Let Justice Roll Down

Equal Justice

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable…Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated people.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Yesterday, I visited the museums established by The Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, AL. One chronicles the history of African Americans from slavery until now, and the other is a memorial to African Americans who were lynched—at least the ones we know about. It was a powerful and horrifying reminder of America’s past, and unfortunately, America’s present. As a white Southerner, one whose ancestors began life on this continent as planters with a land grant from King George of England, and who used slave labor to enrich themselves, it was a humbling and troubling experience.

I don’t want to go into the particulars of the museum and memorial since those are readily available on line, but rather, I want to write about the thoughts and feelings evoked for me on seeing the images and reading the history captured there. First, I wondered what sort of soul killing must be done to allow human beings to commit these atrocities on other human beings. I questioned how long and how many generations will be necessary to remove the stain of them. Secondly, I thought how completely impossible it is to repair this history. The very best we can do is to acknowledge the horror of it, and change the circumstances today that keep African Americans, not to mention Native Americans, marginalized and in poverty.

During the tour of the memorial to the victims of lynching, my friend Melissa asked a young African American woman, a docent, how it was for her to be there every day. She said, “It’s a proud moment. At least, we are beginning to talk about this.” Indeed. White Americans turn a blind eye to the ugly aspects of our history. We have replaced them with the fantasy of being the good guys with the white hats riding in to save the day. The fact is that we enslaved black people for two hundred years, and that we stole the lands of our native people, sent them on the Trail of Tears, and have never honored a single treaty made with a tribal nation. Until we are able to look at ourselves honestly, we will never be able to clear this terrible stain from our souls.

Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Justice cannot be for one side alone, it must be for both.” This is a lesson as yet unlearned. I feel as though we are moving toward it, and beginning to understand that it is we who must change in order to remove the shackles from our souls, and allow freedom to be, in reality and not just in fantasy, a hallmark of this country.

In the Spirit,
Jane