Sunday, June 20, 2010
“Daddy Makes A Difference!”
Sermon Delivered at:
Greater New Bethel A.M.E. Church
Kansas City, Kansas
(Rev. Edward Walzer, Jr. Pastor)
By Rev. Dr. Larry Delano Coleman
Occasion: “Father’s Day”
Today, is Fathers’ Day!
All fathers, please stand and take a bow!
Ladies, give these brothers a hand!
All of us have fathers.
Whether we know their names or not.
Whether we’ve met them or not.
Whether we love them or not.
We all have fathers.
No Mother could be a “mother” without the timely, indispensible help of a father. And no father could be a “father” with the timely, indispensible help of a mother.
The Bible says:
Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. Job 21:10 (KJV)
Their ox is ready at all times to give seed; their cow gives birth, without dropping her young. Job 21:10 (Bible in Basic English)
Today church, I’ve come to let you know that “Daddy Makes A Difference.” What I say? “Daddy Makes A Difference!”
The idea for an official “Father’s Day,” ironically, came up just two years after the first official Mothers’ Day. One hundred years ago, in 1910, a married woman in Spokane, Washington, named Sonora Smart Dodd was in church. While listening to the preacher extol the virtues of mothers, she reflected that she and her five (5) brothers had been raised by their father, a farmer, following the death of her mother in child birth. Her father’s efforts called to mind the unsung feats of fathers everywhere. So, she worked to make Fahter’s Day official. From that beginning the idea spread, until President Nixon made it official in 1972, some 62 years later. http://www.ideafinder.com/guest/calendar/fathersday.htm
That just goes to show that persistence pays off. Listening in church helps, too.
Both mothers and fathers, males and females, make up the “phylum” known as “Man.”
Both were created in the image and the likeness of God. Genesis 1:26-28 states:
26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
In biology, a phylum (plural: phyla)[note 1] is a taxonomic rank below Kingdom and above Class. "Phylum" is equivalent to the botanical term division.[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phylum
God did not simply create us to praise and to worship him. God also put us here to work, “to till the ground from whence he was taken.” Gen. 3:22. God put “us” out, expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, when they disobeyed. Gen 3:
22And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
If you don’t obey, you deserve to get put out. If you get too big for your britches, you will be chastised. Under my roof it’s either my way or the highway.
That includes getting a job. If you can’t find a job, make your own job! I had a lady deliver me a delicious turkey dinner this past Friday to my office. I met her at Gilbert A.M.E. Church, where I preached last Sunday. She made her own job. And she got paid. Work is good. “Rust kills quicker than wear,” they say.
We were put here to work. The Bible says 19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Genesis 3:19
Even Jesus worked! Praise be to God, Jesus still works in you and me, and through you and me!
In John 9:4, he said: I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
Hear me now, church, Daddy’s work! That’s what Daddy’s do. Being Daddy is work. And for me, being Daddy is fun. In addition to work, however, Daddy’s also:
Love
Provide
Protect
Respect
Empower
Forgive
Encourage
Cleanse
Teach
Inspire
Discipline.
These are things that Daddy’s do. Daddy’s make a difference!
Without Earl Woods, there’d be no Tiger Woods.
Without Martin Luther King, Sr. there’d be no Martin Luther King, Jr.
Without George Bush, there’d be no George W. Bush (sigh)
Even Barack Obama’s Daddy, whom he barely knew, made a difference. Read Dreams of My Father, please.
The Williams Sisters Daddy made them.
And Rev. C.L. Franklin made the Diva, Aretha Franklin –R E S P E C T!—
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my own Daddy, Elvis Mitchell Coleman, who married my Momma in 1950, and who produced 8 children, all of whom went to college, 7 of whom graduated. Neither one of my parents finished high school.
Daddy makes a difference, church. Daddy makes a difference!
In fact, open your Bibles to John 9:1 and read quietly as I read:
1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,
7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.
8 The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?
9 Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.
10 Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened?
11 He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.
12 Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.
13 They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.
14 And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.
15 Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see.
16 Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them.
17 They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.
18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight.
19 And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?
20 His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind:
21 But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself.
22 These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.
23 Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him.
24 Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner.
25 He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.D
Daddy makes a difference! And Big Daddy makes a big difference!
You can ask the woman at the well. Daddy makes a difference!
You can ask the 10 lepers who were healed. Daddy makes a difference!
You can ask the woman caught in adultery. Daddy makes a difference!
You can ask the 5,000 he fed with 2 fish and 5 barley loves. Daddy makes a difference!
You can ask our 4 million forefathers whom he delivered from slavery! Daddy makes a difference!
You can ask me, as he lifted me off the death bed, and gave me health, strength, love, power, compassion and undying faith in his holy name!
Daddy makes a difference! Daddy makes a difference! Daddy makes a difference!
Amen.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
"Easy Like Sunday Morning"
Gilbert A.M.E. Church
Kansas City, Missouri
(Rev. Brenda J. Smith, Pastor)
“EASY LIKE SUNDAY MORNING”
Sermon by Rev. Dr. Larry Delano Coleman
Delivered on Sunday, June 13, 2010
Lionel Richie, the great singer/arranger/composer, etc. has popularized the song, “Easy”:
Know it sounds funny but I just can’t stand the pain.
Girl, I’m leaving you tomorrow.
Seems to me girl you know I’ve done all I can
You know I beg stole and I borrowed. Yeah.
Oooh, that’s why I’m easy,
Easy like Sunday Morning.
That’s why I’m easy,
Easy like Sunday Morning.
Well, long before Lionel Richie and/or the Commodores—“Aww, she’s a Brick House, she’s mighty mighty, just let’n it all hang out!”--
Jesus had already said: For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:30.
That’s today subject: “Easy like Sunday Morning.”
There is a popular saying known as the KISS Principle. Kiss stands for “Keep it simple stupid!” “Keep it simple stupid!”
The KISS principle states that simplicity should be a key goal in design, and that unnecessary complexity should be avoided.
The acronym was first coined by Kelly Johnson, lead engineer at the Lockheed Skunk Works (creators of the Lockheed U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird spy planes, among many others).
The principle is best exemplified by the story of Johnson handing a team of design engineers a handful of tools, with the challenge that the jet aircraft they were designing must be repairable by an average mechanic in the field under combat conditions with only these tools. Hence, the 'stupid' refers to the relationship between the way things break and the sophistication available to fix them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle
Sometimes, things break down in our lives. But, if we remember the KISS principle, we’ll be able to fix them. The tools in our hands are the words and life of Jesus.
He said in Matthew 11:28-30:
28Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
We are the ordinary, every day mechanics. Life is our jet aircraft, which regardless of its level of sophistication, breaks down.
Then, is when we need to apply the tools of Jesus to fix our problems and fix our lives.
Romans 9:15-18 says:
15For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
16So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
17For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Too, often, in this Christian walk, man has imposed his rules, his tastes, his predilections, upon us and misrepresented them God's.
For example, when I was a little boy, it was considered a sin to:
Go to a baseball game
Dance
Wear Lip stick or skirts at or –Lord help us--above the knee
Drink any kind of alcohol
Listen to blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll
In fact, just about everything was a sin, especially if it was fun, except going to church 24-7.
But now, there’s no more sin in baseball. Folks now dance in church. Lip stick is common. Dresses are now at or above the knee. Blues and rhythm and blues are played in the church—“Easy like Sunday Morning.”
We’re coming out from under a cloud. The storm is almost gone. The cloud was a cloud of hypocrisy.
Take alcohol. Jesus’ first miracle was changing water to wine at a wedding. Notice it was at a wedding. Not in the work place. Not on a street corner, hello. Not in a school or church. Hello.
At weddings people drank wine and champagne, too. In fact, Jesus drank wine.
Earlier, in Matthew 11, he said:
16But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,
17And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.
18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.
19The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.
At the last supper, Matthew 26:29, Jesus said: "But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."
The pericope reads:
26And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
27And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
28For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
29But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
Applying the KISS principle in our day to day lives, we can overcome the world, church! Overcome the world!
1 John 5: 1-5 shows how to overcome the world:
5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Our faith is the victory. Our faith in Jesus Christ. We show that we love him by keeping his commandments.
In fact, Jesus even simplified the commandments. There used to be ten. He reduced them, simplified them, to two. They are now called "the summary of the Decalogue":
Mark 12:30-31
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
The background context for this simplification is found also in Mark 12:
28And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
29And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, ¬Hear oh Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord:
30And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
32And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
33And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
34And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
Gilbert A.M.E.! Keep it simple. Take it easy. Hear. Love the Lord. Love your neighor. Love yourself.
May God bless you, and God keep you. Amen! “Easy Like Sunday Morning.”
#30
Kansas City, Missouri
(Rev. Brenda J. Smith, Pastor)
“EASY LIKE SUNDAY MORNING”
Sermon by Rev. Dr. Larry Delano Coleman
Delivered on Sunday, June 13, 2010
Lionel Richie, the great singer/arranger/composer, etc. has popularized the song, “Easy”:
Know it sounds funny but I just can’t stand the pain.
Girl, I’m leaving you tomorrow.
Seems to me girl you know I’ve done all I can
You know I beg stole and I borrowed. Yeah.
Oooh, that’s why I’m easy,
Easy like Sunday Morning.
That’s why I’m easy,
Easy like Sunday Morning.
Well, long before Lionel Richie and/or the Commodores—“Aww, she’s a Brick House, she’s mighty mighty, just let’n it all hang out!”--
Jesus had already said: For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:30.
That’s today subject: “Easy like Sunday Morning.”
There is a popular saying known as the KISS Principle. Kiss stands for “Keep it simple stupid!” “Keep it simple stupid!”
The KISS principle states that simplicity should be a key goal in design, and that unnecessary complexity should be avoided.
The acronym was first coined by Kelly Johnson, lead engineer at the Lockheed Skunk Works (creators of the Lockheed U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird spy planes, among many others).
The principle is best exemplified by the story of Johnson handing a team of design engineers a handful of tools, with the challenge that the jet aircraft they were designing must be repairable by an average mechanic in the field under combat conditions with only these tools. Hence, the 'stupid' refers to the relationship between the way things break and the sophistication available to fix them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle
Sometimes, things break down in our lives. But, if we remember the KISS principle, we’ll be able to fix them. The tools in our hands are the words and life of Jesus.
He said in Matthew 11:28-30:
28Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
We are the ordinary, every day mechanics. Life is our jet aircraft, which regardless of its level of sophistication, breaks down.
Then, is when we need to apply the tools of Jesus to fix our problems and fix our lives.
Romans 9:15-18 says:
15For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
16So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
17For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Too, often, in this Christian walk, man has imposed his rules, his tastes, his predilections, upon us and misrepresented them God's.
For example, when I was a little boy, it was considered a sin to:
Go to a baseball game
Dance
Wear Lip stick or skirts at or –Lord help us--above the knee
Drink any kind of alcohol
Listen to blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll
In fact, just about everything was a sin, especially if it was fun, except going to church 24-7.
But now, there’s no more sin in baseball. Folks now dance in church. Lip stick is common. Dresses are now at or above the knee. Blues and rhythm and blues are played in the church—“Easy like Sunday Morning.”
We’re coming out from under a cloud. The storm is almost gone. The cloud was a cloud of hypocrisy.
Take alcohol. Jesus’ first miracle was changing water to wine at a wedding. Notice it was at a wedding. Not in the work place. Not on a street corner, hello. Not in a school or church. Hello.
At weddings people drank wine and champagne, too. In fact, Jesus drank wine.
Earlier, in Matthew 11, he said:
16But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows,
17And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.
18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil.
19The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.
At the last supper, Matthew 26:29, Jesus said: "But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."
The pericope reads:
26And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
27And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
28For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
29But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
Applying the KISS principle in our day to day lives, we can overcome the world, church! Overcome the world!
1 John 5: 1-5 shows how to overcome the world:
5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
Our faith is the victory. Our faith in Jesus Christ. We show that we love him by keeping his commandments.
In fact, Jesus even simplified the commandments. There used to be ten. He reduced them, simplified them, to two. They are now called "the summary of the Decalogue":
Mark 12:30-31
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
The background context for this simplification is found also in Mark 12:
28And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all?
29And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, ¬Hear oh Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord:
30And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
32And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:
33And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
34And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.
Gilbert A.M.E.! Keep it simple. Take it easy. Hear. Love the Lord. Love your neighor. Love yourself.
May God bless you, and God keep you. Amen! “Easy Like Sunday Morning.”
#30
Friday, June 4, 2010
“Racism:” America’s “Toxic Tort”
“Racism:” America’s “Toxic Tort”
Racism is the systemic deprivation of all variants of human dignity based upon one’s perceived ancestry, by "white people", its inventors.
Systemic deprivation means “ubiquitous,” i.e., universal injury against certain “persons,” especially African descendents, who are impaired, divested, disabled, or disallowed from or in every day pursuits.
“Variants of human dignity” means that whole panoply of human endeavors, from earning income, to being educated, to living in a house, to religious and musical expression, to sports and the arts, to marrying and raising a family—in short, just plain living, including, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness, itself.
“White people,” are people of Western European descent who are or who become inexorable beneficiaries of assorted rights, privileges and opportunities, without more, so long as they adhered to the predominant mores of North American (and formerly Southern African) “white people": being racist against blacks, ipse dixit.
Early English settlers in Virginia invented racism at Jamestown in North America, after 1619, when a Dutch man of war brought 20 captured Africans there, who were traded for tobacco. These early blacks became indentured servants, among the settlers, just like the white indentured servants with whom they co-existed and cohabited, under the sovereignty of the colonial master caste.
This colonial master caste invented racism to divide the black indentured servants from the white indentured servants, especially after Nathaniel Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676, wherein the indentured servants, black and white, rose up against the colonial caste under the leadership of a scion of the landed gentry and a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, Nathaniel Bacon. Bacon died before the rebellion concluded, which at any event failed. But, it succeeded in causing the master caste to construct, encode and enforce ever deepening distinctions, between whites and blacks, eventually codified in law and custom and calcified in economics and culture. See Cooper, William J, Liberty and Slavery: Southern Politics to 1860, Univ of South Carolina Press, 2001, p. 9-10. http://www.amazon.com/Liberty-Slavery-Southern-Politics-1860/dp/1570033870#reader_1570033870.
Because white people invented “racism” which furnished them an economic boon, and was a white unifying force, racism not only has subsisted, and persisted; it has flourished, it has exponentially multiplied, as a staple of American democracy, as originally reflected in the U.S. Constitution and as formally declared in many United States Supreme Court decisions.
Under these decisions, Blacks were not “outlaws.” They were outside the law: Other. They were non-persons, “invisible men” to quote Ralph Ellison, author of the eponymously named classic, Invisible Man. http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Man-Ralph-Ellison/dp/0679732764
Like the oil now gushing forth into the Gulf of Mexico, racism also gushed forth, like a plague, across the United States of America, and into every fiber, sanctuary, and estuary of American life. We are still endeavoring to mop up its lethal and lubricious legacy. It spread all over America, because its benefits covered all of white America, whether they wanted it to or not.
Moreover, as oil is toxic, so is racism. As oil has many byproducts, so does racism. As oil is ugly, so is racism. Racism is toxic. As practiced, racism is also a “tort,” a civil wrong. Even so, lawyers typically classify racism under “civil rights.” There’s nothing right about racism. It is America’s toxic tort: crying out for remediation.
If we would contribute the soon—to—be billions of dollars used to attempt to staunch the oil gusher to also attempt to staunch the racism gusher, America and the world would be a better place. The oil is a mere metaphor. May neither oil, nor racism, presage an All--American Apocalypse. And, may both be overcome in the near term!
Racism is the systemic deprivation of all variants of human dignity based upon one’s perceived ancestry, by "white people", its inventors.
Systemic deprivation means “ubiquitous,” i.e., universal injury against certain “persons,” especially African descendents, who are impaired, divested, disabled, or disallowed from or in every day pursuits.
“Variants of human dignity” means that whole panoply of human endeavors, from earning income, to being educated, to living in a house, to religious and musical expression, to sports and the arts, to marrying and raising a family—in short, just plain living, including, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness, itself.
“White people,” are people of Western European descent who are or who become inexorable beneficiaries of assorted rights, privileges and opportunities, without more, so long as they adhered to the predominant mores of North American (and formerly Southern African) “white people": being racist against blacks, ipse dixit.
Early English settlers in Virginia invented racism at Jamestown in North America, after 1619, when a Dutch man of war brought 20 captured Africans there, who were traded for tobacco. These early blacks became indentured servants, among the settlers, just like the white indentured servants with whom they co-existed and cohabited, under the sovereignty of the colonial master caste.
This colonial master caste invented racism to divide the black indentured servants from the white indentured servants, especially after Nathaniel Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676, wherein the indentured servants, black and white, rose up against the colonial caste under the leadership of a scion of the landed gentry and a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, Nathaniel Bacon. Bacon died before the rebellion concluded, which at any event failed. But, it succeeded in causing the master caste to construct, encode and enforce ever deepening distinctions, between whites and blacks, eventually codified in law and custom and calcified in economics and culture. See Cooper, William J, Liberty and Slavery: Southern Politics to 1860, Univ of South Carolina Press, 2001, p. 9-10. http://www.amazon.com/Liberty-Slavery-Southern-Politics-1860/dp/1570033870#reader_1570033870.
Because white people invented “racism” which furnished them an economic boon, and was a white unifying force, racism not only has subsisted, and persisted; it has flourished, it has exponentially multiplied, as a staple of American democracy, as originally reflected in the U.S. Constitution and as formally declared in many United States Supreme Court decisions.
Under these decisions, Blacks were not “outlaws.” They were outside the law: Other. They were non-persons, “invisible men” to quote Ralph Ellison, author of the eponymously named classic, Invisible Man. http://www.amazon.com/Invisible-Man-Ralph-Ellison/dp/0679732764
Like the oil now gushing forth into the Gulf of Mexico, racism also gushed forth, like a plague, across the United States of America, and into every fiber, sanctuary, and estuary of American life. We are still endeavoring to mop up its lethal and lubricious legacy. It spread all over America, because its benefits covered all of white America, whether they wanted it to or not.
Moreover, as oil is toxic, so is racism. As oil has many byproducts, so does racism. As oil is ugly, so is racism. Racism is toxic. As practiced, racism is also a “tort,” a civil wrong. Even so, lawyers typically classify racism under “civil rights.” There’s nothing right about racism. It is America’s toxic tort: crying out for remediation.
If we would contribute the soon—to—be billions of dollars used to attempt to staunch the oil gusher to also attempt to staunch the racism gusher, America and the world would be a better place. The oil is a mere metaphor. May neither oil, nor racism, presage an All--American Apocalypse. And, may both be overcome in the near term!
Shay's Rebellion's Black Captain, Moses Sash
http://www.calliope.org/shays/shays4.html
I've always been curious about Daniel Shay's Rebellion, which occurred in 1786-1787, since I first "learned" of it in junior high school in American history. I used the the term "learned" advisedly, because the book author and our teacher, Mr. James Brooks, were equally vague about Daniel Shays or the principles for which he fought.
While reading about it today, I was surprised to learn that one of Shay's top captains was a free black man, a Massachusetts farmer, named Moses Sash. Shay's rebellion sought to put an end to debtor's courts and to land foreclosures. When the rebellion failed John Hancock, the governor of Massachusetts pardoned everybody, including the brother, Moses Sash.
History truly edifies.
The link is above. Enjoy.
Larry Delano Coleman, Esq.
I've always been curious about Daniel Shay's Rebellion, which occurred in 1786-1787, since I first "learned" of it in junior high school in American history. I used the the term "learned" advisedly, because the book author and our teacher, Mr. James Brooks, were equally vague about Daniel Shays or the principles for which he fought.
While reading about it today, I was surprised to learn that one of Shay's top captains was a free black man, a Massachusetts farmer, named Moses Sash. Shay's rebellion sought to put an end to debtor's courts and to land foreclosures. When the rebellion failed John Hancock, the governor of Massachusetts pardoned everybody, including the brother, Moses Sash.
History truly edifies.
The link is above. Enjoy.
Larry Delano Coleman, Esq.
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