Posted on 08/02/2005 6:54:41 PM PDT by Graybeard58
Poor victimized by U.S. politics, some say
Faith spurred many civil rights-era icons to defy segregation, register black voters and endure bloody beatings, many of the movement's leaders said on stage Monday night at the Birmingham Sheraton.
A perverted version of faith also spurred attacks on blacks, one of those leaders said.
Onstage were Martin Luther King III, Rev. Joseph Lowery, Rev. C.T. Vivian, Rev. Curtis W. Harris, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, current Southern Christian Leadership ConferenceNational President and SCLC Chief Executive Charles Steele Jr. They spoke in what was called "Community Rally: A Candlelight Conversation with SCLC Civil Rights Icons."
The conversation, led by Xerona Clayton, was supposed to focus on the past, she said at the beginning of the program. And at times it did, such as when Shuttlesworth, Lowery and Vivian talked about how their Christian faith led them into the civil rights movement and helped them endure the wrath of racists.
But much of the talk — the part that seemed to get the most reaction from the audience — centered upon the current state of politics in America, which some said victimizes the poor and benefits the rich.
"Everywhere you go in the world, people want to know, 'What is wrong with America?' " Vivian said, saying the country is not living up to its ideals.
Lowery then took the topic further. He rattled off a list of angry complaints. Despite the claims of the Bush administration before the war, no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq, he said. Meanwhile, American soldiers continue to die, and a new civil rights movement is needed to bring the troops home, he said.
"The biggest violence in the world is being perpetrated by the United States of America," he said as people began to clap even more.
Lowery didn't understand the debate about same-sex marriage, he said. Not once in his career as a minister had anyone asked him to marry a couple of the same gender.
"I don't care who you marry," Lowery said. At this point, the older reverend was standing and shouting, and so was much of the audience.
"I'm already married. Our problem is same-sex sin," Lowery said.
But there is reason to be hopeful, he said.
"I think white people are beginning to see the light," he said when talking about the situation in Iraq. "I think they are beginning to see that they've been had."
There is precedent for that, he said. Decades ago, white people were ready to dump segregation. They just needed a reason.
But decades ago, segregationists used a perverted form of theology to keep black people down, Jackson said.
"Most lynchings were faith-based lynchings," he said, saying they took place at church on Sunday.
Conversely, faith led many of the movement's icons.
"Inside of you there is an image and a likeness of God that doesn't like being put down," Lowery said. It was a realization he had in church, Lowery said.
In an interview before the event, Jackson said the SCLC continues to be concerned about tax cuts for the wealthy, the export of U.S. jobs and the import of cheap labor, and 50 million Americans without health insurance.
"What concerns me now (is) that the Voting Rights Act is in jeopardy," he said.
Provisions of the Civil Rights Act are soon set to expire, Jackson said.
Ok. You were right. I blew chunks all over my keyboard.
Honestly guys... not very nice to make a new FReeper hurl on her first day as a member ;-P
A pure unadulterated lie.
Welcome aboard. You are member number 216,666
*salutes* Glad to be with all of my new FRiends
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