"Having learned my lesson at Parks' funeral, I stayed home."
Posted on 02/09/2006 11:24:40 AM PST by Chi-townChief
I've always known that funerals are for the living. But the funerals for Rosa Parks and now Coretta Scott King proves why this is so. In Parks' case, we saw a lavish spectacle in Detroit that went on so long, her body arrived at the cemetery in the dark. Every preacher with ties to the civil rights movement had to preach, and every public figure who had a title had to talk.
On Tuesday, when 10,000 people gathered in Atlanta to say goodbye to Coretta, people who were supposed to be there to honor her got caught up in themselves. Having learned my lesson at Parks' funeral, I stayed home.
After all, when the King family decided to hold Coretta Scott King's funeral at a megachurch in an Atlanta suburb instead of at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church where King had preached, I figured it would end up a show.
Two recent extravaganzas
You used to know exactly what to expect at a funeral:
A choir or soloist will sing "Amazing Grace" or some other sad song. Depending on the person's lifestyle, church folk will either read resolutions or street folks will make remarks. Someone will read the obituary, and a child will recite a poem. If there are several preachers involved, one will say a prayer, one will read the Scripture, one will make short remarks (no more than five minutes), and one will give the eulogy.
If the deceased didn't do anything extraordinary during his or her life, the people who speak at his or her services try to fill up the allotted time sharing personal stories. People who attend funerals are not there to gawk. They have some connection to the family and they are there to help the relatives bear their grief.
No one says a mean word at a funeral. Even gang-bangers hold their anger until the casket is removed from the sanctuary.
So the recent funerals of two civil rights giants have been odd.
Maybe we need to find another word for these events since they are conducted more like reunions or political rallies. For instance, while a lot of ordinary people traveled great distances to catch a last glimpse of Coretta Scott King, they also got to see a parade of dignitaries, including four presidents, 14 senators and scores of entertainers and others who are considered very important.
As one woman told me at the Parks funeral, where else was she going to see anything like that?
So instead of a solemn occasion, or even an authentic "homegoing" celebration, these funerals end up becoming extravaganzas.
No respect for president
Of course, dignitaries should have paid their respects to the family of Coretta, a woman who was known as the "First Lady of the Civil Rights Movement." But it was selfish and embarrassing to see so many of those dignitaries use her funeral as their bully pulpits.
At a political gathering, it's fair game to criticize the president.
But it was tacky and disrespectful for anyone to launch into a political attack at a funeral.
President Bush and his wife Laura were sitting directly behind the speaker's podium on big, leather pulpit chairs listening to remarks that were often caustic.
A photographer captured Laura Bush's body language. As the Rev. Joseph Lowery, who worked closely with Martin Luther King Jr. at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, launched into his tirade, the first lady squinted, pursed her lips and folded herself into the form of a disapproving mom.
"We know there were no weapons of mass destruction over there," he said. "We know there are weapons of misdirection right down here," Lowery taunted.
Where is our dignity?
Former President Jimmy Carter also got in his jabs, criticizing the Bush administration's slow response to Hurricane Katrina victims.
"We only have to recall the color of the faces of those in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi to know that inequality existed," he said.
As often occurs when Former President Bill Clinton shows up, black folks acted as if he had emancipated the slaves.
A huge cheer went up as he reached the open area near Mrs. King's casket, and the crowd gave him a thunderous standing ovation when he approached the dais to speak with his wife, the New York Times reported.
Although Clinton gave the most poignant remarks about Coretta, reminding mourners that she was a woman with hopes and dreams and disappointments, he couldn't resist setting his wife up for some adoration.
A master at manipulating black folks' emotions, Clinton began his remarks by saying, "I'm honored to be here with my president, and my former presidents.''
"Then he looked at Mrs. Clinton, his unspoken words seeming to suggest that he wanted to say future president too," the New York Times reported. The crowd began cheering.
Have we lost our dignity? Have we abandoned our traditions?
Tuesday wasn't Dr. Martin Luther King's Day or anyone else's day. It was Coretta Scott King's Day. Her funeral was supposed to be a celebration of her life, not a sound bite or a photo op.
If politicians and civil rights leaders wanted to call Bush out, they should have called him at the White House.
mailto:marym@suntimes.com
Ouch.
I guess thats two funerals theyve butchered.
They just want to keep having do-overs on the Wellstone fiasco until it doesn't help elect a Republican.
Such a contrast--the dignity, grace, and appropriateness of the two Presidents Bush, vs. the self-serving, pandering, malicious behavior of Carter, Clinton, and Joseph Lowry. The Democrats are so devoid of respect for people that they see nothing wrong with turning funerals into political rallies.
Three. Let's not forget the Wellstone Funerally -- the one that started it all!
"Having learned my lesson at Parks' funeral, I stayed home."
She did, but as others have said, the point would have drawn bone marrow had Paul Wellstone also been mentioned Then it wouldn't have just been about black folks, which I would have thought would only have emphasized how patronizing those politicians and clerics were being to the faithful in the pews.
I make it four - don't forget Ron Reagan Jr.'s gratuitous graveside slap at Bush, at Ronald Reagan's funeral.
Ahh! Good point!
Solution: people need to stop inviting Democrats to funerals -- even funerals of Democrats!
"No one says a mean word at a funeral. Even gang-bangers hold their anger until the casket is removed from the sanctuary"
Lets not forget that the mean words provoked lot of cheering and standing ovation by the African-American audience at this semi-circus of a funeral service.
They have earned a new disrespect by me and likely others.
The race-baiting Dems and the black leaders in that church hustled the flock back to Democrat party's "plantation".
Who kidnapped the REAL Mary Mitchell and put this person at her word processor?
I can understand Jimmy Carter still pathetically trying to win one --
but what is everybody else's excuse?
Was Jerry Springer all booked up?
Evidently, democrats have no respect for life OR death. Sad.
Well said!! And, unfortunately so true!!
That was my thought, too. Usually Mary Mitchell writes as a left-wing, black democrat. What gives???
I bet we see more sequels. Wait for when Teddy goes to that great scotch bottle in the sky, it's going to be great fun to watch his funeral. I hear instead of a eternal flame like JFK Teddy is going to have a eternal margarita machine next to his head stone.
A wise man once said: how many people show up at your funeral depends on the weather.
Three -Rosa's, Coretta's and the first funerally, Paul Wellstone's.
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