This morning we were alerted to the passing of long-time US Senator, Robert Byrd of West Virginia. And, as I head to the heart of “the South,” to met with those who’ve inherited the ideological legacy of the “Giants of the Confederacy” who founded and established the University of the South, I can’t help but wonder:
Does one vote erase a legacy of tyranny?
I was surprised to hear that some have alluded to Sen. Byrd’s membership in the Ku Klux Klan. Fewer have mentioned his filibuster of the Civil Rights Act. Nevertheless, his involvement in the Klan and segregationist past is glossed over supposedly mitigated by his support for Barack Obama’s candidacy for President and a few statements that his past thoughts were wrong.
Ironically, I just started reading Blue Rage, Black Redemption, the memoir of Crips founder, Stanley Tookie Williams who was executed in 2005 by lethal injection despite being nominated for five Nobel Peace Prizes and four Nobel Prizes in Literature. It’s funny that one man could give his early life over to debauchery and then commit his later life to undoing the damage he caused and working to ensure that others don’t follow his path of destruction. Yet, his efforts have no efficacy to redeem him in the eyes of the public-at-large. Meanwhile, another man could give his early life to a more extreme level of tyranny and debauchery, ignore his past as if it caused no perpetual damage, and by simply casting a ballot for a Black man’s assent to the presidency, he is redeemed.
Does one vote erase a legacy of tyranny?
Something is wrong with this picture. The Crips are a violent street gang that cause much pain to inner-city America. But, no Crip walks the “halls of power.” No crip also has the ability to make laws to enforce and institutionalize their terror. In that vein, there is an escape.
However, these is NO escape from the tyranny caused by the KKK. And, that is highlighted by the very presence of Robert Byrd in the US Senate. Senator Byrd was a recruiter and leader of his local Klan chapter. He is said to have resigned from the Klan in 1943, a year after joining and prior to entering Congress and later the Senate. He might not have been a “dues paying member”, but he was a member of the Klan and a champion of their ideology. After his supposed resignation from the Klan, letters were found implying that his resignation was a formality allowing him to take on greater responsibilities. In 1944, Sen. Robert Byrd wrote to fellow segregationist and Mississippi Senator Theodore Bilbo. In it he states:
Does one vote erase a legacy of tyranny?
I was surprised to hear that some have alluded to Sen. Byrd’s membership in the Ku Klux Klan. Fewer have mentioned his filibuster of the Civil Rights Act. Nevertheless, his involvement in the Klan and segregationist past is glossed over supposedly mitigated by his support for Barack Obama’s candidacy for President and a few statements that his past thoughts were wrong.
Ironically, I just started reading Blue Rage, Black Redemption, the memoir of Crips founder, Stanley Tookie Williams who was executed in 2005 by lethal injection despite being nominated for five Nobel Peace Prizes and four Nobel Prizes in Literature. It’s funny that one man could give his early life over to debauchery and then commit his later life to undoing the damage he caused and working to ensure that others don’t follow his path of destruction. Yet, his efforts have no efficacy to redeem him in the eyes of the public-at-large. Meanwhile, another man could give his early life to a more extreme level of tyranny and debauchery, ignore his past as if it caused no perpetual damage, and by simply casting a ballot for a Black man’s assent to the presidency, he is redeemed.
Does one vote erase a legacy of tyranny?
Something is wrong with this picture. The Crips are a violent street gang that cause much pain to inner-city America. But, no Crip walks the “halls of power.” No crip also has the ability to make laws to enforce and institutionalize their terror. In that vein, there is an escape.
However, these is NO escape from the tyranny caused by the KKK. And, that is highlighted by the very presence of Robert Byrd in the US Senate. Senator Byrd was a recruiter and leader of his local Klan chapter. He is said to have resigned from the Klan in 1943, a year after joining and prior to entering Congress and later the Senate. He might not have been a “dues paying member”, but he was a member of the Klan and a champion of their ideology. After his supposed resignation from the Klan, letters were found implying that his resignation was a formality allowing him to take on greater responsibilities. In 1944, Sen. Robert Byrd wrote to fellow segregationist and Mississippi Senator Theodore Bilbo. In it he states:
I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side... Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.
And, as stated in the Wikipedia article on Robert Byrd, in 1946 or 1947 he wrote a letter to a Grand Wizard stating, "The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia and in every state in the nation." The votes he cast were all in the interests of his constituency and predicated upon his membership.
The media can’t even forgive Jay-Z for being a former drug dealer. Critics can’t forgive Snoop Dogg for being a former gang banger. They couldn’t forgive Tookie for being a founder of the Crips and then working diligently to destroy the monster he created.
But, they can forgive Robert Byrd for defending the South’s right to dehumanize Black people. They can forgive him for being a part of an organization that had no qualms hanging strange fruit in every corner of the South.
Does one vote erase a legacy of tyranny?
Now, I believe redemption is color-blind. All people can be redeemed. To that end, Sen. Robert Byrd could have been redeemed before he died. But, that begs the question: what is the difference between man’s redemption and God’s redemption? What is a worthy redemption...a real redemption, the true redemption?
For in the juxtaposition of Stanley Tookie Williams and Senator Robert Byrd, we see an equally corruptible beginning with completely divergent middles and staggeringly incongruent ends. One man was executed in disgrace, ignoring the work he had done to redeem himself. Another man is honored at his death, and the only thing that can be said in attempt to erase his racist past and legacy of tyranny is: “he supported Barack Obama for President.”
No one says that Sen. Byrd became a champion of legislation to destroy the legacy of institutional racism. No one says that he went back to undo the racist legislation he helped to usher through Congress. All that is said in reference to his commitment to the Klan is: “he came around to support a Black man for President.”
How is it that Sen. Byrd is redeemed in the eyes of society while Tookie Williams stands condemned? I’m not saying one should be redeemed and the other condemned, nor vice versa. I would wish that both found redemption. Just asking the question: Does one vote erase a legacy of tyranny?
Must we continue in a world where White people are easily redeemed, yet Blacks are judged by a different standard? How would God judge our judgments? Do our requirements for redemption match with God’s requirements? Who’s requirements are greater?
We cannot allow ourselves to be dehumanized to the point that we believe someone to be beyond redemption. We must not allow society, including religious clerics, to determine that some are more human than others and thus more worthy of being redeemed. Rather, we must know that God’s “amazing grace” is available to us all.
Come and get your reparations!
The media can’t even forgive Jay-Z for being a former drug dealer. Critics can’t forgive Snoop Dogg for being a former gang banger. They couldn’t forgive Tookie for being a founder of the Crips and then working diligently to destroy the monster he created.
But, they can forgive Robert Byrd for defending the South’s right to dehumanize Black people. They can forgive him for being a part of an organization that had no qualms hanging strange fruit in every corner of the South.
Does one vote erase a legacy of tyranny?
Now, I believe redemption is color-blind. All people can be redeemed. To that end, Sen. Robert Byrd could have been redeemed before he died. But, that begs the question: what is the difference between man’s redemption and God’s redemption? What is a worthy redemption...a real redemption, the true redemption?
For in the juxtaposition of Stanley Tookie Williams and Senator Robert Byrd, we see an equally corruptible beginning with completely divergent middles and staggeringly incongruent ends. One man was executed in disgrace, ignoring the work he had done to redeem himself. Another man is honored at his death, and the only thing that can be said in attempt to erase his racist past and legacy of tyranny is: “he supported Barack Obama for President.”
No one says that Sen. Byrd became a champion of legislation to destroy the legacy of institutional racism. No one says that he went back to undo the racist legislation he helped to usher through Congress. All that is said in reference to his commitment to the Klan is: “he came around to support a Black man for President.”
How is it that Sen. Byrd is redeemed in the eyes of society while Tookie Williams stands condemned? I’m not saying one should be redeemed and the other condemned, nor vice versa. I would wish that both found redemption. Just asking the question: Does one vote erase a legacy of tyranny?
Must we continue in a world where White people are easily redeemed, yet Blacks are judged by a different standard? How would God judge our judgments? Do our requirements for redemption match with God’s requirements? Who’s requirements are greater?
We cannot allow ourselves to be dehumanized to the point that we believe someone to be beyond redemption. We must not allow society, including religious clerics, to determine that some are more human than others and thus more worthy of being redeemed. Rather, we must know that God’s “amazing grace” is available to us all.
Come and get your reparations!
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2 comments:
This post is so on point. I agree with you totally!
Give thanks, bro!
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