Special Assembly's Million Little Pieces...

This is a piece submitted by Calvin Moore, President of the Student Action Diversity Committee as a response to letters by Luther, and by Tacitus and Aquinas:

Special Assembly’s Million Little Pieces…
To The Concerned Students of Rochester College,
I came across a printout of this particular blog as I was heading to class this morning. I could not help but appreciate the irony of my being the one to find it sitting on the ledge of a table. My initial reading of it made my hair bristle. But, after thinking on it throughout the day and checking the website referred to in the response, I found it interesting, informative, and an important voice in the ongoing dialogue we find ourselves in here at Rochester College. Fostering diversity is not necessarily about consensus. It is noticing and celebrating differences…whether that be a difference in culture or a difference in point-of-view. Be that as it may, I have both thoughts and concerns.
I will begin with my thoughts. (While I know there are two entries by two different authors, I will be responding to them as if there were, in fact, one entry.)
My first inclination was to blindly defend the speaker’s inclusion of specious information in his speech “I’m Still Standing, I’m Still Strong.” After all, much of what was said was still valid, was it not? Wasn’t this simply a veiled attack at one part of a larger narrative that left the “Concerned Students of Rochester College” a little uncomfortable? Did the people cry for an apology from the Sanhedrin when Christ read from the scroll in the synagogue and claimed Scripture had been fulfilled in their midst that day (Luke4:16-21)?
Then I started thinking about A Million Little Pieces.
This “memoir” by bestselling author, James Frey was called to the floor for blatant lies and half-truths by thesmokinggun.com. Oprah Winfrey, who had praised Frey’s book on her television show, defended the author when the controversy over the truthfulness of his “memories” first came to light. “What is relevant is that he was a drug addict ... and stepped out of that history to be the man he is today and to take that message to save other people and allow them to save themselves,” Winfrey commented.
But, in a change of heart, Oprah had Frey on her television show and confronted him on the blatant lies and misrepresentations in his book while also apologizing to her viewers for her shotgun defense of the author. “I feel duped,” she said, “I left the impression that the truth does not matter.
So, to a degree, I am in agreement with the analytical student. While orators are not obligated to site every person they quote or freely borrow from as they deliver their speech (Could you imagine all the breaks, pregnant pauses and segues?), I believe Minister McClaine could have better checked his sources. For that, I personally apologize.
However, this is where my agreement with The Analytical Student ceases to exist.
The Analytical Student is an example of defiance literature. Much like Dostoyevsky’s “The Idiot,” Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, Malcolm X’s “My Voice Helped Save America,” and the text “African Philosophy: The Essential Readings,” The Analytical Student seeks to speak loudly the point-of-view of various individuals at odds with another point-of-view—in this case, February 15th’s chapel speaker—stating, “…rather than seeking to create unity, [McClaine] apparently focused his attention only on what divided us as a people, instead of the Gospel that unites us.” One must not hastily point to the writer of this blog entry a “racist” for his or her disagreement. But, a discerning person can easily point out the entry is an adventure in missing the point.
The Analytical Student misrepresents (or misunderstands) Mr. McClaine’s speech, demeanor, point-of-view, and purpose in speaking to the students of Rochester College.
“The major point I received form his speech is the casting of blame on the white man,” comments the Hussar. If this is the case, then you were not listening. The purpose of the speech was not make whites feel a personal sense of guilt—as if Caucasian university students in the year 2006 are guilty of slave trading, ritual physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual abuses of African-Americans, and the perpetual subjugation of other ethnic groups through America’s sordid history. McClaine, in his speech makes the statement, “Without indicting any one individual here, nor speaking with any sense of bitterness, there is a present day discussion involving the issue of white privilege [emphasis mine].”
What ought to be done with these guilty feelings, though? I recently witnessed a conversation between JC Thomas and a student in his African Philosophy and the African-American Experience course. The young lady communicated a sense of feeling guilty for being white. You could see Thomas’ shoulders slump for a moment as he let out a sigh of resignation. Why? Because whenever the subject of slavery and the history of race relations is broached, especially in a place like Rochester Hills, people miss the point and subsequently misplace their feelings of guilt.
“It’s not our intent to make you feel guilty about what happened,” Thomas informed her, “But, I would be scared if you could hear something like that and not feel something. If my brother killed someone, I would feel very badly about what he did and strive to make things better for the victim of his crime. However, by the same token, I cannot take personal responsibility for what happened. That rests on the shoulders of my brother.”
The point of the speech was two-fold.
First, it defies the myth slavery was this blip on the screen of American history that made blacks slightly uncomfortable. It points out the atrocity of slavery and calls the ugliness of sin to the floor. McClaine refused to become complicit with evil by characterizing that nasty, wicked stuff in a way that softens its destructive bite. Doing so would be deceptive, at best. The reason for doing this was not to so much to focus on the divisions that exist between white Americans and African Americans in this country. The reason was to say, “This is where we’ve been. There is hurt. There is pain. Now that we’ve acknowledged that we are wounded, let’s begin the healing together.”
“…there was no major contribution to God...I felt like I’ve sinned for sitting there, listening to, giving my spiritual attention to, then received false teachings. This just disgusts me,” the Hussar continues. This is, of course, assuming that Jesus is not at all concerned with social action. If he is not, then McClaine’s words were indeed blasphemous and false. In the book, “Adventures in Missing the Point,” Tony Campolo writes, “While the kingdom of God would beat swords into plowshares and bring an end to violence, there was no question that in the struggle for justice, God sides with the poor and oppressed against the strong and powerful.” So, one can see that Jesus is indeed concerned with social action, with defending the fatherless and the widow and the poor and downtrodden from those who would seek to overpower them (whether consciously or unconsciously).
Second, McClaine, though unfortunately using a slightly suspect chain e-mail as his source material, sought to defy the myth that blacks have not contributed anything of value to society. While it is easy to naïvely claim that racism is no longer a problem in America, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s dream is far from being realized in this country. Yes, we are further ahead than we were in ’63 and light years ahead of when slavery first ended, but the dream is still that—a dream. There are many who unconsciously walk around with the notion African-Americans have contributed nothing to society beyond urban blight and welfare babies. Having been raised around predominantly white people, this has been evident in the “you’re different than other black people” and “you’re the whitest black man I’ve ever met” statements I constantly hear from white people, whether in comfortable jesting or in all seriousness. Not all people feel this way, of course, but I am not afraid to make the generalization that more people feel this way than don’t. I don’t believe there are hidden agendas on the part of white people and abject hatred on the part of African-Americans. I am simply making an observation.
As the Student Action Diversity Committee (SADC) prepared for several events throughout February in observance of Black History Month, the organization caught a lot of flack. SADC members have been accused of being “a “black group” that is not truly interested in diversity” and the necessity of Black History Month has been attacked with statements like, “Why do we have Black History Month? We don’t have White History Month.” This statement is so asinine it honestly doesn’t even deserve a rebuttal. However, grace dictates a response. There is no recognized white history month because history already reflects a patriarchal Eurocentric point-of-view. As a history major here at Rochester College, it is not difficult to point out whites are over-represented in the annals of times past. As the adage goes, “History is written by the victors.” Whites are over-represented on television. Whites are over-represented in bookstores. Whites are over-represented on the silver screen. This is a fact. To that end, observances that celebrate other cultures seem reactionary. Be that as it may, it is our hope that one day there will be no need for Black History Month, Women’s History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, and other observances seeking to celebrate cultures and contributions that are rarely recognized. One day, we will also not require soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and philanthropic organizations committed to finding the cure for AIDS. One day, Christ will come! And how I long for that day. I can feel heaven in my bones. But please, let us not be attacked with patronizing nonsense, pretending that a simple “Jesus is the answer,” will suffice. While this statement is true, equally true is the statement, “Jesus is concerned…”
McClaine spoke with the cadence and volume of many African-American pastors. Many interpreted this to mean he was yelling at those in attendance, full of anger. But, he came as an authentically black pastor. The argument can be made that an orator ought to know their audience and adjust their speech to that end, but the argument can also be made McClaine was being true to himself in his approach, especially in that the speech was a dramatic presentation.
May God bless and keep you. YHWH’s peace.
Calvin Moore
President, Student Action Diversity Committee