I can be a slow learner at times. I tend to be stubborn; choosing to stay with
the familiar rather than accepting change. Regardless of the evidence presented to me, if
I want to reject a new idea, I will - - even if it is simply for the sake of
rejection itself! I have worked on this
over the years and if I do say so myself - I am less stubborn now than I once
was. At least, that is true in some areas of my life!
Perhaps
this is why I can understand that an entire nation will find it difficult to
accept widespread change to their societal structure. I may not agree with such stubbornness but I can
understand it. Take, for example, the
issue of Civil Rights. From the founding
of this nation in 1776 until the Emancipation Proclamation was issued by
Abraham Lincoln on New Years Day in 1863 slavery was a legal institution. It took 87 years before slaves were declared
to be free persons. But the gap between
legal rights and the actualization of rights remained cavernous for the next
102 years. While the 15th Amendment
to the Constitution was passed in 1870, declaring that every citizen had the
right to vote it was not until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed by
Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson that the right to
vote was given some practical support in an effort to ensure its
fulfillment. In those intervening 102
years state and local authorities still managed to find ways to suppress the
rights of African-American citizens in spite of what the Constitution said.
The
Voting Rights Act of 1965 was one of the benefits that came into being as a
result of the tumultuous '60's. The
Civil Rights movement had been unfolding for a long, long time in this
country. It found new energy and hope,
however, in the mid 1950's and throughout the 1960's as courageous men and
women from all walks of life stood in peaceful solidarity to demand
change. Names like Whitney Young, Jr.,
A. Philip Randolph, Al Raby, six-year old Ruby Bridges, Roy Wilkins, James
Farmer, John Lewis, Martin Luther King, Jr, and many more gave power and
direction to this much-needed cause.
This
past weekend we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the historic
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
On a very hot August day in 1963 a massive demonstration of people from
all across the United States came together for an unprecedented socio-political
declaration. It was a pivotal moment in
the struggle for equal rights. Initiated
and spearheaded by Randolph, the march was inclusive in many ways. Blacks, whites, men, women, politicians,
movie stars, nationally recognized musicians and multiple generations became
the face of this peaceful, powerful event.
Building throughout the day like a symphonic crescendo the March reached
its summit with the now famous speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - - the
"I Have a Dream" speech.
I was
eight years old when the March took place.
I have a vague recollection of seeing it on television, perhaps on the
nightly news. One thing I do remember
clearly is that my Pastor at that time, Guy Wampler, Jr., took part in the
March along with a good size contingent from our denomination, The Church of
the Brethren. His participation may be embedded in my mind because of a photo
that appeared in our local newspaper.
The photo revealed Pastor Wampler and others participating in the March,
and remained with me through all my years.
As I recently confessed to Guy, his participation in that great event
was the starting point in my own spiritual development. I quickly recognized if my pastor could take
such a determined stance for justice and the rights of the oppressed in the
face of much opposition, then so could I.
Years later, as I grew spiritually and came to accept Jesus as my Savior
and Lord, I saw the obvious parallel between the Civil Rights activists and the
Messianic prophecy of Isaiah that Jesus claimed and lived by. For in Isaiah 61:1 - 2 we read these words.
"The
spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has
sent me to bring good news to the
oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the
prisoners; to proclaim the year of
the LORD’S favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;"
Jesus read this very passage in his first recorded sermon in
Luke 4:16 - 21, concluding with his own commentary "Today this scripture has
been fulfilled in your hearing."
I
believe that Jesus spoke the truth. The
words of Isaiah were indeed fulfilled in Jesus Christ. But have the followers of Jesus upheld this
vision in the centuries that followed?
If so, Dr. King would never have had to share his "dream". No, the cold reality is we have failed
miserably!
The
dream shared so eloquently by Dr. King in 1963 was rooted in the Messianic
prophecy of Isaiah some 2800 years earlier.
In true prophetic fashion the March on Washington called our nation to
repent and change its ways. We did, in
part. Great and mighty strides were
taken in the years that followed. But
the work remains unfinished in our day.
Fifty years after King's Speech; one hundred and fifty years after
Lincoln's Proclamation; and two thousand years after Jesus' sermon in Nazareth
I have to say that we have yet to bring this ideal to its full fruition.
The
challenge is ever before us and it manifests itself in a myriad of ways. Consider:
·
According to figures released by the Department
of Labor the current Federal Minimum Wage is $7.25 per hour. This has remained unchanged since 2009, when
it received a mere ten cent increase.
During that same period of time, the national Cost of Living Adjustment
increased by 5.8 % (2009), 2.1 % (2012) and 1.7 % (2013). This means that if the Minimum Wage would
have kept pace with the Cost of Living it would now stand at $7.85 per
hour. Thus the poor fall economically
further behind the rest of society just in the past five years alone.
·
Members of Congress receive a salary of $174,000
per year. That rate is, naturally, higher
for the Majority and Minority Leaders ($193,000) and the Speaker of the House
($223,500). Congress sets its own salary,
annually voting what their salary will be in the future. To Their credit Congress has not given itself
a pay raise during this current Recession, though from 1999 through 2009 they
gave themselves a raise every year except one.
These annual increases are typically based on the federal Cost Of Living
Adjustment. For Congress, that means
their salary increased from $136,700 in 1999 to $174,000 in 2009 - and increase
of over 27% in ten years. Not bad! I would propose, if I could, new legislation
that states:
"Congress may not give its members or their staff an increase in salary unless it also increases the minimum wage by two times the percent that is used to calculate their own salary increase."
"Congress may not give its members or their staff an increase in salary unless it also increases the minimum wage by two times the percent that is used to calculate their own salary increase."
·
The U. S. Census Bureau reports that
approximately 11 % of Americans lived under the Poverty Threshold in 2000. That figure rose to 15 % by 2011.
·
FactCheck.org reports that 2 % of American
households earn 24.7 % of all income in this country, according to the IRS.
·
Since the Colonial days of North America the
rights of Native Americans have been and continue to be suppressed.
·
The rights of the disabled are consistently
overlooked or ignored. Jobs are denied
this group, supplemental funding for mere living expenses is decreasing, and
yet the number of disabled is constantly increasing, resulting in even lower
shares per person.
·
With the crisis in Social Security we are seeing
ever-more seniors forced to live without proper food, health care and housing,
·
Increasingly we see our young people go off to
college only to find themselves unable to afford the cost, unable to repay the
cost, or unable to find a job in the field for which they were trained.
·
New, restrictive voter registration laws in many
of our States make it increasingly difficult to enforce the 15th
Amendment to the Constitution ("the
right to vote shall not be denied to any citizen..."). This is complicated further by the recent
shameful decision of the U. S. Supreme Court which struck down segments of the
1965 Voting Rights Act.
GDGehr 08/28/2013
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