~ U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves
Monday, March 9, 2015
Pastorgraphs: “Better or Worse”
Pastorgraphs: “Better or Worse”
With
all the attention on “Selma” (both the movie and the 50th anniversary
of “Bloody Sunday”) the question on everyone’s mind seems to be: “Are
things in America today better or worse?” The answer seems to be both
better and worse.
At
least that is the conclusion of Carlton Reeves. Make that The
Honorable Judge Carlton W. Reeves. And let’s get one thing out of the
way quickly. He grew up in Yazoo City, Mississippi, my hometown. I
continue to be amazed at the number of people who grew up in our
little town (population 10,000 or so) who have excelled in so many
different fields of endeavor. Judge Reeves became only the second
African-American judge to be appointed to the U. S. Southern District
Court in 2010. He replaced Judge William Barbour, also a Yazoo City
native. And one last sidebar: The U. S. Senate a year ago approved
President Obama’s nominee for U. S. District Judge for Northern
Mississippi by a vote of 90-0. She is The Honorable Debra Brown,
another Yazoo City native, and the first black woman to be a U.S.
District Judge in the state. Those appointments themselves argue that
things are different, and better in America, especially in Mississippi
Judge
Reeves fell under the national spotlight last month with his
sentencing speech that, according to National Public Radio, has been
read over one million times and counting on their website alone.
Reeves was handing down the sentences for the last three of ten white
young adults who beat up a black man in a Jackson area parking lot one
June night in 2011, running over his body with a truck and leaving
him to die.
Instead
of simply pronouncing the sentences, Judge Reeves asked the
defendants to be seated. He proceeded to read a 2,500-word statement
that major news media called “stunning”, “searing” and “breathtaking”.
His language was blunt. He used the “N-word” 11 times. But he
delivered his speech without anger or bitterness.
Rather than quote portions of the speech, I invite you to read it for yourself here. (http://n.pr/1A55xam)
And
it is not just about blacks and whites. On the same day a major
political party invited the Israeli Prime Minister to address
Congress, the head of that same party in Missouri was facing allegations he spread “anti-Semitic rumors” that
contributed to the suicide of GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom
Schweich. Schweich, it turns out, was an Episcopalian. One of his
great-grandfathers was part Jewish. But what in God’s name does it
matter? Plus, the trial began for a neo-Nazi who allegedly killed
three people outside two Missouri Jewish Centers. When arrested, he is
reported to have asked authorities, “How many Jews did I kill?” Two
of the three he is reported to have slain were United Methodists. Will
we ever get to that glorious day when there is no difference between
Jew or Greek? Lord, I hope so, and soon.
And
the day after International Women’s Day, we must give pause before
answering the question, “Are things better now for women and girls?”
Will our daughters and granddaughters finally live in a world of
equality where there is neither male nor female as it is in God’s
eyes?
Up
until that June night in 2011, I was a member of the “Moonlight and
Magnolia” crowd, as Judge Reeves called it. We are the ones who want
to believe in our heart of hearts that, though slowly, Mississippi and
America are getting better. But my heart was broken, my spirit too,
for James Craig Anderson who was senselessly run down, beaten and
killed by a gang of young white racists. You see, if the youth are no
better than their lynching grandparents or great-grandparents, it is
difficult to argue times have changed.
But
times have changed. Justice here was swift and severe, a far cry from
the all-white juries, lawyers and judges who failed to convict those
who killed Civil Rights organizers and “uppity” blacks who didn’t
“stay in their place”.
Those
of us who grew up in Yazoo City during the Civil Rights era were
extraordinarily blessed to have strong leaders who stood up against
the KKK and White Citizens’ Council. But just ask Judge Reeves if
Yazoo was perfect. Of course not. As he said, the town was divided by a
railroad track, and everyone knew his or her place. But it was a good
place that has produced more than its share of leaders in so many
professions and fields of endeavor. Lord, will we ever escape the
legacy that divides bond and free? I hope so, and soon, very soon.
Judge Reeves concluded his sentencing with these word, almost atoning in spirit:
“These
sentences will not bring back James Craig Anderson nor will they
restore the lives they enjoyed prior to 2011. The court knows that
James Anderson's mother, who is now 89 years old, lived through the
horrors of the Old Mississippi, and the court hopes that she and her
family can find peace in knowing that with these sentences, in the New
Mississippi, justice is truly blind. Justice, however, will not be
complete unless these defendants use the remainder of their lives to
learn from this experience and fully commit to making a positive
difference in the New Mississippi. And, finally, the court wishes that
the defendants also can find peace.”
From The Quote Garden:
“Mississippi
has a tortured past, and it has struggled mightily to reinvent itself
and become a New Mississippi. New generations have attempted to pull
Mississippi from the abyss of moral depravity in which it once so
proudly floundered in. Despite much progress and the efforts of the
new generations, these three defendants are before me today: Deryl
Paul Dedmon, Dylan Wade Butler and John Aaron Rice. They and their
co-conspirators ripped off the scab of the healing scars of
Mississippi ... causing her (our Mississippi) to bleed again.”
~ U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves
~ U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves
Photo Credit: cleoinc.org below: Rev.
Janet Jacobs, Director of Gambling Recovery Ministries, and retired
local pastor of the Indiana Conference of The United Methodist Church,
preached yesterday at Exodus UMC. Her Sermon: “The Vision” was inspiring
and timely for both Exodus and CMC.
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