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Sean Bell and the Rev. Wright
The downing of an unarmed citizen under a 50-bullet barrage of police gunfire would be headlines in any town. And so, one suspects, would be the acquittal of those charged with the killing. But what if the victim were also black?
The tragic case of Sean Bell, a black man, has aggravated racial sensitivities and the suspicion that justice is not colorblind after all, not even in New York City.
And the terrible question: would the verdict have been different had the victim been white? Or if the judge – the family had opted for a bench trial – had been black? As an instance of pure racism, the argument is rendered somewhat more vexing in that two of the three accused detectives were also black. Whatever the equity, the outcome has not inspired confidence in the criminal justice system.
The controversy surrounding Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who claims to preach the Christian Gospel, raises similar concerns about latent racism in our country. His well-publicized opinions have caused Senator Barack Obama, a former congregant and now a presidential candidate, to publicly disassociate himself from them.
Initially, Sen. Obama tried to uphold his relationship with his former pastor, if not all his assertions. But Reverend Wright went on the defensive. Claiming an attack on his more provocative sermons to be an attack on “the black church,” he managed to embarrass not a few African-American churchgoers and their ministers who did not appreciate the compliment.
Casting himself as faithful to preaching Gospel truth while his congregant played the politician, he basically implied Obama was a liar. Obama has since severed ties with the increasingly public Reverend Wright, at last calling some of his comments outrageous: not only “divisive and destructive” but a “resurfacing, and an exploitation, of those old divisions.” Race is one such division identified by Obama.
God, however, did not create race to be a source of division. Racism, really, is the “old division.” Not merely one sin among many, according to Catholic social teaching, it is “a radical evil dividing the human family” (USCCB, Brothers and Sisters to Us).
Vigilance and prophetic condemnation in the face of this cancerous evil is never out of season. But neither is the uncommon courage to expose the trickery of that racial exploitation which is no less racist.
Essentially, Obama seems to distinguish between two kinds of divisions. The first he identifies as “old” though not necessarily over, since they can resurface, or be made to resurface, through the second, very present possibility of exploitation. There are always opportunists who, for whatever motives, will exploit race and racial sensitivities. Even the church pulpit has not been immune from racism and racist exploitation.
No one knows how the case of Sean Bell will play out. As New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, “there are no winners in a trial like this.” Perhaps no system of human justice is adequate to repair the deep scars of racism.
It is far from evident how calls for an independent prosecutor and a chastening of the DA’s office would result in a process more just and less vulnerable to accusations of racial exploitation.
Outrage is understandable and peaceful, public expression of it legitimate, but not if it exploits the very racial tensions it seeks to diffuse. How Reverend Wright’s now national celebrity will serve the Gospel message of racial harmony cleansed of the merely political interests he attributes to his former congregant is a mystery yet to be revealed. Only God can survey the contents of the human heart where the poisoned seeds of racism, like all hateful ideologies, are either germinated for exploitative ends – or crucified.
Putting Students First
While the New York State Legislature and Gov. Paterson are set to explicitly ban test score performance as a criteria for granting teacher tenure, New York State’s Catholic schools will continue to make student performance the principal barometer of both school and teacher success.
“The Catholic school teachers of New York are among the finest teachers in the state,” said Richard E. Barnes, executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference. “They serve with dedication and a sense of mission, usually for less pay than their public school counterparts. But in those rare instances where student outcomes are not what they should be, the teachers are among those held to account. Our teachers understand this, and expect it.
“Unlike public schools, Catholic schools are accountable to their customers – the families who entrust us with their children’s academic and spiritual education. If we fail their students, our parents will not send their children to our schools, and will take their tuition dollars elsewhere. In public schools, there is no such accountability. Children trapped in failing public schools have no choices, and today it appears their situation will grow even more dire, as our state leaders give their blessing to rewarding poor teaching.
“Credible media sources have acknowledged that lawmakers are clearly bowing to the interests of the state’s public school teachers unions, which also are responsible for the state’s refusal to grant tax relief to the parents of the 500,000 children in independent and religious schools. It is important for lawmakers and the public to keep in mind that the teachers unions do not represent the state’s children. Rather, they are trade associations, whose basic interests begin and end with the financial security of their own membership.”
We couldn’t agree more!
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