There is no neutral

I woke up this morning more optimistic than I was yesterday. When faced with the horrors of what it means to be a black man in America, I usually find solace in the slow but gradual progression towards "better." Yesterday I didn't see "better." When I zoomed out, I was confronted with progress that is too segregated. The folks that look like me are still fighting not to be victims of the Government to whom they pledge allegiance.

I was sad because I know that, in America, black and brown folks cannot fix this problem by themselves, no matter how much they beg or burn. Change in these United States requires the will of white moderates and the few wealthy and comfortably middle and upper-class black and brown citizens. Yesterday, I was sad because I was not sure they/ we would be willing to stand up, to get uncomfortable, to agitate, to do more to save the lives of their brothers, sisters, in-laws, cousins, coworkers, and neighbors.

Then I spoke with so many friends and family members that are sitting down with their kids and committing to do better. They are committing to do something today. Not later. Today, I saw a small majority-white town (Lubbock, Texas - pop 258,000) protesting. They stood up. They are supporting "better." So, today I'm more optimistic.

Temple and I have committed to do more, to agitate, and to get uncomfortable. We are going to donate to the causes we believe in until it is uncomfortable. We are going to participate in our local business and government activities until it is uncomfortable. Far too many decisions that affect my children's and neighbors' lives are being decided in a room with a small group of people who do not look like them and do not understand what America is like for people who do. If nothing else, we are committed to not making it easy for those that do not believe in justice to simply ride this moment out.

I'm confident that this too shall pass. If for no other reason, it will pass because those in power will use whatever force is necessary to quell the protests. However, there is nothing that says the arch of progress will bend toward justice. We must bend it towards what is just and good.

Dr. King continues to be a leading voice for our family. He continues to hold the clearest vision of "better." I was brought to tears when I read, again, Letters from a Birmingham Jail. The following segment was particularly moving. 

I have just received a letter from a white brother in Texas. He writes: "All Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry. It has taken Christianity almost two thousand years to accomplish what it has. The teachings of Christ take time to come to earth." Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time, from the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the very flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be coworkers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.

There is no neutral.

Silence is unacceptable.

P.S. Instead of a "thumbs-up", please say what you did to bend the arch of progress towards justice. It will help those looking for ideas!