Martin Luther King Day always brings to mind the
unfinished agenda before us as a nation, as neighborhoods, and as
individuals. We can claim some progress,
but we are so far from the justice King dreamed of that without faith, we might
despair. The economic disparity between
black and white is not narrowing; it grows apace in our time. The subjugation of certain sectors of society
is for the benefit of the few, such a payday lenders in troubled neighborhoods,
the default banking system.
I recently learned
of the ministry of University Heights Baptist Church in Springfield, where
Central’s trustee Dr. Wayne Bartee is a member, in working against the blight
of these lenders. This is a vital form
of community development, and I applaud their advocacy for the working poor.
Yesterday morning I
bought a set of new tires, as my eroding tread was not much help for slick
roads. I was able to do this without
throwing the household budget into a decision about food or safety in transportation;
I was able to do this because I am employed with benefits for such an
expense. For many in our community, this
need might have precipitated borrowing against the next paycheck and making
food insecurity even greater for their family.
Jesus’ proclamation
in his hometown spoke of jubilee, “the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:19). His sermon spoke of release, and he did not
forget the bondage of poverty. Whether
Jubilee was ever fully practiced is contested, but the beginning of his
ministry signaled that “good news for the poor” was to be a critical part of
his work. If we follow him, it must never be far from ours.
Dr. Wallace S.
Hartsfield II spoke at a MLK event in Overland Park yesterday afternoon,
sponsored by Unique Finds, a business geared toward justice, owned by Central
alum Bob Southard. In thinking about the
contemporary state of the larger community, Hartsfield spoke of the strong
attribute of diversity, the advantage of unity, and the attainment of
humanity. These are interlocking realities,
and respect for one another lies at the core of any progress toward
transforming structural racism.
His presentation
was rich with citations from Dr. King, and he observed that it was when the
civil rights leader began to interrogate the economic system that supports
racism that his support ebbed. And,
ultimately, it cost him his life. His
Poor People’s Campaign never materialized, and it remains urgent.
In the white-hot
rhetoric of the presidential campaigns, economics is a topic, but candidates
rarely address the racial implications—except to denounce immigrant sectors. The “too big to fail” realities rarely
consider the “too small to succeed” communities, populated by those tarred with
the indignity of poverty. What are we as
Christians--white and persons of color--saying about this?
Molly T. Marshall
Central prepares creative leaders for diverse ministry contexts.
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