FORUM
'Beyond Million Man March II
Confessions of a Tired Marcher
I read somewhere ? 1 think
? or at least I know I have
been told, that Mrs. Rosa Parks
had some choice and prophetic
on ? to new ways and means
of doing things. When will we?
After a million marches,
maybe?
LIFT EVERY VOICE
By DR WILLIAM H TURNER
words to the bus driver who
^commanded her to the back of
the bus ? her rightful fix in
that place and time, Mont
gomery, Ala., 1955: "My feets
is tide, 'n 1 ain't moving."
Frankly, that doesn't sound like
the articulate and "most man
nerly rebel," Mrs. Parks, but it
played well dramatically.
I was about 10 when Mrs.
Parks became Mother of the
Civil Rights Movement. The
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.,
then the 26-year-old pastor of
Dexter Avenue Baptist Church,
was, by her act, propelled into
national leadership. Marching
and walking through Mont
gomery became the soul and
? symbol of blacks" resistance to
injustice.
With a sense of duty born
of lifelong dedication to the
cause of eradicating injustice, I
will march this coming week
end as part of the almost sacred
memory of the Million Man
March of last year. But, like
Mrs. Parks, who was tired of
jsitting in the back of the bus, 1
am growing weary and quite
bored of civil rights marches.
Time and circumstances march
The year I became a senior
in high school, 1 went on the
-The' Big March. There Martin
articulated The Dream.
Between then and 1993, when I
went to the 30th anniversary of
the March on Washington, I
attended countless numbers of
civil and human rights proces
sions, including the 10th and
20th observation of that glori
ous day: August 28, 1963. In
1995, of course, I felt especially
blessed to be present at the Mil
lion Man March ? the largest
gathering of its kind in the his
tory of the United States.
But, at the. risk of some
body getting me wrong, 1 think
that the search for general
social empowerment, commu
nity control, and economic jus
tice must move beyond march
ing. Frankly, 1 am afraid that
marching has become a highly
ritualized form of convincing
ourselves that we are "doing
something."
Let us not fool ourselves or
think that we are defrauding or
uncovering others simply by
putting on a massive public dis
play of self-affirmation. What
good is a symbol of resistance
j& - V -. . >~ ?
iv ? -?*,p8..i Tiw '
yfefr ?
j.>*.
'mafeh
?& 'SBB 'MfSi?
when our spiritual processions
arc mocked by those both on
ours and the other side - - who
proceed with profane busincss
as-usuai personal agendas, poli
tics and policies?
The complex actions taken
to organize for educational
attainment require no less
energy and genius than do
marches. Maybe some of that
vigor and application ot exper
tise should he reserved to locus
on-ways to link some of the
millions of dispossessed people
to the technologies that have
erased their jobs.
The speeches, orations, and
discussions at the matches this
weekend will have temporary, it
any effect. It would be better
yet, and have more lasting ben
etits it the millions of words to
be articulated this weekend
were spent in the quiet of
prayer meetings and tutorial
sessions where unorganized
individuals are brought together
methodically.
Men and women downsized
from corporations need highly
planned and efficient initiatives
to pool their resources much
more than they do another
round of fists thrust into the air.
We need-thousands of signs
directing us to where people are
doing business ? producing
some goods and services and
recycling and saving some ot
their resources. Will marchers
volunteer more, please?
Platitudes and cliches neec
to be replaced by institutional
lzed service and educational
settings (in churches and
lodges, sororities and fraterni
ties). People need small discus
sion groups where they can
understand clearly what it
means ? and what they should
do ? when America has
become even more conservative
than it was when their marches
were met by fire hoses and
mean-spirited officials with
billy clubs.
The marches also used to
have other allies from across
the spectrum of racial, ethnic,
and religious groups. Why
aren't the new immigrant
groups ? those of color ?
marching among the millions.
Do they have a thing against
marching?
Surely the "heats ol racism,
exclusion, deception, discrimi
nation. miseducation and intol
erance go on. But. just as the
traditional forms of these no
longer exist, the customarv and
historic ways and means to
counter and overcome them
must also change. I know not
what course others ma\ take,
but after this week's Millionth
March. I want to march to a dil
ferent drummer. America is
tired of us "'just marching." too.
She has always depended on
African Americans to move her
to new heights Let's march
' past marching!
(Dr. William Turner is a
regular freelance columnist
for the Chronicle.)
Brothers' Keepers, Sisters' Keepers
The attention the national media has paid to the
incidence of the burning of churches with com
pletely or predominantly African-American congre
gations has dropped sharply since mid summer. Bui
that doesn't mean that we should pretend the appar
ent cause of many of these crimes ? white animos
ity towards blacks ? never existed or has disap
peared.
Nor, more importantly, should we ignore the
positive response the church burnings provoked
from many public officials and private organiza
tions and individuals alike.
Their offers of help ? of cash donations and ol
offers to aid the churches' rebuilding ? along with
their efforts to break down the racial, ethnic, anc
religious barriers that fracture American society
have answered affirmatively the question that is
always before humankind: Am I my brothers
keeper; am I my sister's keeper?
Both of these points stand at the center of the
preliminary study the U.S Civil Rights Commissior
released last week following a three-month investi
gation of the church burnings. As part of its study
the commission, a multiracial and bipartisan body
whose members are appointed by the president anc
Congress, also held public meetings in six southerr
states: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Car
olina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
The commission's action followed the creatior
last spring of the federal National Church Arsor
Task Force, which has focused on the 59 suspicious national or even a regional racist conspiracy against
lires at churches in the South with congregations black churches exists.
which are predominantly or completely African- Nonetheless. Mary Frances Berry, the Commis
Ametican since January 1. 1995. sion chairwoman, said emphatically that the finding
Nationally, more than 230 bombings or siispi- isn't a cause for celebration. "In fact." she stated,
cious fires occurred at houses of worship since "the absence of a conspiracy makes the fires even
early 1990; nearly 70 percent of them since January more frightening. The perpetrators could be any
1995. Officials say that 51 percent of those struck one, any where."
have congregations which are not African-Ameri- The reason for her concerns stems from what
can or inter-racial, and that there is no evidence that the Commission discovered from its tour ot the
racial or religious South: a
bigotry had any- region where
thing to do with the evidence
these crimes. Thus of racial bias
far, there have been TO BE EQUAL in many small
arrests in 83 of the towns and
total cases, and IPm Tf. _ rural counties
convictions in 41. ?1% ^ HUGH B PRICE
remain almost
Because arson as stark as
is an extremely dif- they weie
ficult crime to before the
solve, it's likely that many of the suspected or con- Civil Rights victories of the 1960s. "Out of national
firmed incidents of arson at African-American sight and mind," Prof. Berry said, "racial segrega
churches will remain unsolved, leaving the ques- tion exists in schools and other public facilities in
tion of exactly how many have occurred open. forms reminiscent of Jim Crow days before segre
Further. the federal task force has determined, gation in public accommodations was outlawed."
and the Civil Rights Commission agreed, that some This is a social environment w hich induces
fires at black churches in which arrests have been some to think they have "permission" to translate
made were not set for racial reasons, and that even their despicable attitudes into violent actions. The
where racism is likely involved, no evidence of a fires. Prof. Berry said in a trenchant comment, were
.simply "an indicator of the problems in the commu
mty." - ?
Of eourse. the North and AVest cannot pretend,
as they once did, that these problems aie contmed
to the South. They are national piohlemv and the\
demand a national effort ifthe\ are to be solved
That is wh\ we at the National I rban ! cugu.e
last spring joined with .the Anti Pctamation
League, the National Conference ilornicrlv known
as the National Conference of Christians and
and the National Council of La Ka/a u\ lonn the
National Voices for an Inclusive 2Pt Centuiv Out
purpose is to wage war against bigotrv and racism
by fighting for tolerance and social harmom
And that is why we are glad to learn that the
National Council of Churches, which ha-* been mil
wart in its support of those churches struck h\
arson, has organized a series of town*hull meetings
to discuss how we all can'work to reduce racial and
ethnic tensions The first is to be held in ( ohimhia.
S C. on Oct. 24
Thankfullv. our efforts are just a tmv piece >>1
the mosaic of work being done to advance the
boundaries of tolerance and inclusiv enosx K peo
ple and organizations who have unswcicd in the
affirmative that eternal cuestion \m I im biothei -
keeper; am mv sister's keeper1
(by Hugh B. Price. President Xationul I than
league)
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