The Rainbow symbol and images of butterflies bracketed the phrase, “All Black Lives Matter,” on the long banner held across the plaza in front of the Supreme Court this morning. For the second time in a week, our highest court delivered an affirmation of the rule of law and sustained our hope for justice.
After two very conservative appointments, who could have predicted that the court would extend employment protection to GLBTQ folks, with one of those new appointments joining the majority to make the decision 6-3?
Who could have predicted, on the President’s favorite wellspring for hate, immigration, that the court would support the rule of law?
But DACA lives and queer citizens are more protected in our laws.
Halleluiah! I am intentionally making time to celebrate and to congratulate all those who have labored so hard, and feared so much, waiting for these decisions.
Perhaps it is the nature of our times, though, that the celebration almost immediately gives way to fear of what the next decision might be. The Chief Justice was the swing vote on the DACA case…pause over that and consider what the addition of one more arch conservative would make possible.
Support for DACA is overwhelming. 80% of Democrats and 69% of those who voted for the President want DACA to stay. There is similar support, among “we the people,” for GLBTQ rights.
We celebrate a victory today on an issue that should never have been raised in the courts. Still, it is a victory.
There is an opening in these days. It is an opening made possible by the visibility of suffering and the persistence of protest. At issue is how we will respond and whether we will allow our system to settle back into its wicked ways that oppress so many.
Also this week, the police killer of Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta was charged with murder, and many other offenses. Yet another police officer with a history of violence toward Black people. A cop who yelled “I got him” when Mr. Brooks fell with two shots in his back…then kicked the dying man rather than administering aid.
Perhaps that cop will even be convicted. I have come to believe that that is what will finally begin to curtail the police violence…some police in jail.
But this week also saw the Quaker Oats Co. proudly announced that they are withdrawing Aunt Jemima syrup and Uncle Ben’s rice as a symbol of their commitment to justice.
Will we settle for saying goodbye to Aunt Jemima or insist on police accountability? Will we settle for a court-ordered reprieve for DACA or insist on broad immigration reform?
Our celebration today should be whole-hearted and full-throated! But we should also remain mindful of the thin line we navigate.
The hope is in the diversity of the protests on the streets and in our collective judgments. Large majorities in this country have already decided what justice looks like…on immigration, and racial justice and GLBTQAI rights and environmental justice. Large majorities know that the rear-guard actions of those in power do not offer a survivable future.
There is a role for each of us and for all of us…in the circles where we move, even in this era of distancing. And there is a role for our church because what we know of the Beloved Community is grounded in our theology and our values. The hope for Beloved Community is our credo, what we set our hearts upon.
I was reminded of this quote on one of the clergy calls I took part in yesterday:
“A church that doesn’t provoke any crisis, a gospel that doesn’t unsettle, a word of God that doesn’t get under anyone’s skin, a word of God that doesn’t touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed – what gospel is that?”
- Oscar Romero, 4th Archbishop of San Salvador
Blessings
Bill