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19, 1996 » 1m P ortland O bserver
he 5 / 2 / 9 6 JaxFax dis
cussed the recent “Front-
line” biography of Rev.
Jackson.
Now the related book, Jesse: The
L ife and Pilgrimage o f Jesse Jack-
son, is out. It was written by Marshall
I rady, who grew up in South Caroli­
na only a few m iles-but another
w orld-from Jackson, and who has
previously authored respected books
on B il ly G raham and G eorge
Wallace.
The book is no puff piece; neither
is it a hatchet job. JaxFax disagrees
with many of Frady’s observations.
But JaxFax also notes that Frady
does attempt to place Rev. Jackson’s
life in its proper context within Dr.
K in g ’s tradition, and it is JaxFax’s
opinion that some o f Frady’s observa­
tions in Jesse are worth highlighting,
since they are likely to be overlooked
by the keepers of the conventional
w isdom, as they rewrite history in their
own images. More next week, along
with redistricting analysis. Emphasis
to Frady quotes below added:
• “ ...few have managed to rise
quite so high from so far outside the
main society o f America.”
• “ ...it’s fair to say that none o f the
other notable populist tribunes pre­
ceding Jackson—not Bryan, not Long,
and surely not Ross Perot-had ever
journeyed from so far outside.”
• Jackson may in fact be the most
Editorial Articles Do Not Necessarily
Reflect Or Represent The Views O f
The Jlortlaitb (Dbseruer
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C O A L IT IO N
Pilgrimage: Part II
original figure, all things considered,
Jackson assumed as his own life­
ever to have reached such an impor­
time’s vision K in g ’s radical, gospel,
tance in the nation's civic life.”
moral metaphysic. .
• “Jackson differed strikingly from
"[K in g] became most o f all capti­
every other past presidential con­
vated by Gandhi and his expansion
tender who had arrived at anything
of I horeau's principle o f individual
like a similar consequence in that he
passive resistance into the massive,
was embarked not so much on a
patient, nonviolent resistance o f a
Another longtime Jackson ob­
political enterprise as a sort o f polit­
whole subject people, which would
server
declares, ‘There’s no way to
ical evangelism—one deriving from
exert a moral force that could purge
begin
to
really understand Jesse Jack-
the essentially religious social vision
a society of its overt brutalities by
son
without
getting out on the road
that had animated King. He readily
imposing impossible inconvenienc­
with
him.
Watch
him among those
acknowledged, 'What I'm doing is
es not only to its agencies o f author­
people,
all
sorts
o
f
people out there
carrying the moral vision o f the civil
ity but to the conscience o f its rulers.
across
the
country.
That’s where he
rights movement into the context o f
I hus. K ing propounded, the univer­
comes
into
his
true
reality.
And that’s
conventional politics.’”
sal moral verities evoked by the civ il
still
his
possibility,
make
no doubt
• "But in a more important re­
rights movement could, beyond de­
about
it,
can
still
be
his
future,
too.’”
spect than oratory did Jackson seem
livering blacks finally into full citi­
•
“
-
a
note
was
delivered
to
[Jack-
to fashion him self directly out o f
zenship, also redeem the soul o f
son] in his hotel room from [A n ­
King. With that swift and ready facil­
Am erica.’
drew]
Young: ‘You make me proud
ity evidenced at the seminary for
• “Jackson happened tojoin King,
and
humble
when I hear you speak.
absorbing whole the ideas o f others
in fact, just as K in g was escalating
Martin
would
be proud, too. You
that illuminated and gave body to
his mission into that o f a prophet to
have
my
full
endorsement
as the moral
intuitions from his own experience
the conscience
conscience ofthe
o f the entire
entire national
national
.......experience
tne
voice
e ’”
voice o o f f our
our tim
time
1 1
,
Rights Journal: More Church Fires
in B t RM( E B o w El l JACKSON
|
community... In hisprophetic witness.
King wound uppittinghimselfagainst
the very spirit o f the age in Am erica.”
• In hiseventual massive nation­
al activation ofthe black voting rights
won by K in g in Selma, in his perpet­
uation o f K in g 's vision in the na­
tion s life, in his ascent to become an
almost totemic figure for Am erica’s
black community, he [Jackson] would
indeed prove to be probably K in g ’s
most notable legatee.”
• “ It was one ofthose addresses o f
Jackson s that once moved cultural
essayist Stanley Crouch to declare
him a moral poet’ who ‘can reach
levels o f such lyricism that the body
politic itselfseems some sort ofpoem
still being born in heroic propor­
tions.’”
t was good to see some
ofthe pastors again, kind
of like a reunion. It was
bad that there were new faces in
the crowd - new pastors whose
churches had been burned. New
stories of devastation, of com­
munity pain.
We all gathered in the Nation’s
Capital to meet with federal govern­
ment o fficia ls about the church
burnings, which are now happening
weekly across the nation. Indeed, in
the one week before there were three
fires reported — in Alabama, in North
Carolina and in Texas.
I he pastors told their stories to
Attorney General Janet Reno and
Secretary o f the Treasury Robert
Rubin and their staffs. They told how
not only had their churches been
burned, many to the ground, but many
of them had received threats as well.
I hey told o f how many o f them,
victims o f white supremacists trying
to establish a modern-day reign of
terror, were also victims o f harass­
ment by the federal government offi­
cials sent to investigate. They told
how they had been asked to take
polygraph tests, how church records
had been subpoenaed, how a 17-year
federal government. They asked that
old church member had been taken
the harassment o f them and their
out o f her classroom and interrogat­
members be stopped. They asked
ed until she was in tears and other
that the government recognize that
members taken o ff their jobs to be
these are not isolated acts o f drunken
questioned.
teenagers, but that officials would
The pastors told the stories o f how
recognize that most o f these fires are
local authorities had failed to follow
the racist acts o f domestic terrorists.
through on investigations. They told
I hen they asked for protection for
o f how local investigators had start­
churches so that the destruction might
ed with the assumption that these
be stopped.
were not hate crimes, despite the
To President Clinton’s credit, he
evidence.
did respond personally and went to
The pastors told the stories o f their
the dedication o f the New Mt. Zion
ownpainat losing their church build­
A M E Church in Greeleyville, S C
ings. “ I lost my mother and my sister,
and used his moral authority as Pres­
but I ’ve never felt the kind o f pain 1
ident to cal I for an end to these crimes.
felt the night one o f my members
South Carolina is the state with the
called and said the church was on
most burnings and as Rose Johnson
fire, said Rev. Donaldson o f Ten­
ofthe Center for Democratic Renew­
nessee.
al has said, “we need to call a state o f
But, they also told the stories o f
emergency in South Carolina.”
their members being strong in their
African American churches are
faith and committed to re-building
the oldest institutions in the black
no matter what. Indeed, one pastor
community and are centers not only
told President Clinton before his ra­
for spiritual nourishment but also for
dio broadcast that his church had not
economic development and commu­
burned, only thechurch building had,
nity revival. Thus, these fires are
because the church is in the hearts o f
attacks on houses o f God and nerve
the people.
centersofthe black community. They
The pastors demanded that these
are the cowardly acts o f evil people
fires be given top priority by the
determined to turn back the clock
and terrorize the black folks living in
these mostly rural areas.
Many o f the pastors expressed
their fears that this country is losing
its moral ground and they worried
that continued burnings w ill force
their communities to provide protec­
tion for themselves. Let us pray that
this w ill not be so. Let communities
speak out against these horrible acts.
Let us all work to make sure that the
tires stop, the harassment ends and
the churches are re-built. Let us be­
gin today.
(Y o u can write to President
Clinton, Attorney General Janet Reno
and Treasury Secretary Rubin and
ask that these investigations be given
priority and that the pastors and
church members not be harassed by
investigators.
You can write to the Governors of
the states where the fires have oc­
curred. Yo u can give money by send­
ing it to the National Council o f
Churches, Church World Service,
475 Riverside Dr., N Y , N Y 10115.
Y o u can help re-build Alabam a
churches by contacting Washington
Friends Workcamps at 1225 Gerani­
um St., N W , W ashington, D C
20012.)
LI
inform us, “G O P I louse Leader Rips
Clinton Over Response To Church
Fires.’’ Rep. D ick Armey described I
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The PORTLAND OBSERVER is located at
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Notes to a Son from a Father
planed. Remember, if indeed you
The momentary pleasures ofthe fool­
were inferior they would not have to
ish. Mutual masturbation ofthe weak,
maintain racism to keepyou down. If
mutual obsessions o f the spiritually
indeed our people were inferior why
dead. Love is the fulfillment o f life,
did they cross treacherous sea and
the essence o f creation and the justi­
force us here.
fication ofbeing. Love is forever, sex
Father speak to me o f wisdom and
is temporary. Love is forgiving, sex
knowledge.
is condemnation. Love is uncondi­
Wisdom and knowledge, my son,
tional, sex is conditional. Love is
are twin sisters that jealously guard
eternal, sex is temporary.
their secrets. One is lost without the
Father and what o f life and death.
other. W isdom without knowledge is
Life and death represent a circle
idle banter, knowledge without w is­
without end. They both feed upon the
dom is foolishness. The more you
other, giving meaning to each through
learn, the more you find that you
their very existence. We come to
don’t know. The wiser you become,
appreciate life only through death,
the more wisdom is needed. Wisdom
and through appreciation o f death
comes from conversations with el­
helps us understand life. We are here
ders, whereas knowledge conies from
but for a brief moment, our bodies
observations o f life.
serve to convey us from one point to
Knowledge without the consol o f
another. Whether that life is bounti­
the wise leads to destruction, wisdom
ful or wasted depends upon our
which forsakes knowledge finds a sim­
knowledge o f this relationship.
ilar fate. The beginning o f wisdom and
Father tell me more.
know ledge is a journey which begins
I w ill my son, but now I must sleep
in the inner most parts o f your soul and
soon we w ill talk again.
ends with the exploration o f Eternity
VMOJA
and Infinity. It is a journey you will
O nly when lions have historians
never complete, but one which you
w ill hunters cease being heroes.
will pursue for all o f thy life.
-A fric a n Proverb
Father - speak to me o f sex and
W ithout struggle there is no
love.
progress.
-F re d e ric k Douglass
Oh my son, sex and love are often
The most potent weapon o f the
confused yet are mutually exclusive.
oppressor is the m ind o f the op­
Many seeking love settle for sex.
pressed.
-Steven Biko
Ml
any readers of the Port­
land Observer were in
agreement with last
week’s comment here that the
...terrible threat to the very
fabric of our society (church
I burnings), could well have been
z **»* »»tit
Send your letters to the Editor to:
Editor, PO Box 3137, Portland, OR 97208
Son, both sorrow and jo y come
from the same stream o f life, yet from
different fountains. F ill your cup
equally from both, let your cup o f
sorrow be mingled with joy, and your
jo y be mingled with sorrow. To drink
exclusively o f one or the other only
leads to despair. For to drink only o f
jo y leads to pride and egoism, where­
as a cup o f only sorrow produces
much frustration and anger. So from
both fountains fill your cup so that
your jo y w ill be tempered with sor­
row and your sorrow tempered with
joy. And thus learn humility my son.
But father, i f I am blessed why
should / humble my se lf
My son, because you are blessed
much will be asked o f you. Without
humility you w ill forget the source o f
your blessing and consequently o f
your strength While you came by
your mother and me, you are not o f
us. You belong to the Eternal One
fiom which aii life derives. Wisdom
comes with humility, while defeat
the curse o f vanity.
But father, why are we despised.
My son, to be B lack is not a curse
although at times it can be very un­
comfortable. There are those who
w ill hate, abuse, accuse, misuse and
confuse you regarding who and wha,
you are. You are and must continue
to be strong to avoid the destruction
Can A Land Of Church Burnings
Survive As A Civilized Society?
President Clinton's visit to a South
Carolina church as "just another |
political move - a photo op."
This comment was made as the I
constrained by a timely inter­
House J ud ic ¡ary Committee advanced
vention had the big corporate
measure 11R 3525 permitting federal
media assigned just half the
prosecutors to intervene, even if the
resources they devoted to the
"damage" was nothing more than a
I OJ. Simpson trail."
derogatory comment or a symbol
But certain
spray-painted on]
ly it has not
religious property. 11
• ».
been ju st the
took note that Sena­
fly
m edia w hich
tor Armey remarked
has failed in
Professor
that Assistant Attor-1
so u n d in g
a
Mckinley
ney General Deval
timely alarm to
Burt
Patrick (b la c k )
alert the nation
3 R
. r
showed a “seeming
' that a conspiratorial m ischief was
lack o f interest” in the passage o f
afoot--fully as serious as the mur­
The Church Arson Prevention Act
derous, brown-shirted conspiracy
of 1996’ (passed by voice vote).
that Hitler and his nazis thrust upon
Along with several astounded
an unbelieving and uncomprehend­
callers I found m y-selfin agreement
ing world. And once again, there
with the senator. We had all seen
seems the possibility that major re­
Patrick's pitiful performance, cour­
ligious denominations may not heed
tesy of C N N . The man was tenta­
the danger in time.
tive, uncertain, and seemed not to
Several o f our readers were quite
perceive a problem at all. When
agitated in their appraisal o f a gigan­
asked about a possible "racist con­
tic Southern Baptist Convention
spiracy" the young black lawyer
which did not “utter a mumbling
reacted almost in terror, heatedly
word or official comment” concern­
denying there was any evidence o f
ing the rash o f attacks on the most
that possibility.
fundamental icons o f Christianity, its
Patrick adopted the same defen­
churches. Another voiced bitter dis­
sive mode when congressmen asked
appointment that Rev. B illy Graham
was there a problem with certain
had not mounted his pulpit to launch
federal law enforcement agencies,
as series o f impassioned denuncia­
given the recent publicity in respect
tions o f these racist attacks against
to infiltration by hate organization
his l.ord’s places o f worship.
and the distribution o f racist litera­
It was noted, however, that the
ture at some meetings. The A ssis­
Southern Baptist Convention did
tant Attorney General was adamant
launch a determined attack on the
in his denial that there could be a
Disney organization whose corpo-
problem. H is fear o f ‘those fo lks’
I rate conduct appeared to be “threat­
(or o fh is jo b ) seemed almost palpa­
ening the family values and social
ble. Patrick s performance was
fabric o f our nation,” e.g. extending
frightening in itself.
health benefits to unmarried partners
It is unfortunate that Patrick would
o f the same sex. It certainly seems
notdirectly answer such related ques­
that in the realm o f national priorities
tions as put to him by Rev. Mac
this organization might have given at
Charles Jones ofthe National Coun­
least equal status to the wholesale
cil of C (lurches. It ¡seven more unfor­
torching o f churches in eight states.
tunate that the continued exploitation
And what else seems missing
of the O.J. Simpson/Brown tragedy
lately? That famed southern pas­
by such blatant hustlers as the “Rivera
sion for brilliant oratory and stir­
Live show will continue to create
ring rhetoric in the halls o f con­
racial divisiveness and mistrust. It is
gress—a vigorous denouncement o f
past time that the networks looked
church-burning apparently is not a
beyond the bottom line’ and began
suitable vehicle for “fiery” speech­
seeing the big picture: the survival of
making and declamatory excellence.
our nation as a decent, civilized soci­
However, the Associated Press does
ety.
fletter GSa fflic GEN tor
Fwwf.v in the struggle, Rodney D.
Coates D irector o f Mach W orld
Studies Associate Professor o f S o ­
ciology M iam i I niversity O xford,
O hio 45056, 513-529-1233 em ail:
coatesrda casm ail. muohio. edu
ry father died some time
ago, but often I recall
kour conversations and
his love. Let me share some of
them with you now.
S o le s to a So n fro m a Father
Rodney Coates/96:
My son, soon you w ill be a man,
and I would be remiss o f my respon­
sibilities if I were not to give you the
advice given to me by my dad. Now
I know that much o f what I say now
w ill seem o f no use, old hat, and just
plain meddling But I love you my
son and know that I am just doing the
best I can.
My son, know that you come from
God. that I am just a short term
custodian. You arc a blessing, for all
that is created is go o d-m y God don’t
make no junk. I have tried to guide
you. not reshape you into my own
image For you are o f the future and
I represent the past, my vision is
blurred through my own sorrow I
love you son, so listen and learn o f
my mistakes.
/• other you speak o f sorrow, tell
me o f that pain
p e r s p e c tiv e s
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