Fight or flight: the dilemma of the Talented Tenth

Ok, so I started reading Stride Toward Freedom by Dr. King yesterday and had some compelling thoughts that I would like to share. 

If you talk to (former) community activists over 60 they will tell you that desegregation made it more difficult for them to organize around social justice issues.  I have a cousin who was an organizer in the (no longer existent) Pruitt Igo (sp?) housing development in St. Louis, MO.  She spoke of being able to call a meeting in the morning and have several hundred present that evening.  Clearly, those days no longer exist.

She spoke to me about desegregation opening doors of opportunity for Blacks, and also opening doors for selfishness.  Community organizers and movement leaders began to abandon ship for the “dry land” of integration.  They left the struggle behind for a “safe, secure job with benefits.”

Truly, as the wise Solomon said: “There is nothing new under the sun!” (Eccl. 1:9)  Today, those of the “Talented Tenth” continue to run to their own prosperity, abandoning those who are not able.  Today, the “Talented Tenth” runs for a “better way of life” - either to escape the hardships of their upbringing or to avoid loosing their “parent-given” social status.  To accomplish either of those ends, one must abandon or ignore the plight of others.

Fight or flight: the dilemma of the Talented Tenth.

I started by speaking of Dr. King’s book, Stride Toward Freedom.  This book details Dr. King’s time in Montgomery, AL.  The first chapter is entitled “Return to the South.” 

We forget, or do not put into context, that Dr. King was raised in the South and had left the South.  Little discussed is his hope to teach more than to pastor.  Even less discussed is the opportunity which awaited him in the North.

Being raised in the South, he experienced segregation.  Having studied in the North, he experienced “desegregation.”  As he mulled over the opportunities before him, he thought: “I have a chance to escape from the long night of segregation.  Can I return to a society that condones a system I have abhorred since childhood?”

Both he and Coretta faced the same dilemma.  And, they faced it together.  Coretta knew that her musical career stood a better chance in the North.  Neither of them particularly relished the thought of raising children in a segregated society.  Yet alas, they “came to the conclusion that [they] has something of a moral obligation to return...” (emphasis mine)

Fight or flight: the dilemma of the Talented Tenth.

Certainly, Dr. King had much promise.  But, imagine where we would be if he had decided to take one of the teaching positions offered to him over the pastorate in Montgomery.  Imagine if he had taken a pastorate in one of the Northern churches that wanted him.  What would have happened in the movement?

Had he taken a different course, yes he would have likely still been alive.  Or, at least would might not have died by the hands of an assassin.  He might have become a renowned professor, or he might have been simply another brilliant Black man with a Ph.D.  He probably would have raised his family in a solid middle class existence.  Coretta might have become a renowned singer.

But, where would we as a people be if Dr. King did not feel that moral obligation?

It is that moral obligation and deep love that must win out in the midst of this dilemma.  It is ironic that this past Easter Sunday was the anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination.  On Resurrection Sunday we celebrate the Risen Lord and the truth that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).  Yet, this year we are reminded of the nexus with 1 John 3:16, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.  And, we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”  Dr. King answered that call.  Will you?

Where could we go if you feel that moral obligation?  To where might we fall if you just allow the phone ring?  To whom much is given, much is required.  Certainly, you are being called to something.  Should not then those of us, in the Talented Tenth, who profess being Christian answer that call?

Fight or flight: the dilemma of the Talented Tenth.

Will you fight, or will you flee?  Will you be concerned for your own prosperity?  Or, will you give of yourself for another?

Reparations requires that we become actively and sincerely concerned with the general well-being of society and not simply with our own.  Reparations demands that we do more than throw parties and events.  Reparations warrants that we are compelled by the Gospel to use our attained social status for the benefit of “the least of these.”

Come and get your reparations!