectual presence which came from her Baptist mother, but she never pushed this on her followers.
She was suspicious of southern preachers who too often constituted a "verbal society" with minimal action. John Perkins agreed; for the most part he preferred to work with Christian businessmen rather than preachers in community development. In highly churched Mississippi, neither the white church nor the black church did much to challenge and stop oppression.
Though a powerful speaker herself, in general she was suspicious of eloquent oratory, too much of which was hot air with little action. Baker seldom cited an author nor recommended books to read. And she never wrote a book.
In summary, Ransby writes: "Baker's political philosophy emphasized the importance of tapping oppressed communities for their knowledge, strength, and leadership in constructing models for social change. She took seriously and tried to understand the ways in which poor black people saw and analyzed the world. And her own base of knowledge came primarily from these same communities [even though she had a college degree]. . . . she was an 'organic intellectual'. Part of her work as a writer, orator, and analyst was not to invent or impose ideas on the masses but rather to help them, as she put it, 'see their own ideas'."
Most American education is too white, middle and upper class, therefore of limited value to the oppressed poor; in fact, it may be part of their oppression. So we need "to think in radical terms."
Americans need to rethink the Scriptures in radical terms. For example,
David Chappell, in his 2014 book Waking From the Dream, discusses the 20 years following Martin Luther King's assassination in 1968. This time period is normally treated by historians as a time of cessation, decline, failure in terms of civil rights. But Chappell argues that the civil rights struggle continued with some significant successes led by Corretta Scott King, Jesse Jackson and many other of King's colleagues. For example, "exactly one week after Martin Luther King's murder, President Lyndon Johnson signed the third great civil rights act of the twentieth century. . . . the Civil Rights Act of 1968, the Fair Housing Act." But strangely, this significant legislation "has been almost completely forgotten."
Chappell argues that the civil rights movement "both grew and splintered," but the struggle continued.
In 1974, Corretta King and labor unions began a vigorous push for full employment legislation. Had the Humphrey-Hawkins bill been passed as originally conceived, it would have been "more radical than any that had passed in the 1960s. . . . required a complete transformation of economic policy, spreading the direct benefits of federal intervention to working and poor people." Though watered down, it was signed into law in 1978.
Jesse Jackson's two unsuccessful runs for president in the 1980s did keep some of the civil rights goals in the public conversation.
But during this same 20 year time period, the forces of oppression were hard at work, according to Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow. These new systems of oppression such as mass incarceration of young black and Latino males exploded under President Reagan aggressive leadership and continued under Presidents Bush, Clinton and Bush. Some of the hard won civil rights victories were lost or watered down.
While we must applaud the heroic efforts of the abolitionists and Lincoln to abolish slavery and the equally heroic efforts of King and Baker to abolish much of Jim Crow segregation, by and large, the American church catastrophically failed to become deeply engaged in abolishing American systems of oppression. To expand and maintain justice, the church all across American needed to become active; it failed to do so. Remarkable prophetic figures can accomplish a lot, but the forces of oppression quickly reorganize and redesign new systems of oppression. The American church should quickly identify and oppose such systems of oppression, but it does so slowly, if at all. So mass incarceration is going strong in 2014 with little opposition from the church.
The American church does not have a carefully constructed biblical theology of oppression and justice. Therefore, throughout all of American history its record is more often either toleration of or participation in systems of oppression rather than the biblically informed and aggressive pursuit of justice. Our seminaries have failed to prepare our pastors in this area.
The high wall of ethnocentrism/oppression/poverty was erected by the Puritans and the founding fathers. From time to time, efforts by abolitionists and civil rights leaders have knocked holes in the wall, but the wall still stands and some of the holes have been filled in.
Or to use another analogy that King himself used: "I saw my dream turn into a nightmare." See Martin and Malcolm in America: A Dream or a Nightmare. For the most part, the very long American nightmare that King referred to in December 1967 continues down to today, 2014. Even in 2014, the American church stills preaches and practices a gutted gospel, gutted of oppression and justice; therefore it is powerless to tear down that Wall, to end the long social nightmare.
What does a half gospel, a gutted gospel look like? On December 24, I attended a Christmas eve service. Isaiah 9:6 was highlighted; Isaiah 9:7, an equally important part of the Messianic prophecy, was ignored. A church that preaches Ephesians. 2:8-9 but ignores 2:10 guts the gospel. A church that preaches John 3:16 but ignores Luke 4:18-19 guts the gospel. A church that preaches Jesus Christ but ignores the kingdom of God guts the gospel (Acts 8:12). A church that preaches the cross but ignores the kingdom guts the gospel. A church that practices spirituality without justice guts the gospel. A church that practices faith without works guts the gospel.
Does your favorite theologian identify with the poor and oppressed or come from the ranks of the oppressed poor? Very few white theologians do so, so they are immediately suspect in my eyes. For good reason, they have left biblical oppression out of their theology. If oppression were central, they would have to repent or appear to be hypocrites or they are social deists---uninvolved. Better read Tom Skinner or Barbara Skinner or John Perkins or Martin Luther King.
Even if race, racism, prejudice and discrimination magically disappeared overnight, ethnocentrism (cultural superiority), economic oppression, and flawed religion (neglect of justice, no releasing of the oppressed), would keep all non-Anglo ethnic groups in their inferior place. See Race and Manifest Destiny. Will the church ever move beyond partial answers to deep solutions?
Friday, December 19, 2014
Haiti, Cuba, and the Dangerous United States
History of Haiti---In Broad Strokes
In Luke 1:53 (The Message), Mary is speaking, echoing the Old Testament teaching on the Sabbath and Jubilee justice years:
"The starving poor sat down to a banquet, the callous rich were left out in the cold."
From Randall Robinson, An Unbroken Agony; quoting Canadian Denis Paradis: "the [Haitian] rich are so rich. . . . " Robinson summarizes Haitian history in this way: Haiti is "arguably the Caribbean's most racially segregated and class-riven society." In 2004, Robinson wrote: "Slavery had long since ended, but the country's wealth remained concentrated in the closed fists of the very few whose families and descendants had seized and held onto it since the early 1700s."
From Acts 4:32-35, The Message:
"The whole congregation of believers was united as one. . . . They didn't even claim ownership of their own possessions. No one said, 'That's mine, you can't have it.' They shared everything. . . . not a person among them was needy."
Haiti has been oppressed for 500 years by "Christian" nations:
1500-1700 Spanish oppression: Indian genocide and African slavery.
1700-1804 French oppression: African slaves.
1804-1900+ French oppression: Debt slavery.
1804-1900 Joint U.S. and French oppression
1900-2014 U.S. the dominant oppressor; Haiti was our political and economic puppet; our rich allied with the Haitian rich.
When the Haitian slaves revolted and threw out the French, the slave trade from Africa as well as the British and American slavery was going strong. The new Haitian nation was ostracized and feared by all western nations, but especially so in America. American slave owners feared a similar revolt in America. For the past 200 years, America has tried to control, directly or indirectly, Haitian politics and economics. For our benefit, with the Haitian oppressed poor the victims. Domination and dictatorships prevented democracy from taking hold.
Rebuild and Release
Luke 4:18 calls the church to "release the oppressed." Christian Community Development excels at rebuilding poor communities, but normally it does little to pressure the rich oppressors to release the oppressed. Amos, Isaiah and Jeremiah, also Jesus (read all of Luke) as well as Gandhi and King did pressure the rich oppressors to release the oppressed. In order to end the unbroken agony of Haiti's poor, the church must do both: rebuild poor communities and also release the oppressed. The unrepentant rich must be exposed and challenged.
Contrary to popular and scholarly opinion, systems of oppression in both Haiti and the U.S., really don't get eliminated, only redesigned. The redesigned system remains in the control of the rich oppressors. The church has not followed Jesus' order to release the oppressed. Far too often, religious people have participated in the oppression (the Temple and the Pharisees), honored the oppressors (James 2), or ignored the oppression (spirituality without justice, Isaiah 58).
Releasing the poor by doing CCD is a good and necessary reform; releasing the oppressed requires revolutionary transformation, a radical leveling of the socioeconomic patterns (Sabbath year, Jubilee year). President Lincoln freed the slaves, a necessary reform, but he did not destroy the ideology of white supremacy, white superiority. Lincoln himself believed in white superiority; his ideal solution to the 'race problem' was to send freed slaves back to Africa, not to send white oppressors back to Europe. Lincoln never repented and changed his belief in white superiority; neither did most white abolitionists.
Paul Farmer has written a book on the history of Haiti entitled The Uses of Haiti, 1994; the following excerpts are from his book:
Yolanda Jean, a Haitian refuge detained on Guantanamo, is quoted: "look at what [the U.S.] did to us in 1915 [Marine occupation], and I'd respond 'But that was a long time ago, and things have changed.' And yet I've come to see that there really hasn't been any change. . . . We are not human to them. . . . They use us as they see fit."
"The Uses of Haiti is a critique of U.S. foreign policy toward the [oppressed] poor not only of Haiti, but of all of Latin America."
Jonathan Kozol said this about The Uses of Haiti: it "reveals the limitless brutality with which the richest nation in the Western Hemisphere has fostered misery and death within the poorest." He uses words such as "ruthlessness," "collusion with the agents of state terror," and "crushing Haiti's people." Sounds like Pharaoh in Exodus 1.
Noam Chomsky says: "It tells the truth about what has been happening in Haiti, and the U.S. role in its bitter fate."
"Haiti was once a virtual paradise, rich in resources. . . . now it is the very symbol of hopelessness and despair."
"Woodrow Wilson's invasion of Haiti . . . reinstituted virtual slavery " for 19 years.
"Most journalistic writing is filled with potent myths, distortions, half-truths."
"The U.S. and Haiti are something other than the richest and poorest countries in the hemisphere; they are also its two oldest republics. Rarely, in fact, have two countries been as closely linked. Haitians, by and large, are fully aware of this historical fact. But the citizens of the U.S., by and large, are oblivious to these links."
"Despite its nominal independence, Haiti could not escape the shackles of foreign domination."
Thomas Jefferson once said, "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just."
CUBA AND THE UNITED STATES
Are Haiti and Cuba geographically much too close to the U.S. for their own good? I am afraid so; past history is a tragic story of domination, exploitation and oppression. Without U.S. repentance and change, which is highly unlikely, the future is likely to be more of the same. Despite pious, self-righteous talk about exporting democracy, the reality will be domination; unjust actions speak much louder than eloquent words about freedom and democracy.
From 1492 to 1902, Spain dominated and exploited Cuba.
From 1902 to 1959, the U.S dominated along with internal dictators.
From 1959 to 2014, the Castros and Communism.
From Indian genocide to African enslavement (ended in 1896). Prior to the Spanish American war, "Cuba was particularly dependent on the United States which bought 82 percent of its sugar." In the 1930s, the Spanish made up 10 to 20 percent of Cuba's population. "By 1895, these capital investments [U.S.] totaled $50 million dollars in sugar, tobacco and mining. Although Cuba remained Spanish politically, economically it became increasingly dependent on the United States." In 1898, Congress declared war on Spain to "liberate Cuba."
Thomas Jefferson, the American tyrant who owned hundreds of slave, probably raped slave women, initiated the idea of the Indian Removal Act as early as 1776 resulting in many Trails of Tears. Jefferson also wanted to "annex" (conquer and colonize) Cuba. At the same time, he had the gall to criticize British tyranny, to write a declaration of independence from British tyranny. Utter hypocrisy! The tyrant demanding freedom at the same time he was oppressing others.
I am glad T.J. was a deist, not a theist; I would be embarrassed to have him as a fellow theist. But the Puritans were theists equally as ethnocentric and oppressive so what difference does it make.
The Revolutionary War replaced one set of tyrants with another set of tyrants, a British WASP elite with an American WASP elite, a government of the elite, by the elite and for the elite; more plutocracy than democracy. So Cuba is in great danger of the American 1 percent swallowing it up economically and indirectly politically. The Caribbean, after all, is an American lake with all the islands our pawns, our puppets. Neo-colonialism make borders quite irrelevant.
Repentance by the self-righteous American nation is quite rare; president Carter is one exception; he did give the Canal back to Panama. But I am afraid that Cuba will have to make an unpleasant choice between neo-colonialism and communism. I doubt that the U.S. will remain neutral. Cuba is too tempting a materialistic target. The U.S. will cast a huge dark shadow over Cuba, dimming the bright tropical sun.
I will let the Reverend Bill McGill, Afro American pastor from Des Moines, Iowa, have the final word (1996):
"The Christian Coalition should stop preaching the lie that this country was founded on 'Christian' principles and values, and teach their children that only a godless people would be responsible for Indian genocide and African enslavement."
So beware, Cuba and Haiti. Be very wary of the endless, pious propaganda about America being a Christian nation. It never has been; it is not now. It is a godless, pseudo Christian nation. A few scattered biblical followers of Jesus Christ and his just kingdom, but until there is massive repentance and restitution on the scale of the city of Nineveh, God can not and will not bless America.
America, do justice or face judgment; the time is short.
In Luke 1:53 (The Message), Mary is speaking, echoing the Old Testament teaching on the Sabbath and Jubilee justice years:
"The starving poor sat down to a banquet, the callous rich were left out in the cold."
From Randall Robinson, An Unbroken Agony; quoting Canadian Denis Paradis: "the [Haitian] rich are so rich. . . . " Robinson summarizes Haitian history in this way: Haiti is "arguably the Caribbean's most racially segregated and class-riven society." In 2004, Robinson wrote: "Slavery had long since ended, but the country's wealth remained concentrated in the closed fists of the very few whose families and descendants had seized and held onto it since the early 1700s."
From Acts 4:32-35, The Message:
"The whole congregation of believers was united as one. . . . They didn't even claim ownership of their own possessions. No one said, 'That's mine, you can't have it.' They shared everything. . . . not a person among them was needy."
Haiti has been oppressed for 500 years by "Christian" nations:
1500-1700 Spanish oppression: Indian genocide and African slavery.
1700-1804 French oppression: African slaves.
1804-1900+ French oppression: Debt slavery.
1804-1900 Joint U.S. and French oppression
1900-2014 U.S. the dominant oppressor; Haiti was our political and economic puppet; our rich allied with the Haitian rich.
When the Haitian slaves revolted and threw out the French, the slave trade from Africa as well as the British and American slavery was going strong. The new Haitian nation was ostracized and feared by all western nations, but especially so in America. American slave owners feared a similar revolt in America. For the past 200 years, America has tried to control, directly or indirectly, Haitian politics and economics. For our benefit, with the Haitian oppressed poor the victims. Domination and dictatorships prevented democracy from taking hold.
Rebuild and Release
Luke 4:18 calls the church to "release the oppressed." Christian Community Development excels at rebuilding poor communities, but normally it does little to pressure the rich oppressors to release the oppressed. Amos, Isaiah and Jeremiah, also Jesus (read all of Luke) as well as Gandhi and King did pressure the rich oppressors to release the oppressed. In order to end the unbroken agony of Haiti's poor, the church must do both: rebuild poor communities and also release the oppressed. The unrepentant rich must be exposed and challenged.
Contrary to popular and scholarly opinion, systems of oppression in both Haiti and the U.S., really don't get eliminated, only redesigned. The redesigned system remains in the control of the rich oppressors. The church has not followed Jesus' order to release the oppressed. Far too often, religious people have participated in the oppression (the Temple and the Pharisees), honored the oppressors (James 2), or ignored the oppression (spirituality without justice, Isaiah 58).
Releasing the poor by doing CCD is a good and necessary reform; releasing the oppressed requires revolutionary transformation, a radical leveling of the socioeconomic patterns (Sabbath year, Jubilee year). President Lincoln freed the slaves, a necessary reform, but he did not destroy the ideology of white supremacy, white superiority. Lincoln himself believed in white superiority; his ideal solution to the 'race problem' was to send freed slaves back to Africa, not to send white oppressors back to Europe. Lincoln never repented and changed his belief in white superiority; neither did most white abolitionists.
Paul Farmer has written a book on the history of Haiti entitled The Uses of Haiti, 1994; the following excerpts are from his book:
Yolanda Jean, a Haitian refuge detained on Guantanamo, is quoted: "look at what [the U.S.] did to us in 1915 [Marine occupation], and I'd respond 'But that was a long time ago, and things have changed.' And yet I've come to see that there really hasn't been any change. . . . We are not human to them. . . . They use us as they see fit."
"The Uses of Haiti is a critique of U.S. foreign policy toward the [oppressed] poor not only of Haiti, but of all of Latin America."
Jonathan Kozol said this about The Uses of Haiti: it "reveals the limitless brutality with which the richest nation in the Western Hemisphere has fostered misery and death within the poorest." He uses words such as "ruthlessness," "collusion with the agents of state terror," and "crushing Haiti's people." Sounds like Pharaoh in Exodus 1.
Noam Chomsky says: "It tells the truth about what has been happening in Haiti, and the U.S. role in its bitter fate."
"Haiti was once a virtual paradise, rich in resources. . . . now it is the very symbol of hopelessness and despair."
"Woodrow Wilson's invasion of Haiti . . . reinstituted virtual slavery " for 19 years.
"Most journalistic writing is filled with potent myths, distortions, half-truths."
"The U.S. and Haiti are something other than the richest and poorest countries in the hemisphere; they are also its two oldest republics. Rarely, in fact, have two countries been as closely linked. Haitians, by and large, are fully aware of this historical fact. But the citizens of the U.S., by and large, are oblivious to these links."
"Despite its nominal independence, Haiti could not escape the shackles of foreign domination."
Thomas Jefferson once said, "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just."
CUBA AND THE UNITED STATES
Are Haiti and Cuba geographically much too close to the U.S. for their own good? I am afraid so; past history is a tragic story of domination, exploitation and oppression. Without U.S. repentance and change, which is highly unlikely, the future is likely to be more of the same. Despite pious, self-righteous talk about exporting democracy, the reality will be domination; unjust actions speak much louder than eloquent words about freedom and democracy.
From 1492 to 1902, Spain dominated and exploited Cuba.
From 1902 to 1959, the U.S dominated along with internal dictators.
From 1959 to 2014, the Castros and Communism.
From Indian genocide to African enslavement (ended in 1896). Prior to the Spanish American war, "Cuba was particularly dependent on the United States which bought 82 percent of its sugar." In the 1930s, the Spanish made up 10 to 20 percent of Cuba's population. "By 1895, these capital investments [U.S.] totaled $50 million dollars in sugar, tobacco and mining. Although Cuba remained Spanish politically, economically it became increasingly dependent on the United States." In 1898, Congress declared war on Spain to "liberate Cuba."
Thomas Jefferson, the American tyrant who owned hundreds of slave, probably raped slave women, initiated the idea of the Indian Removal Act as early as 1776 resulting in many Trails of Tears. Jefferson also wanted to "annex" (conquer and colonize) Cuba. At the same time, he had the gall to criticize British tyranny, to write a declaration of independence from British tyranny. Utter hypocrisy! The tyrant demanding freedom at the same time he was oppressing others.
I am glad T.J. was a deist, not a theist; I would be embarrassed to have him as a fellow theist. But the Puritans were theists equally as ethnocentric and oppressive so what difference does it make.
The Revolutionary War replaced one set of tyrants with another set of tyrants, a British WASP elite with an American WASP elite, a government of the elite, by the elite and for the elite; more plutocracy than democracy. So Cuba is in great danger of the American 1 percent swallowing it up economically and indirectly politically. The Caribbean, after all, is an American lake with all the islands our pawns, our puppets. Neo-colonialism make borders quite irrelevant.
Repentance by the self-righteous American nation is quite rare; president Carter is one exception; he did give the Canal back to Panama. But I am afraid that Cuba will have to make an unpleasant choice between neo-colonialism and communism. I doubt that the U.S. will remain neutral. Cuba is too tempting a materialistic target. The U.S. will cast a huge dark shadow over Cuba, dimming the bright tropical sun.
I will let the Reverend Bill McGill, Afro American pastor from Des Moines, Iowa, have the final word (1996):
"The Christian Coalition should stop preaching the lie that this country was founded on 'Christian' principles and values, and teach their children that only a godless people would be responsible for Indian genocide and African enslavement."
So beware, Cuba and Haiti. Be very wary of the endless, pious propaganda about America being a Christian nation. It never has been; it is not now. It is a godless, pseudo Christian nation. A few scattered biblical followers of Jesus Christ and his just kingdom, but until there is massive repentance and restitution on the scale of the city of Nineveh, God can not and will not bless America.
America, do justice or face judgment; the time is short.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Wanted: another executive order on mass incarceration
WANTED: Another Presidential Executive Order on Mass Incarceration
Just as President Lincoln issued an executive order ending slavery, so President Obama should issue another executive order ending the racial profiling surrounding the War on Drugs.
In a December 1967 speech, Martin Luther King said that his dream for America had turned into a nightmare. If King were alive today, he would agree that the War on Drugs (begun in 1982) is a nightmare for black families and communities. This War against Black and Latino males is a national crisis which must be stopped immediately. Therefore, President Obama should issue an executive order suspending the War on Drugs until the massive racial profiling involved is ended. Before funds are restored to the criminal justice system, each police department with more than 20 officers would have to submit a plan showing how racial profiling has been stopped.
Case in point: In 2008, Iowa had a 2 and 24 problem. Two percent of Iowa's population was black, but 24 percent of Iowa's prison population was black. Even if?? Iowa's black population were twice as criminal as the white population, the percentage would only be 4 percent. For me, it is obvious that massive racial profiling is involved; Iowa should be required to prove it has stopped racial profiling.
For over 30 years, unjust racial profiling has been part of the War on Drugs which is really a War on Black and Latino males. This is a social crisis, an injustice implemented by the criminal justice system, approved by Congress and a President, and legitimated by Supreme Court decisions. This is an emergency which must stop by executive action. For documentation, read The New Jim Crow (2010) by Michelle Alexander; also her New York Times op-ed (November 26, 2014) entitled "Telling My Son About Ferguson."
At the same time, or prior to the presidential executive order, each denomination headquarters should also issue an executive order to all pastors: preach the following four sermons:
1. Biblical teaching on oppression with a focus on the New Testament.
2. Biblical teaching on justice with a focus on the New Testament.
3. How the Holy Spirit can empower the church to incarnate the kingdom of God as justice among the oppressed poor.
4. A plan showing how each local church will be involved in ending racial profiling tied to mass incarceration.
Justifying Oppression and Blaming the Victim
Evil white oppressors are masters at diverting blame from themselves and putting it on the supposedly defective and dysfunctional oppressed. The black oppressed are described as lazy, inferior, sub-human and rebellious. Southern preachers ignored the extensive biblical teaching on oppression and justice and the call for Christians to release the oppressed. Instead they argued that slavery was good and necessary, even God's will, based on a few New Testament proof texts that appeared to justify slavery.
The Scriptures make it crystal clear that oppressing people who are created in the image of God is an evil akin to idolatry. Yet white American theologians and preachers have been largely silent on the topic of oppression thereby leaving the door wide open for oppression to continue. Even abolitionists only went halfway---freedom--- and did not push equally hard for economic justice for freed slaves. Result: freed blacks were soon re-enslaved by segregation and sharecropping.
The American church has often tolerated or even participated in oppression---from slavery to segregation to mass incarceration. The silence by the white church and white culture means that the false propaganda from oppressors that blames the inferior oppressed goes largely unchallenged. Again and again, even from Christians, the comments I have heard fall into a 'blame the oppressed' for rioting in Ferguson category. Seldom is a 'blame the white oppressor' viewpoint expressed. Just as slavery was justified by white southern preachers, so today most white Americans justify mass incarceration, appealing to the stereotype of the 'criminalblackman'.
Just as President Lincoln issued an executive order ending slavery, so President Obama should issue another executive order ending the racial profiling surrounding the War on Drugs.
In a December 1967 speech, Martin Luther King said that his dream for America had turned into a nightmare. If King were alive today, he would agree that the War on Drugs (begun in 1982) is a nightmare for black families and communities. This War against Black and Latino males is a national crisis which must be stopped immediately. Therefore, President Obama should issue an executive order suspending the War on Drugs until the massive racial profiling involved is ended. Before funds are restored to the criminal justice system, each police department with more than 20 officers would have to submit a plan showing how racial profiling has been stopped.
Case in point: In 2008, Iowa had a 2 and 24 problem. Two percent of Iowa's population was black, but 24 percent of Iowa's prison population was black. Even if?? Iowa's black population were twice as criminal as the white population, the percentage would only be 4 percent. For me, it is obvious that massive racial profiling is involved; Iowa should be required to prove it has stopped racial profiling.
For over 30 years, unjust racial profiling has been part of the War on Drugs which is really a War on Black and Latino males. This is a social crisis, an injustice implemented by the criminal justice system, approved by Congress and a President, and legitimated by Supreme Court decisions. This is an emergency which must stop by executive action. For documentation, read The New Jim Crow (2010) by Michelle Alexander; also her New York Times op-ed (November 26, 2014) entitled "Telling My Son About Ferguson."
At the same time, or prior to the presidential executive order, each denomination headquarters should also issue an executive order to all pastors: preach the following four sermons:
1. Biblical teaching on oppression with a focus on the New Testament.
2. Biblical teaching on justice with a focus on the New Testament.
3. How the Holy Spirit can empower the church to incarnate the kingdom of God as justice among the oppressed poor.
4. A plan showing how each local church will be involved in ending racial profiling tied to mass incarceration.
Justifying Oppression and Blaming the Victim
Evil white oppressors are masters at diverting blame from themselves and putting it on the supposedly defective and dysfunctional oppressed. The black oppressed are described as lazy, inferior, sub-human and rebellious. Southern preachers ignored the extensive biblical teaching on oppression and justice and the call for Christians to release the oppressed. Instead they argued that slavery was good and necessary, even God's will, based on a few New Testament proof texts that appeared to justify slavery.
The Scriptures make it crystal clear that oppressing people who are created in the image of God is an evil akin to idolatry. Yet white American theologians and preachers have been largely silent on the topic of oppression thereby leaving the door wide open for oppression to continue. Even abolitionists only went halfway---freedom--- and did not push equally hard for economic justice for freed slaves. Result: freed blacks were soon re-enslaved by segregation and sharecropping.
The American church has often tolerated or even participated in oppression---from slavery to segregation to mass incarceration. The silence by the white church and white culture means that the false propaganda from oppressors that blames the inferior oppressed goes largely unchallenged. Again and again, even from Christians, the comments I have heard fall into a 'blame the oppressed' for rioting in Ferguson category. Seldom is a 'blame the white oppressor' viewpoint expressed. Just as slavery was justified by white southern preachers, so today most white Americans justify mass incarceration, appealing to the stereotype of the 'criminalblackman'.
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