“They have no wine”, said Mary to Jesus in this weekend’s Gospel account. That remark may strike us as a little passive-aggressive. It’s like at our house, when I’m settled on the couch, watching a football game, my wife will glance in the refrigerator and mention, “We’re almost out of milk.” What she really means is, “turn off the television, get off the couch, and go get us some milk.”
This story
of the wedding at Cana, which is one of my favorites, is placed here, near the
beginning of Ordinary Time and near the beginning of John’s Gospel, because in
John’s account it’s the first of Jesus’s public miracles, or as John calls today’s
miraculous turning of water into wine, a sign.
The manifestation of Jesus to the world, begun when the shepherds in the
fields at night witnessed the choir of angels, and then continuing with the
visit from the magi and then the baptism at the Jordan, proceeds in this
weekend’s story. Jesus is now revealed to
the community as a worker of wonders.
The part I
like best about this story, though, is the part that Jesus’s mother plays. In remarking, “They have no wine”, Mary does
something very interesting: she speaks up.
Running out of wine halfway through a wedding would be a social
embarrassment, back then and even today.
In this case, Mary happens to know someone who can solve the problem;
and she doesn’t just sit passively by and watch a social embarrassment unfold;
instead, she speaks up about it. I’d like to suggest that those four simple
words, “They have no wine”, are quite important, because it’s the first recorded
instance of Mary interceding with her son Jesus.
Intercession
happens when someone intervenes on behalf of another. There is a fine example of intercession in the
Harry Potter books and films: the boy Harry intercedes to free Dobby the house-elf from
his abusive master, Lucius Malfoy.
Intercession helps those who are unable to help themselves.
Intercessory
prayer is a part of our Catholic tradition.
We Catholics believe that we can pray directly to God the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit – and we do. But we also
pray to saints and angels – to those who are with God in heaven already. When we do that, we’re engaging in intercessory
prayer – we’re asking these holy ones to intercede on our behalf with God.
If you’ve
ever asked St. Anthony to find something that is lost (“Tony, Tony, look
around, something’s lost and must be found!”), or asked St. Peregrine for help against
cancer, you’ve asked a saint to intercede.
I often pray for our children’s guardian angels to watch over them – a form
of intercessory prayer.
I would
guess that Mary the Mother of Jesus is asked more than any other saint to
intercede on our behalf. Every time we
pray a Hail Mary, we ask for her intercession: we pray, “Holy Mary, Mother of
God, pray for us sinners” – see, there’s the prayer for intercession – “now and
at the hour of our death”. It may be
that our turning to Mary to intercede for us is rooted in today’s Gospel
passage, when Mary intercedes with Jesus.
This story gives us confidence to pray to Mary, because we hear with our
own ears today that Jesus listens to Mary – perhaps even when, as seems to the
case today, he’s not particularly disposed to intervene.
Just as the
saints and angels intercede for us, it’s our duty as disciples to intercede for
others here on earth. One of the reasons
I am so proud of our Outreach ministers here at St. Edna is because they intercede
on behalf of those in need. Nearly every
month we prevent Outreach clients from being evicted from apartments or having
their electricity shut off by the power company. Thanks to your generous donations to
Outreach, we’re able to intercede on behalf of some of the poorest residents in
our local area.
An important
way to intercede is to speak up on behalf of those in need. I really think it’s sinful to observe
something unjust and decline to do or say anything to prevent it. This is especially important when it comes to
our children. If you’re a volunteer here
at St. Edna, chances are good that you’ve been given training by the Protecting
God’s Children program. That whole
program of child safety is premised on our commitment to intercede: should we
see or become aware of any instances of abuse, we pledge not to stay silent,
but rather to speak up. The best way to
root child abuse out of the church is our willingness to speak up on the
children’s behalf. It is because former
victims have interceded – have spoken up – that the identity of abusers, and
those who enabled them, has come to light.
That intercession causes some pain, embarrassment and disruption in the church
today, but in the long run, the church will be much better off for shining
light on abuse. We should thank the victims
and their advocates and their friends in the media for shining so much disinfecting
sunlight into the dark corners of our church where this problem has been hidden.
There is
interceding activity going on around us today: people are speaking up to those
in power. It is because of the
intercession of American citizens that the shameful and wicked splitting up of
immigrant children from their parents at our southern border has come to
light. We should all be thankful to those
who have interceded on behalf of those families.
Injustice is
around us. Kids are being bullied at
school. If you see it happening – speak up
to a teacher; intercede on the victims’ behalf.
Workers are being exploited and underpaid. If you see it happening – speak up; intercede
on behalf of workers and their families.
A bride and
groom were saved from social embarrassment in today’s Gospel reading because
Mary interceded with Jesus. If Jesus
will listen to Mary about something as comparatively trivial as a wedding
celebration running short of wine, isn’t he even more likely to listen to her
when we bring serious needs and problems to him through her? Let’s remember that Mary, all the saints and
the hosts of angels are standing by, waiting to intercede on our behalf; all we
have to do is ask them. And an entire planet
full of the powerless are counting on us to intercede on their behalf; like
Mary, let us be willing to speak up.
I always enjoy your sermons, Jim. Really like how you tie it in to speaking up against injustice.
ReplyDeleteBut I often wonder if the saints are waiting for us to ask. Seems like I have experienced many moments of grace at times when I have been too flustered, sad, angry, faithless to be able to ask.
Maybe the saints are more "proactive."
Jean I appreciate your saying that. Re: intercession by the saints: I wrote that portion with the spirituality of "ask and you shall receive" in mind. Your comment prompted me to dive into the Catechism. Seems it's another of those "both ... and" things: we can/should ask for their intercession, but they also do it on their own. Cf 2683.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have had a lot of "how am I supposed to deal with this s***?" moments in the past few years. Maybe the saints have figured out that, for me, that's a prayer.
ReplyDeleteSomeone probably needs to speak out about Covington Catholic High School students and chaperones who were bused to D.C. for a pro-life rally and ran afoul of a black hate group and some Native Americans.
ReplyDeleteCan't say the Catholic school boys weren't provoked, but clearly they have been poorly schooled in loving their neighbors and turning away from provocation. Letting them wear MAGA hats was probably a mistake, too.
Trying to square tolerance for the behavior of these kids with the lack.of same for students taking the knee before games at Lansing Catholic Central in my neck of the woods.
Catechists and parents have failed those Covington boys miserably. I wonder when they will be rewarded with seats on the Supreme Court.
Kind of like a perfect storm combining three elements. The black group with the anger from racist oppression formed into religious fanaticism, the Indians in the trailing edge of their gathering, and the privileged white kids, some with Trump paraphernalia. Add a little heat and the fireworks start.
DeleteStanley, that's what I was thinking, too. A perfect storm of things happening at once. I felt that the sponsors of the high school kids needed to be on deck to keep tabs on things. Apparently they weren't. When my kids were in school the rules were that you couldn't wear hats or t-shirts with slogans, ads, or anything provocative on them when representing the school. Seems like somebody should have nixed the MAGA hats.
DeleteI don't condone the boys' behavior, but I also don't condone doxxing or threats of bodily harm. Social media was a photomultiplier of anger and hostility, which didn't help anything.
Catholic Conference of Kentucky is not going to say jack about any of this except that it is investigating and discipline, including expulsion, is not off the table. http://ccky.org/2019/01/statement-on-the-actions-of-covington-catholic-high-school-students/
DeleteJust kicking them out strikes me as the school and parish/diocese ducking an obligation to offer the students and their parents some correctives.
Now the kids claim they're getting death threats, their parent are lawyering up, the high school web site has been taken down, some Maori are mad because the student chants disrespect the haka, and Trump says the kids have been "smeared by the media."
Yes, let's take a smoldering pile of animosity and pour gas all over it.
Where were the chaperones?
DeleteBack in the halcyon days, when America was Great Before and campaign gizmos had not become personal profit centers for the candidate, we used to wear buttons, or pins. I even remember "No Third Term" from 1940. I saved mine for years and finally gave it to a serious collector. I recently turned up something rarer in my desk drawer, a (Rep. Pete) McCLOSKEY button from 1972. (Google it.) The thing is, buttons indicated support for a candidate in those days, not participation in a lifestyle. The association of red MAGA caps with Nuremberg-style rallies ("Fuhrer lead, we follow!" whoops, I mean, "Lock her up!" and "Build the Wall!") means the wearer must be proud to be a xenophobic racist, just like the guy who is profiting from the stupid hats. Anything you do while wearing the hat will be read in the light of the expectations they raise.
Of course, if the country were really great again, the president wouldn't be encouraging what the caps lead viewers to expect from their wearers.
Tom, my grandma had a William Jennings Bryan button in her sewing drawer. I wish someone had kept track of it, probably be worth a little money.
DeleteI think kids deserve more benefit of the doubt than adults. Those kids came to Washington for a pro-life march and ran into the buzz-saw of contemporary politics and the toxicity of social media (and mainstream media). Maybe they could have handled it better, but as I say, I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.
ReplyDeleteJust as a baseline: wearing a MAGA hat isn't sinful. It isn't racially provocative. Voting for Trump isn't (necessarily) provocative and isn't (necessarily) a racist act. Not that many of those kids would be old enough to vote anyway.
Here endeth my attempt to intercede on behalf of children, I guess.
Jim, I agree with you that kids deserve more of the benefit of the doubt than adults. Especially since no physical violence happened (thank God!). You're right that a MAGA hat isn't sinful, but why wear it if you aren't eligible to vote, and there's not an election on? It's become a tribal marker, and guaranteed to be provocative in that type of situation.
Delete"...buzz saw of contemporary politics and the toxicity of social media", yeah, that pretty well summarizes it. I've seen plenty of hateful words spilled since the incident.
I'm not invested in The Hebrew Israelites or Native American spirituality. I am invested in Catholicism, and the poor judgment shown by the students and, especially, the chaperones are a poor advertisement for an elite Catholic education.
DeleteNo, wearing a MAGA hat is not a sin. But the reasons why an individual wears one might be.
Perhaps a little training in how to handle confrontation might be in order. If I were in a climate march and were confronted by a MAGA hatter in my face, I might resort to a head butt before verbiage. So I guess I could use some of that training, too. There's a lot of weird stuff in this country, and Trump is the pump. Now, yahoos in pickup trucks are parking in Tesla charging stations and chanting "fuck Tesla". Good grief.
DeleteRight after Trump was elected, NO WIND TURBINES signs sprang up like mushrooms out here.
DeleteSome dim bulb mansplained to that wind turbines would give your kids epilepsy and ADD, just like vaccines are causing autism, and the government is dosing is with tranquilizers via chem trails. I said that explains why I'm a fuzzy wuzzy snowflake, but how did he escape the chem trails. "I run inside when I see 'em!"
There's 20 minutes of my life I'll never get back.
Trying to think in terms of the old testament, did they ever say "Make Israel great again"? Was Israel great when it had kings? What made Israel ever great? I'm thinking of Amos. "Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream" Did Jesus want to make Israel great again?
ReplyDeleteStanley - yes, there is much in the Old Testament about calling the scattered tribes back from exile, rebuilding Jerusalem and restoring the kingdom. Those passages (some of which show up in our liturgies, e.g. during Advent) provided the theological basis for the Zionist movement.
DeleteI guess my bias is to give black people and Indians the benefit of the doubt. If I were black, I might be a fanatical Black Israelite by now. I certainly don't think the Indians have anything to apologize for with respect to us. If we can achieve some level of justice, I'll take that over greatness.
ReplyDeleteI'm not blaming the blacks or Indians, either. Especially the Indian man who did what he could to defuse the situation. But if I had teen kids I would sure as heck not encourage them to go to the march next year. Come to think of it my kids never went to any marches nor did I try to twist their arms about it.
DeleteOh, I think the Hebrew Israelites deserve at least half of the blame. The fact that the boys wanted to drown out their rhetoric with their school cheer, apparently after obtaining permission from their chaperones and teachers, made it worse. Like Jesus says, "If your enemy smites you with insults, take off your shirt, put your hat on backwards, and scream real loud."
DeleteIn contrast, one of our profs here recounted a story in which a white man pointed a gun at MLK in a gas station and said he was going to shoot him. "I love you, brother," King said. End of story.
Well, an Indian -- Mr, Phillips, the drummer -- likened the Black Israelites to Westboro Baptist Church, the (non-Catholic, thank God) Christians who turn up making asses of themselves at inappropriate times, like military funeral.
DeleteKatherine - that was my first thought, too: the environment is too toxic to send high school kids to the march. But then there is also a school of thought that says, We have a right to speak up, and a right not to be intimidated into silence.
DeleteJim, yes we do have a right to speak up. I would rather have the kids commit to a consistent ethic of life where the rubber meets the road, at home. Things like sticking up for a classmate who is bullied, living chastely according to their station in life, being supportive of someone in an unplanned pregnancy and being able to point them to nonviolent sources of help.
DeleteThe school seems to have bussed the students to the pro-life march and then given them free time for sightseeing. Fine. They had their speak-up moment plus some fun.
DeleteBut when the adults in charge told the kiddies they could respond to the Hebrew Israelites with their chants, what were they speaking up for?
Just don't see the behavior of anyone from Covington Catholic at the Lincoln Memorial as a response that Catholics can be proud of.
Michael Gerson has a thoughtful piece about wearing MAGA hats at pro-life rallies, including what a consistent pro-life ethic looks like and how neither party embraces it.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-trumpification-of-the-pro-life-movement-exacts-a-price/2019/01/21/85730ae0-1db9-11e9-9145-3f74070bbdb9_story.html
Thanks for pointing out that piece by Michael Gerson, Jean. I pretty much agree with what he said. This particularly struck me:
Delete"The pro-life movement needs to be, and be seen as, advocating the defense of the weak against the strong. Trumpism is the elevation of the strong against refugees, and against migrant children, and against minorities. The gains of moral and political compromise are material; the costs are spiritual."
I have maxed out my WaPo articles for the month, I guess they want me to pay for a subscription or something. Anyway, this is where I was able to access the article.
I liked Gerson's phrase "empathy requires imagination". I think there is a natural unreflective empathy that extends so far. But it takes imagination to extend and deepen it.
DeleteThanks, Katherine, for the link. I have a subscription, so maybe my links don't translate for non-subscribers.
DeleteIf all pro-lifers were like those whom Gerson describes, I might be able to be one. Marching is OK, as far as it goes, but kinda empty if not backed up with more tangible help where women need it. Or when it ends in ugly confrontation as with the Covington students.
I'll just keep my head down and do my books and blankie thing and continue to pray for guidance.
Going back to Jim at 7:50 a.m., I am not sure the MAGA hats aren't sinful. Assuming the wearer is a student of Art Laffer and a fan of Burke and Friedman, he still has to know that the hat will be an occasion of sin for short-fused liberals.
ReplyDeleteLocally, we are having a tiff between our new governor (who has done some things right and is a refreshing relief from the black hole who has taken his nutty negativity to the Senate) and our election supervisor, an elected official whom the governor fired without an investigation, hearing or cause. The cause, if we ever get to it, is mostly due to the black hole who formerly held the governor's office, and that fact that the duly elected supervisor is a Democrat. Anyhow, she held a press conference to say she's probably going to sue to get her job back. And the MAGA hats showed up waving pictures of Trump to drown her out. Well, Trump does spend time in this state, and he did endorse the governor. But, really, this is a Florida matter between a governor and a supervisor, and the only excuse for the MAGA hat wearers is that they consider the governor part of their tribe.
I don't remember people showing up in wheel chairs, chanting, at the Supreme Court when Roosevelt tried to pack it. Or mobs of folks with stuffed Bonzos dogging Carter in '80 and Mondale in '84. There is something different about this one.
Our MAGA hat conversation has me reflecting: I don't think I've ever actually seen a person wearing one in real life. Probably a tribute to my lack of observational acuity, and also the fact that I don't live in Trump country.
ReplyDeleteOur sacristan is very proud of his. He takes it off when he is in church. He refers to the civil rights marches of his day as "riots." Never misses leading the rosary in the morning, though.
DeleteJim, It also occurs to me that last time I was in Chicago I saw an awful lot of Cubs and (not an awful lot but many) White Sox caps. We were in the Loop for a wedding. It may be that having a real baseball team (as opposed to a tax write-off, which the Marlins are) gives people less reason to find some other kind of cap to wear. Just a thought.
DeleteNathan Phillip's has offered to visit Covington and meet with the students. This might be the best way forward and lower the temperature in social media.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ncronline.org/news/politics/native-american-man-viral-video-offers-meet-catholic-students-leaders
I'd be surprised if the students or the school or anyone takes him up on that offer. We'll see.
DeleteRegarding this portion from the NCR article:
"Phillips said he and others with him viewed the students’ reaction to his drumming — particularly their use of the “tomahawk chop” used by the Atlanta Braves baseball team — as “a mockery of our cultures.”"
The Braves and a thousand other teams in all sports. I was at a Notre Dame football game a couple of years ago and note that their fans do it about 50 times per game. Drove me crazy. Not sure why they do that (Irish tomahawks?), except that possibly they've copied it from Florida State.
The team name of my old high school has always been the Ogallala Indians. Every year they say they ought to change it, maybe rename it the Lakers (because of nearby Lake McConaughy), but so far it has remained the Indians. With the name of the town, it fits; and I don't think it was meant disrespectfully, but times change. Maybe the team should, too.
DeleteRe: The Tomahawk chop. Florida State has a respectful and mutually profitable (I think that includes financially) relation to the Seminole tribe. Before home games (and once in awhile on the road, where it is not appreciated) a student known as Chief Osceola (after the original) rides a pinto pony to midfield and plants a burning spear on the 50-yard line. The real Seminoles not only have no problem with Florida State, they encourage it. They do, however, get ticked off about about the Braves and other "Indian" sports teams. The Seminole-FSU thing is 180 degrees from the Washington unnameables.
DeleteAnd what does one make of this? "The House Intelligence Committee has asked Twitter to provide more information about a viral video of jeering high school students in Make America Great Again hats surrounding a Native American man..."
ReplyDeleteAnd "...But now there is additional scrutiny over how the video became so widely viewed after Twitter suspended the @2020fight account on Monday, following a CNN investigation into several suspicious aspects of the account. The @2020fight account followed over 37,000 users and averaged 210 posts and likes a day, which experts say are classic signs that an account may be automated or inauthentic"
Additionally, it now has come out that while Nathan Phillips was in the Marines from 1972-1976, he did not serve in Vietnam, as initially reported. Some are running with this, saying that he lied. Actually where he served in the military is irrelevant to the video footage, whatever it does or doesn't show.
Phillips claimed initially that the kids surrounded him. When the longer video was released which clearly showed him walking into the group of teens, he altered his story. I don't think he's demonstrated that he was a good-faith actor during the event nor a trustworthy source for news reporters.
DeleteConservative media are now lambasting their brethren in the major news outlets for accepting uncritically the initial accounts (including the initially-tweeted-out footage, which apparently was pretty damning of the teens). In this as in many other news stories these days, there is sort of a meta-story aspect to it: the mainstream news report what is happening on social media - and in doing so, amplify what social media is reporting, whether or not the social media reports have been completely vetted according to the standards of mainstream journalism. (Some conservative commentators also are accusing their mainstream-media brethren of being overly deferential to a Native American source, for reasons of identity politics, or perhaps the because of the social fear of being perceived as piling on a member of a mistreated minority group.) To be sure, the conservative commentariat, on the whole, did not acquit themselves noticeably better than the news reporters: many conservatives also accepted the initial reports and were critical of the teens, and now are issuing mea culpas, along with vows to be more circumspect in the future.
Social media can establish the main points of a news story - accurately or inaccurately, benignly or with malice aforethought - in minutes, while the hard work of reporting, editing and publishing can take several days. I think we see that at work in this story.
I hate that these things swirl into such a proxy war. This evemt, in which there was no physical violence, became a Rorschach test for "liberal" or "conservative"; raised tempers and blood pressure across the nation, and accomplished exactly....what? I hope maybe it taught people some lessons about confirmation bias, but I wouldn't bet on it.
DeleteThe article I linked above is disturbing in that it points to a Twitter account which initially spun the story viral as being probably automated. That all we need, AI to spin out fake news.
"The article I linked above is disturbing in that it points to a Twitter account which initially spun the story viral as being probably automated. That all we need, AI to spin out fake news."
DeleteI agree. We need to know more about this: who is behind that account, and to what purpose? Is it a funded effort, and if so, who provides the funding?
Even if the account turns out not to be a "bot" it is illustrative of the new way of doing old fashioned calumny, detraction, and rash judgement.
DeleteKatherine's idea that only school logos be permitted is a good one.
ReplyDeleteJim believes that MAGA hats do not indicate racism. I disagree. At the very least they are a warning to people of color. I have a raised consciousness these days because of my multi-racial family. I have become much more aware of subtle racism in the mostly white environments where I spend my days. I have also become aware of subtle racism among family and friends too.
The MAGA hat is a red flag - a warning - danger, danger as a friend of mine (a literal "spy catcher" in the national security world) used to say about the actions of someone suspected of espionage. If you see someone in a MAGA hat, and your skin is not white, watch your back - there may be danger.
While many Trump supporters claim that they aren't racist, the studies of the election show that racism, especially towards blacks who protest (take a knee, Black lives Matter), Hispanics and Muslims was a factor in the votes of the majority of Trump supporters - not the only factor, but a factor.
Those who claim not to be racist even though they support Trump did not find his racism objectionable enough to not vote for him - and give up the tax cut and wholesale deregulation or whatever excuse they made for supporting him. For some, like my sister, it was abortion. That was the only issue of importance according to her - at least once Trump was nominated. Before that, she said she wanted to see someone with "good morals" and "good character" in the WH and was leaning to Ben Carson(!). Then to Kusich. She never mentioned abortion as a factor in the primary choice. Suddenly abortion was the only issue - along with tax cuts (they are millionaires). They make absurd excuses for his cruel actions against the border families, against refugees, against the poor.
By inviting Trump to speak, the organizers of the March have effectively told those who don't support Trump - because his administration is not "pro-life" in the true, broad sense - to go away. The message is that they are not wanted.
So this year The March for Life became just another Trump campaign rally.
I read articles this week by two different women who did not go to the March this year because of Trump being invited to speak. Trump is using the pro-life movement, manipulating them, just as he uses the evangelicals.
I couldn't find one of the articles, but did find the one at the America site.
https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2018/01/19/im-unapologetically-pro-life-and-im-ashamed-trump-spoke-march-life
In addition, what will happen if Roe v Wade is overturned? Will abortion disappear? No, but unsafe abortions may become common again. Irish women simply ordered the "abortion pill" online - and so opened themselves to possible tainted or fake pills and to risks of undergoing an abortion without medical supervision. Some just went to England to get an abortion. In the US, the woman in Alabama who wants an abortion may resort to an online pill, an illegal abortionist, or travel to a state where it is legal if she has the money.
In the meantime, Trump continues to gut the programs that help women and children, especially poor women and children. Financial desperation leads many women to get an abortion - they can't afford another child. They can't afford to pay an ob or pediatrician, and cannot afford health insurance.
The pro-life movement needs to start pushing the GOP and Trump folk to strengthen the safety nets, not gut them completely. So far, the pro-life movement has failed to make any impact on the "pro-life" candidates they support to support life after birth.
Nora Balcon left an informative comment after the article written by Helen Alvare at the America site also.
https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2019/01/17/what-new-york-times-gets-wrong-about-abortion-debate
It's worth a read.
With Trump casting himself as a friend to the right to life movement, it for sure doesn't need any enemies.
DeleteI have long thought that those who hope for a repeal of Roe vs Wade should be careful what they wish for. The thing that comes to mind is the Volstead Act and Prohibition. Because what we had there was an absence of consensus. A majority vote isn't the same as consensus. There was a backlash and a repeal. Which is what we would have if Roe vs Wade went down. Repeal in that instance could take the form of a constitutional amendment establishing a right to abortion. And the right to life would be in a worse situation than it was previously.
DeleteI didn't know that Trump had been invited to speak to the marchers. I wonder if that's where those kids got the MAGA hats, i.e. the Trump campaign or other Trump-affiliated flunkies were passing them out as tchotchkes?
DeleteTrump has been weak on a number of causes associated with the sanctity of life, from dithering (and worse) on climate change to weakening Obamacare to splitting up children from their families at the borders. But for the cause of combatting the prevalence of abortion and rolling back the provisions of Roe v Wade, which many would say are more important than those other issues - he's been a friend. Certainly more so than the alternatives on offer. All of which is to say: it's not wrong for the pro-life movement to invite Trump to speak. Advocates should reward their friends and not reward their enemies. Pro-life voters helped him, and he has helped them. It's all very transactional, but that's the game.
Jim, of course it's transactional. Thats the problem. See the Michael Gerson article that Jean linked. "The Trumpification of the Prolife Movement Exacts a Price".
DeleteA black man's opinion
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/01/23/nothing-justifies-what-covington-students-did/?utm_term=.99ab6f0bc8cb
There were a few lessons I only needed to learn once when I lived in New York city … Never hail-a-cab-while-black on an Uptown avenue (they usually don’t stop). And never, ever, walk by the Black Israelites, … (you’re just asking for trouble).
That last lesson came to mind as I watched the one hour and 46 minute video posted by … the Hebrew Israelites ... It shows the before, during and after of the … encounter … between …Nathan Phillips and … Nick Sandmann …
….the Black Hebrew Israelites hurled racism, homophobia and worse at anyone and everyone who crossed their path. ….The seeming lack of judgment by their chaperones was curious. If the ranting and raving Black Hebrew Israelites are the kind of folks who necessitate my crossing the street … why would the Covington kids and their minders think it’s okay to engage crazy, hateful people raising hell …? …
At first, the Covington students kept their distance. By the time, Phillips drummed his way into the situation they had moved much closer to the Black Hebrew Israelites. And at various points, the young men gave as good as they got. The Black Hebrew Israelites called the young boys “school shooters,” and one asked, “What, you about to go postal?” A student….replied, “No, I’m going to go take a s---.”
When the Black ..Israelites declare, “I don’t see one black person in the crowd,” the boys all turn to the one with them. … the Black Hebrew Israelites said “Y’all got one n----r in the crowd.” One [boy] … said, “No, we’ve got two.” Later, the Israelite yelled, “That’s the only one y’all could bring to the front?” A kid responded, “We got one at home but he ain’t here.”
Having been … singled out as the “only one” in a crowd, I can imagine how that kid who emerged felt…. But all this took place after Phillips made his way to the crowd of boys, ... Even the Black .. Israelites recognized Phillips was moving in to try to keep the peace. “Here comes dad,” the main voice on the recording says as Phillips and others with him move in between the Black Hebrew Israelites and the Covington Catholic high schoolers.
A video made by the Indigenous Peoples .. shows the pivotal moment… your first glimpse of Sandmann at about nine seconds …. At 46 seconds, Phillips moves toward an unmoving and smiling Sandmann. At about 2:23, a male [asks], “What’s going on?” To which a woman [responds], “You guys are acting like a mob. That’s what’s going on.” ….
Many on the right are using the equal opportunity bigotry of the Black Hebrew Israelites as a way to excuse the … behavior of the Covington boys. Others, such as Kyle Smith of the National Review, wag their fingers at the teens. But Smith added something else … “Until about ten minutes ago, it was broadly agreed in our culture that kids are allowed to do some dumb things because they’re kids,” … “Should these kids’ lives be ruined because some of them responded to obnoxious provocation by being a bit rude themselves?”
Let’s be clear: This assessment only applies to white kids…..
As Stacey Patton wrote …, “In America, black children don’t get to be children.” ….
“… I was startled and confused as to why he had approached me. We had already been yelled at by another group of protesters, and when the second group approached I was worried that a situation was getting out of control ...,” Sandmann wrote in a statement that defies the video evidence. “I never felt like I was blocking the Native American protester. He did not make any attempt to go around me. It was clear ... he had singled me out for a confrontation….”
...Sandmann’s actions and those of his classmates were … disrespectful …toward an adult. No amount of … invective from loons like the Black Hebrew Israelites justifies what they did.
The smirk on the kid's face for more than 2 minutes tells the real story IMO.
Some reporter-analysts are talking about the incident as a Rorschach test: People saw the version that squares with their own views and prejudices in the absence of any objective first-hand reports.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting exercise. I certainly have some knee-jerk reactions against rich private school Catholic parents. My own experiences with The Boy's Catholic school was brief and wearing makes me angry.
I reject Trump and all his works.
The Brett Cavanaugh hearings are still fresh in mind, and it is hard not to see a mob of Catholic school boys treating a pro-life rally as a fun holiday as of a piece with the insensitivity and excesses leveled against Cavanaugh and his friends.
So, yup, a bunch of loud-mouth, smirking rich white boys in MAGA hats: I was prepared to think the worst. And I was happy to see them get publicly chastised by their diocese and community, maybe get expelled and have to learn to get along in the public school with people like my kid.
Now the Covington school has to be closed because of death threats, and that shifts things for me. Much as I would like the white pampered darlings of Catholic parents to get a good dose of what underprivileged life is like (instead, they're lawyering up and hiring PR firms), threatening to kill kids is abhorrent. Especially in these days when school violence is all too common.
In addition, the death threats turn the Covington High families into beleaguered victims now. And I think that will cut short any soul-searching they might otherwise have done about their own part in the debacle.
the incident has dug all of us deeper into our trenches, including me. Nothing good will come of it.
*wearing makes me angry s/b still makes me angry
Deletethe incident has dug all of us deeper into our trenches, including me. Nothing good will come of it.
ReplyDeleteJean is right, unfortunately.
I am going to link to another article at America - especially for those who define themselves now, or once defined themselves, as Republicans or as conservatives.
I gave up on the GOP some years back, when I FINALLY realized that most Republicans had moved to the extreme right, including racism.
I am still conservative on some issues - primarily economic issues. For example, I strongly support free trade. I am against huge deficits. The current GOP has done a 180 on both of those issues. Among others.
The young woman who wrote the article at America was "gifted" by an openly racist fan who pushed her into opening her mind to reality. She is young - I was old when I finally opened my eyes and mine. But being pushed into serious reflection was gift to her in unexpected form.
I was an inexcusably naïve person for most of my life. My husband and I were Republicans, conservative, as were most of our friends and family. We are still fairly “conservative”, but not Republican. The GOP is no longer a party of true “conservatives”, as many former Republican, conservative writers will attest. We were much like this woman – believing racism to be mostly a thing of the past, and not recognizing the racist dog whistles of the GOP for what they were for too much of our lives.
Entire article at America website.
https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2019/01/21/how-racist-fan-letter-forced-me-reckon-our-nations-history-prejudice
How a racist fan letter forced me to reckon with our nation’s history of prejudice
It is one of those moments you do not forget: the first time you receive a friendly note from a virulent racist. Nothing quite compares to that nasty realization that you have been deemed recruitment-worthy by the foot-soldiers of the Ku Klux Klan.
For me, this first happened in ..2015… I had recently written a piece for The Federalist … Shortly after it ran, I got a note from a reader who assured me that I was a gifted writer …Unfortunately, he said, I had not yet gotten to the heart of the issue. The Democrats had their problems, but bad policy was not the real scourge of American cities. They were simply ungovernable, he said, because there were too many black people.
.. I read on to find a list of suggested books… These books, I was assured, would truly open my eyes. ..
Over the next few years, I would come to a clearer understanding of what that reader saw in my work. He did not mistake me for a fellow racist, which I am not. Still, there were reasons he thought I might be persuadable. In order to appreciate those reasons, I had to think more deeply about the subtleties of prejudice and the power of political narrative. By the end, I would understand more clearly why racial reconciliation has proven difficult, even in a society that overwhelmingly wants to distance itself from the injustices of a prejudiced past.
I have spent much of my life among my fellow political conservatives. For most of that time, I genuinely believed that racism was not a significant problem in the United States. ..Of course, I did notice that racial prejudice continued to be a topic of heated public debate. But I assumed (like many political conservatives) that this was politically manufactured outrage with almost no basis in reality.
Today I see things differently. Many do not though, … I know many people who are politically conservative who could benefit from deeper reflection on racial prejudice and its historical roots…
I recommend finishing the article at America's site.