AFFIRMING THE STRUGGLE TO BE HUMAN

As another Black History Month comes to a close I am moved to reflect on Dr. Cornel West’s powerful testimony—exhortation, really—to a very mixed race assembly at Reed College last Friday night. Dr. West is a theologian, sociologist, activist and author Race Matters more than a decade ago, and his current work, Democracy Matters. His take on race matters has shifted somewhat from matters of race to matters of democratic participation of “ordinary folks”. Ten years ago William Greider wrote a provocative book describing the subversion of democracy by a powerful elite with the title, Who Will Tell the People: The Betrayal of the American Democratic Promise. I eagerly await reading Dr. West’s testimony of hope in the face of race matters and the betrayal of the democratic promise in his new book, Democracy Matters.

I came away from hearing Dr. West’s speech on Friday night with gratitude for his clarity and his passionate commitment to the struggle for human liberation. In a nutshell I heard Dr. West say that Black history at its best is the story of struggle to wrest humanity from the dehumanizing forces of slavery, Jim and Jane Crow, segregation, discrimination and institutional racism. Humanity under siege in the African American experience could lose itself in self immolation or in other directed counter violence. He insisted that Black history at its best testifies to the power of love to overcome all that jeopardizes one’s own humanity, and the power of justice to overcome all that jeopardizes the humanity of others.

So Emma Teal refused to allow hatred to consume her when her son was lynched, and thousands joined Rosa Parks in refusing to sit in the back of the bus claiming their humanity alongside their misguided White neighbors, and giving them a chance to reclaim their own humanity lost in the wilderness of their own prejudice and violence. “An eye for an eye,” he quipped, “leaves both parties blind.” Dr. Martin Luther King insisted, as did Arch-Bishop Tutu after him, that the liberation of the Blacks in America and in Africa was the only way for Whites to also be liberated. So they marched and lobbied and died not only for the liberation of the Black race, but for the liberation of the human race.

Dr. West challenged the gathered mixed race assembly at Reed College to struggle against all that jeopardizes one’s own humanity—it is an individual struggle for dignity, hope, opportunity and freedom AND to struggle against all that jeopardizes the humanity of others—it is a community, national, global struggle for justice, peace and the common good. What are some of the forces that jeopardize our individual humanity? What forces threaten the humanity of others? AND what forces enhance our humanity and the humanity of others?

I am mindful that the humanity of both the victim and the perpetrator are assaulted in dehumanizing acts and attitudes because I cannot threaten the humanity of another without jeopardizing my own. The Iraqi prisoner stripped and abused and the American soldier stripping and abusing are both assaulted by the dehumanized power of torture—both need a process to recover their humanity—it is what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa so brilliantly if imperfectly brought into practice. Soldiers in war don’t just face the threat of death from their enemies, but also the loss of their humanity in taking the life of another.

How do we deal with the dehumanizing forces which threaten us and our brothers and sisters? How do we enhance the powers which prevent dehumanizing acts and attitudes, which call to accounts those who dehumanize and which offer restoration for both victim and perpetrator? One step is naming the forces on both sides. Here is a beginning listing:

Forces Which Jeopardize Humanity/Forces Which Enhance Humanity

Violence/Non-violence
Torture/Peacemaking
Lying/Truth
Cheating/Honesty
Oppression/ Equality
Intimidation/Listening
Abuse/Love
Discrimination, Prejudice/Understanding
Stereotyping/Openness
Racism/Community
Slavery/Justice
War/Negotiation
Bullying/Friendship
Revenge/Reconciliation
Retaliation/Sacrifice
Hatred/Forgiveness
Controlling Fear/Hope
Hot Anger/Cold Anger
Unexamined Conscience/Critical Reflection
Lack of Relationship/Building Connections

Certainly these lists could be expanded. The point is that in the world today all humanity faces the risk of losing itself, and there is work to be done in all human souls and in all communities, nations and the world to enhance rather than kill our God-given humanity. Where in my life has my humanity been threatened? Who are the others in the world who have had their humanity threatened? How will I then respond? What is it about our society that has resulted in a Department of Homeland Security instead of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission? Why have we privatized work, education, health care and are even considering doing the same to social security instead of fostering a public good?

I am grateful to Dr. Cornel West for his prompting that race matters, and that democracy with a small “d” and with massive participation of ordinary folks matters, too. I am inspired by his enthusiasm in spite of what he knows is the experience of many suffering people. In closing he was asked about “dying for the cause,” and responded by saying he wasn’t eager to—and that it was indeed at some times necessary, that the blood of the martyrs seeds hope and courage for those of us continuing the struggle. May it be so.

P Moe
February 21, 2005