THE FUTURE OUTLOOK
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MISS EMMA P. JOHNSON News Reporter
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What Does The Negro Want?
by
MISS BEATRICE HERBIN
American politics, we must admit, is suffering from
a cause of poor leadership, mismanagement, mistakes and
confusion. This not only refers to Federal complications
but to State and local complications as well. As I wrote
in The Greensboro D^ily News, Saturday, September 7,
1968, I said in the article, "It Must Be Either Humphrey
or Nixon," there is no real choice on which to vote in the
November election for President, yet they are the best
we have. (And I do not appreciate the Wallace headquar
ters sending me their literature yesterday, as I am op
posed to him and his stand on government.) I mentioned
in the article that the only way to keep him out of office
is for every Negro to vote along with all the sensible
whites for a Republican or a Democrat. Humphrey and
Nixon are all that's left since we lost Kennedy, Rockefeller
and McCarthy.
Now, I read in the Wednesday's issue of Daily News
that Marvin Fitch of Wilson, connected with the SCLC,
Southern Christian Leadership Conference of which Aber
nathy is doing a poor job since the death of its founder,
Dr. Martin Luther King, wants the Negro to vote for
Gardner. Jim Gardner and Bob Scott are running for
Governor of North Carolina. I say again, both are weak
in experience and foresight of the qualities of Head-of
State, but they are all we have. However, this same Negro
was originally opposed to Jim Gardner, the Republican
Candidate and sought to organize a state-wide boycott of
his Hardee's Hamburger Place; now, all of a sudden, he
changes in favor of Gardner who has been criticized on
his unconcern for the Negro's problems in this society.
What does Fitch want? He is too confused to lead me
anywhere, and I suggest that all Negroes and whites, too,
who base their vote on hearsay of some so-called leaders
begin reading and studying this business of politics for
themselves, and vote accordingly. Has Fitch been bought
by the Republicans ? Of course, the Negro wants recogni
tion in all aspects of American Government, and it is right
that he should have it, but why dilly dally from party to
party? We all would fare better if these leaders, them
selves would study history and evaluate the progress al
ready made under the Democrats. Governor Dan Moore
has not been a bad Governor considering the progress
Negroes have made during his time in office. Bob Scott
comes from a political family, and though young and
wavering between the white votes he desires and those
of the Negro supporters, he may still prove to be our best
of the two. I am happy that none of the Greensboro Citi
zens leaders attended the Raleigh meet in support of
Gardner. Hawkins did not get the recognition at the Dem
ocratic Convention in Chicago which his group sought,
but that is no reason to give up. Evaluate your program ; i
study and improve it; then in the next four years come |
in strong. Rome wasn't built in a day. And while some
Negroes holler, "Freedom Now," let us so work to qualify,
understand and pursue in a manner of dignity, the status
we want. Not because we are Negroes and the Constitu
tion says this or that; not because we have so long been
deprived of one thing or another, but work towards ac
celeration because we are well-prepared to help all of
society. These are the kind of leaders this State and this
Nation needs. And as soon as both whites and Negroes
forget their personal and prejudiced feelings; then shall
we move rapidly towards a "government of, for and by
the people of the United States."
For decades I have been opposed to divided citizen
ship and arrogant attitudes of the people of both races
that erupt into violence and senseless action: The Ku Klux
Klan and the Non-Violent Coordination Organization,
which became violent under Stokeley Carmichael and Rap
Brown. It seems to me, and perhaps to much of the public
readerss that somebody doesn't know what non-violence
means. Only Martin Luther King knew ; the Honorable
John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert, not to leave out
Abe Lincoln, Chief Justice John Marshall of the Supreme
Court (1819), and Chief Justice Warren, whose 1954
T his Weed's Sunday School Lesson
3. ESTHER SAVES
HER PEOPLE
What Is Our Concern?
Someone once said that des
tiny is the scapegoat we make
responsible for our crimes and
our follies. It is a convenient
excuse when we do not wish to
oppose what is happening in the
world or in our own lives. In
other words, destiny is a con
cept we use to evade responsi
bility in the daily grind of life.
Obviously, if we view life as
a movement of human deeds
following an inescapable blue
print, it is foolish to speak of
man's responsibility. Without
freedom there can be no respon
sibility. The word responsible
means able to respond.
When we turn to the Bible
for guidance, it is a bit difficult
to understand the point of view
generally expressed there. The
biblical writers emphasize the
freedom and the responsibility
of both man and God. Therefore
we may assert the ultimate tri
umph of God's will in the uni
verse; we also must assert man's
genuine role in the shaping of
the future.
How do you reconcile these
two seemingly opposite asser
tions? How can we say that
man plays a decisive role in
history but that God eventually
has the last word? How can
man actually be responsible in
the world? Where is man's re
sponsibility exercised? This is
our problem as we turn to the
Book of Esther.
Before You Read the Scripture
Scholars differ concerning the
date and purpose for Esther.
Some think it was written about
150 B. C. to celebrate Jewish
victories over the Greeks.
Others see it as a fifth century
B. C. defense of a Persian festi
val called Purim that the Jewish
community had adopted. Re
gardless of the date of the book,
we should see it as an attempt
to win approval for this festival
in Jewish life.
Most of the festivals in Israel
were originally Canaanite agri
cultural festivals. As the early
Christians took over the Roman
holidays and gave them new
meanings, so the Israelites
adopted and gave new meaning
to the Canaanite holidays. They
wished to use the celebrations
as occasions to praise God for
what he had done for them.
Purim may, have begun as a
Persian festival. It is not men
tioned in the Pentateuch. There
fore, to justify its observance by
Jews, it needed to be connected
with some event in Israel's his
tory.
The author of Esther has
associated the feast with the
deliverance of the Jews from a
plot to destroy all of them. But
nowhere in the book does God's
name appear. This fact almost
cost the book its place in the
Bible. We probably should view
the author as a man who thinks
of man's work as the means by
which God achieves his pur
poses. Thus Esther and Morde
cai (Mor-duh-kye) are people
whose courage and shrewdness
are the means by which God
delivers his people.
The names Esther and Mor
decai strongly resemble those of
two Babylonian deities, Isht&r
and Marduk. This fact has led
some scholars to suggest that
an old myth was turned into a
work of historical fiction. How
ever, archaeologists have found
a reference to a lesser official
during the reign of Xerxes I
whose name resembles Morde
cai. Therefor^ Esther may have
some rootage in actual fact.
What the Scripture Says
The Scripture for today is
Esther 1 through 8. Selected
verses are printed below. See
Home Bible Study suggestions
in the back of the quarterly.
Esther 4:8, 13-16
8 Mor'decai also gave him a
copy of the written decree is
sued in Susa for their destruc
tion, that he might show it to
Esther and explain it to her
and charge her to go to the king
to make supplication to him
and entreat him for her people.
. . .13 Then Mor'decai told
them to return answer to Es
ther, "Think not that in the
king's palace you will escape
any more than all the other
Jews. 14 For if you keep silence
at such a time as this, relief
and deliverance will rise for the
Jews from another quarter, but
you and your father's house will
perish. And who knows whether
you have not come to the king
dom for such a time as this?"
15 Then Esther told them to
reply to Mor'decai, 16 "Go,
gather all the Jews to be found
in Susa, and hold a fast on my j
behalf, and neither eat nor
drink for three days, night or
day. I and my maids will also
fast as you do. Then I will go
to the king, though it is against
the law; and if I perish, I per
ish."
Esther 7:1-7
1 So the king and Haman
went in to feast with Queen
Esther. 2 And on the second
day, as they were drinking
School Desegregation ruling brought down the rafters in
American and Southern society.
Marshall wrote that "We are speaking of a constitu
tion to endure to meet the needs of human cries through
the ages, and not of a contract between states." His ob
jective was justice for all, yet, in the words of Thomas
Jefferson, let us be reminded that "the price of liberty
is eternal viligance." As long as man is made as he is,
with the characteristics of love, hate, jealousy and fear,
there will always be problems among men on this earth,
and in my book the only panecea for eternal peace and
that on this earth is Jesus Christ ? a knowledge of Him,
a practice of following Him, and like the martyrs after
Him, to die for a right and just cause. When old self is
straightened out, and this applies to seekers of public
office too, then the people can live together in peace and
justice. T do not endorse all the strategy of the Negro
movements, for some are misguided ana I only pray and
hope that eventually he decides fully what he does want,
and moves Intelligently in that direction.
wine, the king again said to
Esther, "What is your petition,
Queen Esther? it shall bg
granted you. And what is your
request? Even to the half of my
kingdom, it shall be fulfill^
3 Then Queen Esther answered
I have favor in yow
sight, ? king, and if it piease
the long, let my life be given
me at my petition, and my
people at my request. 4 For we
are sold, I and my people, to be
destroyed, to be slain, and to
be annihilated. If we had been
sold merely as slaves, men and
women, I would have held my
peace; for our affliction is not
to be compared with the loss to
the king." 5 Then King Ahasu
"Whn f"u t0 Queen Esther,
Who is he, and where is he
that would presume to do this?"
6 And Esther said, "A foe and
enernyl This wicked Hainan!"
Then Hainan was in terror be
fore the king and queen. 7 And
the king rose from the feast in
wrath and went into the palace
h8I ,bUt Haman stayed to
beg his life from Queen Esther
for he saw that evil was deter
mined against him by the king.
Memory Selection: Who knows
whether you have not come to
the kingdom for such a time
38 thls? -Esther 4.14
How We Understand the
Scripture
Esther 1:1-9; The author has
e ven us an elaborate picture
01 P?mP of the Persian
court. The generosity of the
Persian empire is reflected in
the banquet given for all the
People of the capital city. The
Persians were regarded by
I Jews as the people God had
raised up to free them.
Chapters 1:i? through 2:4:
The story of Vashti's stubborn
Th? C,??ta',nS 3 Strain of humor.
The officials feared that if word
go out that the queen had ig
nored the word of the king, all
the women of the kingdom
would follow her example and
revolt against their husbands.
We might as easily read too
little into this story as too much.
toe !TUSt bC ?areful of overdo
ing the author's intent. But we
must also ask what the com
pilers of the Old Testament
heard in the text. Probably they
interpreted this book as showing
how God used the stubbornness
^VrUeen f?r the ^entual
f??d ?f Israel- Had Vashti not
angered the kind and lost her
Place, Esther would not have be
come queen. She would then not
have been in a position to de
'reer JS"* ThUS' throu?h the
free actions of human beings,
God worked for his people
Chapter 2:5-18: The selection
of a new queen was no light mat
ter. The king's officials selected
beautiful young virgins from all
the provinces for the harem.
There they underwent a year of
bcautification and social train
ing. The possibility that there
might have been prejudice
against Jews is indicated by
Mordecai's instructions for Es
ther not to reveal her back
ground.
In celebration of his selection
of Esther as his new queen, the
king gave a banquet in her hon
or*, released the people from cer
tain tax debts, and gave many
gifts.
Chapters 2:1# through 3:6. All
fConttamd en Put S)