Minister’s Letter - August 2010


I’ve just finished reading The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. It’s one of the best novels I have ever read-and this is Stockett;s first! I know several of you have also read it.The book is a tale of what it was like to be a black maid during the civil rights movement of the 1960s in racially conflicted Mississippi. There is such deep history in the black/white relationship and this story beautifully shows the complex spectrum, not only the hate, abuse, mistrust,but the love,attachment,dependence.

I was amazed how quickly it resonated with me. I recognized the language and attitudes immediately.I grew up in the South and felt immediately drawn into the emotional complexity of race written so poignantly in this book. My parents were working class. We didn’t have black maids,but a couple of my aunts as did a few of our friends. There was a community of blacks in our town, referred to as “colored” or sometimes “nigger town.” I often accompanied my father in the car when he would drive over to buy their amazing pit barbeque and a couple of bottles of whisky from the bootleggers.

When the civil rights movement began with Martin Luther King,Jr.and Rosa Parks,I remember well the outrage of the white community,including my father. I was about 16 then and supported the movement. So, the civil rights movement became a serious point of contention with my father, my minister, and eventually my church. I have often wondered why I immediately supported the movement. Quite frankly, the only answer I can derive is that I had learned from the teachings of Jesus in Sunday School that all of us were loved by God and therefore deserved the same rights-that we should do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

We have come a long way since then of course,albeit not without much pain, suffering and death. When I was 16, the prospect of there ever being a black president of our country was unfathomable. Nevertheless, racism remains persistently imbedded. The recent forced resignation of Shirley Sherrod,the Agriculture Department official,is but one example. As we know,her comments in which she, a black woman,appeared to admit to racial

discrimination against a white couple were taken far out of context. This incident speaks volumes about the fear and prejudice many of our citizens still hold toward the black community. Racial epithets are being hurled more than ever since Obama was elected. Movements spouting racist accusations are increasing. In an interview Sherrod stated: “You think we have come a long way in terms of race relations in this county, but we keep going backwards” (since election 2008).

It is timely that the UUA is addressing this issue, particularly since we are ourselves are a mostly white denomination. The undoing of racism is clearly an enormous and ongoing task, yet one to which our denomination has whole-heartedly dedicated itself. Our faith demands that we build bridges and break down walls. Our citizenship requires that we work for a society without artificial boundaries.

Our UU Metro District is dedicated to pursuing this work through the Anti-Racism and Diversity Committee (ARDC) that works to nurture and support the broad range of diversity and anti-racism work being done within our district. I am pleased to announce that one of our own members, Eddy Fried, who is chair of our Social Action Committee, also serves as co-chair of the ARDC.

Referring back to The Help, Stockett includes a quote by Howell Raines in her personal excerpt at the end of the novel: There is no trickier subject for a writer from the South than that of affection between a black person and a white one in the unequal world of segregation. For the dishonesty upon which a society is founded makes every emotion suspect, makes it impossible to know whether what flowed between two people was honest feeling or pity or pragmatism. An eloquent way to describe Stockett’s intentions for her novel and also to highlight the emotional challenge which still lies before us.

Jim Covington