When People Boo Unity

Here's an essay that I just wrote and want to share with you on this 19th anniversary of 9/11.

Lift ev’ry voice and sing,

‘Til earth and heaven ring,

Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;

Let our rejoicing rise

High as the list’ning skies,

Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,

Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;

Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,

Let us march on ’til victory is won.

Stony the road we trod, 

Bitter the chastening rod,

Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;

Yet with a steady beat,

Have not our weary feet

Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?

We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,

We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,

Out from the gloomy past,

‘Til now we stand at last

Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

Now in case you’ve never heard these words, they’re the lyrics to a hymn entitled Lift Every Voice and Sing, written in 1900 by James Weldon Johnson and set to music by his brother John Rosamond Johnson in 1905. According to Wikipedia, the fountain of all knowledge, it “...was performed first as a poem as part of a celebration of Abraham Lincoln's birthday by Johnson's brother John. In 1919, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) dubbed it ‘the Negro national anthem’ for its power in voicing a cry for liberation and affirmation for African-American people.”

Now, to be completely honest, I’d never heard the words either, until last night, when it was played before the Kansas City-Houston football game. And then, after the hymn and before the kick-off, players from both teams linked arms for a moment of silence. And although this was intended to signify unity, some of the fans in attendance chose to boo, something that they had the right to do but which would have been considered “in bad taste” back when manners and courtesy mattered. And so, on national television and before the entire world, a group of Americans decided it was appropriate to boo unity.

Of course, that really doesn’t surprise me. Any kind of national unity seems a distant memory. And I find that incredibly sad, particularly since today is the nineteenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. And even though I can tell you exactly what I was doing and feeling on that morning, I also remember how the mood of the entire country seemed to change. I mean, we’d just gone through a bitter and controversial election; therefore, the country was less than united on September 11. But after the attack, everything seemed different. Regardless of whether we were blue or red, we all came together. Divisiveness was put on the back burner as we faced the crisis. But not only that, politicians from both ends of the political spectrum came together in order to face a common cause. In short, nobody would have booed unity in 2001. And as I remember, at the time, folks were saying the country would never be the same.

But sadly, those folks were wrong. In fact, I believe that the United States is more divided today than it ever has been in my lifetime, and since I’m 63, I was alive in the late ‘60s, early ‘70s. I mean, we’re just surrounded by divisions. Whether we’re talking about racial injustice, climate change and how to deal with a pandemic, we’ve all broken into our own little tribes. Man, we even fight over whether or not to wear a mask to slow the spread of the virus that’s already contributed to the deaths of 190,000 Americans. Of course, we can’t even get together over that number. And along with the divisions, our discourse has become harsh and cruel. For example, it’s now politically correct to make outrageous and nasty charges against those who don’t share our opinions. And adults are now encouraged to call anyone who disagrees juvenile names, something that wouldn’t be permitted in most elementary schools but is now applauded. But, for me, last night we reached a new low, when people felt the need to take a stand against a symbolic act of unity, as though the alternative was better, and I’m talking about violence and subjugation. Frankly, I just can’t seem to shake it; Americans actually booed unity.

And even though I’m confident that those politicians on both the Left and the Right who think that they will benefit from chaos and conflict, they’ll blame the other side for our sorry national state, for me, it’s not really their fault. I mean, they’re just acting like they’ve always acted, and you can’t blame a jackass for being a jackass. No, instead I think it’s the people of faith and good will who’ve become swept away by this bile and chosen to jump into this swamp, we need to look at ourselves, because I believe we have the power to change the course of our country. And I’ll tell you how I think we can do it. Starting today, we can remember the kind of unity and community we had nineteen years ago, when our country faced another crisis. And we can come together in order to address the problems that aren’t going to be solved by bullies or demigods. You see, it’s going to take real dedication and focus to navigate through this continuing pandemic and to address a sincere desire for social justice and to determine how we can respond to climate change. You see, we can stand together; and like the Chiefs and the Texans did last night, we can lock arms and with intention look for answers instead of hurling insults. And as we do that, we can firmly and emphatically reject those folks who try to do to us exactly what the devil tried to do to Jesus in the wilderness, and I’m talking about those self-serving individuals who, for their own reasons, want to distract us from what we know we need to do. 

And for people of faith, we need to be front in center, standing with our brothers and sisters and following the example of Jesus Christ. And as American Christians, we can claim these words Jesus offered to his disciples as both our personal vision and our national goal:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory with all of his angels, he will sit on his royal throne. The people of all nations will be brought before him, and he will separate them, as shepherds separate their sheep from their goats.

He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, “My father has blessed you! Come and receive the kingdom that was prepared for you before the world was created. When I was hungry, you gave me something to eat, and when I was thirsty, you gave me something to drink. When I was a stranger, you welcomed me, and when I was naked, you gave me clothes to wear. When I was sick, you took care of me, and when I was in jail, you visited me.”

Then the ones who pleased the Lord will ask, “When did we give you something to eat or drink? When did we welcome you as a stranger or give you clothes to wear or visit you while you were sick or in jail?”

The king will answer, “Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.”

Then the king will say to those on his left, “Get away from me! You are under God’s curse. Go into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels! I was hungry, but you did not give me anything to eat, and I was thirsty, but you did not give me anything to drink. I was a stranger, but you did not welcome me, and I was naked, but you did not give me any clothes to wear. I was sick and in jail, but you did not take care of me.”

Then the people will ask, “Lord, when did we fail to help you when you were hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in jail?”

The king will say to them, “Whenever you failed to help any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you failed to do it for me.”

Then Jesus said, “Those people will be punished forever. But the ones who pleased God will have eternal life.” [Matthew 25:31-46, CEV]

You see, this we can do. On a day when we remember an act of violence and hatred, we can reclaim our sense of national unity. And we can work together to solve our problems. And in the face of those who want divisions, we can drown out their pathetic boos with the last verse of Lift Every Voice and Sing:

God of our weary years,

God of our silent tears,

Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;

Thou who has by Thy might

Led us into the light,

Keep us forever in the path, we pray.

Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,

Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee;

Shadowed beneath Thy hand,

May we forever stand, 

True to our God,

True to our native land.