Do not be a thief
Shelly's mother sent me this letter today, written by a former student of her's. It expresses a lot of what i have been feeling this week and i think it needs to be said.
Within minutes of Obama being declared the president elect I was bombarded with
comments such as “I weep for the nation”… “ I’m in saddened disbelief”… “there
goes our country”… “Obama will ruin our nation". Most, though not all, of these
comments came by way of facebook status updates, others came directly from
people through verbal conversation. Statements such as these have continued
through yesterday and this morning. And to be honest every single one of these
comments has come by way of my white brothers and sisters in Christ who were
saddened by the fact that our next leader will not uphold the sanctity of life
(True, this was not the only issue but it did seem to be the core concern).
Speaking as a black man these comments have inflamed me with a vile taste of
bitterness in my mouth. The bitterness is not due to the legitimacy of these
ethical concerns, but rather the bitterness is rooted in the fact that there was
no reverence for that moment in history and what it meant and what it means for
African Americans as well as what it will mean for our generations to come.
Tuesday night was a moment in which we ALL both black and white, democrat and
republican should have been silent and watching with a deep awe in our hearts
understanding the inspiring significance this will have for a historically
oppressed people group. YES the issue of abortion is supremely important and
needs to be vigorously addressed, BUT last night and even still today is not the
time to shoot out your frustrations and negative/cynical comments neither is it
the time to walk around with faces of disapproval and discouragement.
I adamantly DO NOT support abortion or gay marriage and I was critical of Obama
for that issue and I will continue to challenge his stance on that, however when
he became our president elect I was drawn to give him that honor and allow
myself to be captivated by what this means to black people all across this
country. To my white brothers and sisters I exhort you not to rob us of this
moment. When he becomes president you will have four years to scrutinize and
challenge both him and his leadership (and I will certainly join you in that),
but to scrutinize him in this moment is highly disrespectful and a slap in the
face to black people across this nation and to black people over the last 300
years. There was a time when black people were forced to work hours upon hours
in the sunshine of oppression. Today and going forth until January we have the
opportunity to finally enjoy a brief minute in the sunshine of pride. Tuesday
night was a moment in which the glass ceiling that has been placed upon African
Americans was finally pierced. Many blacks for the first time were actually
enabled to believe that they could be whatever they wanted to be. The tears of
Jesse Jackson told the story of my people. His tears reminded us of slavery when
our women were raped, our children were sold and our backs were whipped. His
tears reminded us how we became a free people only to find that we could not
vote and to realize that the KKK still owned our rights in the south. His tears
reminded us of how we had to sit on the back of a bus and attend schools that
were separate but NOT Equal. His tears reminded us of how Martin Luther King
declared that we would overcome and was tragically taken from us because he
spoke the truth. His tears along with the tears of my grandmother reminded us of
a generation that never thought such a day would ever come……. do not rob us of
this moment.
the point that I am driving home has nothing to do with whether or not Obama was
the best choice or even the most God honoring choice, but rather it has entirely
to do with the fact that he was elected and to make comments that fail to give
him that honor or to make comments that tear him down in anyway is completely
inappropriate at this time and at this moment, which is possibly the proudest
day in the history of the African American people. I even dare to say that the
disappointment that many feel over the loss of John McCain cannot compare to the
inspiration that myself and millions of blacks feel concerning the election of
Obama even in spite of the sharp ethical disagreements that myself and many of
you have with him. so please do your African American brothers and sisters a
favor and hold your tongues until our next president steps into office so that
we might revel in the awe of the moment…..John McCain’s speech was wonderful in
accomplishing this end.
Sadly I realize that many of you will not understand unless you have ever been
unjustly pulled over by a cop and accused of smoking weed. Maybe you won’t
understand this unless you have asked a girl out on a date only to find that her
parents were not racist, but rather they were “uncomfortable” with your
complexion. Maybe you wouldn’t understand unless you know about the time your
grandfather was beaten up in a diner down south, maybe you wouldn’t understand
unless you knew what it was like to be the wife of a black man wrongfully shot
hours after his wedding……unless you are of African heritage I don’t expect you
to fully understand these things, but I do expect you to in the very least to
stand in awe of the moment and what it means to the 30 million blacks of this
nation……I expect you to let us enjoy this moment and let the scrutiny come when
he becomes president….I expect you to pray that God Change his very heart on the
moral issues which I too hold very dear to my own heart….I expect you to allow
us to be proud for a moment. And to show honor to your next president.
Reflections of a Black Man who is in Christ
Written by Charles Taylor, Student Chaplain/Alumnus of Wheaton University: Wheaton, IL