UUA President William G. Sinkford's Martin Luther King Day Message Applies Well To UU Clergy Misconduct Issues
I was struck by just how well UUA President William G. Sinkford's Martin Luther King Day message could apply to the issue of U*U clergy misconduct, and other injustices and abuses that occur within the Unitarian Universalist religious community. I am reproducing President Bill Sinkford's message here completely intact but will link appropriate words and phrases that refer to people of color and the racism to Google searches pertinent to the issues of U*U clergy misconduct and/or anti-religious intolerance and bigotry. I will be calling upon UUA President Bill Sinkford to apply both the letter and the spirit of this Martin Luther King Day message to the issues of clergy misconduct, anti-religious intolerance and bigotry, and other injustices and abuses that occur within what he calls the "beloved community" of Unitarian Universalism.
Truth and Reconciliation:
Unitarian Universalist Reflections on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Introduction by the Reverend William G. Sinkford
On the day that we honor the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I have no choice but to speak. However, like many persons of color in our faith, and far beyond our faith, I struggle to find a voice, to find the words that might move us forward. It feels to me that Unitarian Universalists have been stuck around the issue of race for far too long.
The South African Truth and Reconciliation process, now being used widely not only in Africa but in Latin America as well, ties the possibility of reconciliation to the honest confession of truth. Truth of past harms and oversights. Truth of past failures in the attempt to find and create justice. Anything short of real truth telling is a search for cheap reconciliation. We all have truths to discover and to tell. The claim of innocence cannot be an option for any of us, because ignorance of the truth does not alter its legacy. As the Reverend Al Sharpton says, people of color have a history, not a hallucination.
Getting the history right is important, because our memories can be selective. For example, Unitarian Universalists want to remember and hold up our support of Dr. King in Selma and to honor the deaths there of James Reeb and Viola Liuzzo. What we don't always want to remember is that King was witnessing in Memphis for economic justice for garbage collectors, of all races, when he was killed. He had recognized the truth that race and class in this country are inextricably intertwined. If our work for racial justice does not engage with the realities of class it is doomed to fail. Likewise, if we try to reconcile class inequities without acknowledging race, those efforts are equally doomed.
Though Martin Luther King, Jr. did not coin the term "beloved community," this vision for loving and just human relationships and the accompanying practice of reconciliation were central to his ministry. In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, several Unitarian Universalists have offered reflections on how Unitarian Universalists can engage in our own truth-telling process and begin the task of reconciliation. We asked these questions:
What truth needs to be told?
With whom do we need to be reconciled so that Unitarian Universalism can move toward the Beloved Community?
Throughout the spring I'll give persons of diverse racial and ethnic identities an opportunity to provide their answers as well.
Truth and Reconciliation:
Unitarian Universalist Reflections on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Introduction by the Reverend William G. Sinkford
On the day that we honor the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I have no choice but to speak. However, like many persons of color in our faith, and far beyond our faith, I struggle to find a voice, to find the words that might move us forward. It feels to me that Unitarian Universalists have been stuck around the issue of race for far too long.
The South African Truth and Reconciliation process, now being used widely not only in Africa but in Latin America as well, ties the possibility of reconciliation to the honest confession of truth. Truth of past harms and oversights. Truth of past failures in the attempt to find and create justice. Anything short of real truth telling is a search for cheap reconciliation. We all have truths to discover and to tell. The claim of innocence cannot be an option for any of us, because ignorance of the truth does not alter its legacy. As the Reverend Al Sharpton says, people of color have a history, not a hallucination.
Getting the history right is important, because our memories can be selective. For example, Unitarian Universalists want to remember and hold up our support of Dr. King in Selma and to honor the deaths there of James Reeb and Viola Liuzzo. What we don't always want to remember is that King was witnessing in Memphis for economic justice for garbage collectors, of all races, when he was killed. He had recognized the truth that race and class in this country are inextricably intertwined. If our work for racial justice does not engage with the realities of class it is doomed to fail. Likewise, if we try to reconcile class inequities without acknowledging race, those efforts are equally doomed.
Though Martin Luther King, Jr. did not coin the term "beloved community," this vision for loving and just human relationships and the accompanying practice of reconciliation were central to his ministry. In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, several Unitarian Universalists have offered reflections on how Unitarian Universalists can engage in our own truth-telling process and begin the task of reconciliation. We asked these questions:
What truth needs to be told?
With whom do we need to be reconciled so that Unitarian Universalism can move toward the Beloved Community?
Throughout the spring I'll give persons of diverse racial and ethnic identities an opportunity to provide their answers as well.
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