A Bit of Perspective

This has clearly not been a good couple of weeks for those working for social justice, health-care, racial and gender equality or any number of other issues. With such great change lingering seemingly inches out of reach, we can do well to remember how far we've come already. While providing universal health-care (which I believe is a right) is certainly a noble goal, and something we should strive for, taking a minute today to look back on things that have happened in the past that make the fact we're even discussing an idea like that incredible.


On August 13, 1965, Jonathan Daniels, an Episcopal Seminarian, was arrested with 29 others for simply picketing a Whites only store. He sat in jail for 6 days with the other adults refusing to be bailed out unless all were granted bail. As they walked to the only store in town that served non-whites they were accosted by a "Special Deputy" armed with a shotgun.

The man, Tom Coleman, leveled his shotgun at a 17 year old girl named Ruby Sales. Daniels moved quickly to shove Ruby out of the way taking the full brunt of the shotgun blast himself. He was killed instantly. John Morrisoe, also a protester and a Catholic Priest, was shot in the back as he fled with the other black protester.

Thomas Coleman was acquitted by a jury of his all white peers after Shooting a priest and a priest-in-training downtown in broad daylight.


July 23-28, 1967 had one of the worst riots in American histories. The streets of Detroit saw 467 injured, 2,509 stores looted, 388 families left homeless and 43 killed.

Clifton Pryor was mistaken for a sniper and shot dead by the National Guard. Ernest Roquemore was shot in the back by a US Army Paratrooper. He was 19. Roy Banks was shot when he was mistaken by a National Guardsman for a looter. He was a deaf mute. A tank rolling through the streets of Detroit shot Tanya Blanding. She was upstairs in her house. She was four years old.


On May 4, 1970, nine unarmed students were wounded and four more shot and killed when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on a crowd with live ammunition. Jeffrey Miller, 20 (Pictured), was shot through the mouth and killed instantly while standing 81 meters from the National Guard. Allison Krause (19), William Schroeder (19), and Sandra Scheuer (20) were also unarmed protesters shot by the Ohio Army National Guard.

As the US invaded expanded involvement in the already unpopular VietNam War into Cambodia, these students who were protesting the expansion of the use of force were unarmed themselves, but cut down by the US military. Again, none of the shooters faced criminal charges.



These were dark moments in American history, in fact, they were some of the darkest. As we debate now our views and lament our losses, whether they are a lack of legislative achievement or a perceived loss of American values, we would do well to remember that a generation ago Americans were killed at home with impunity, often by our government. Those in my generation could not conceive of tanks rolling through any of our cities instituting martial law and backing it up with lethal force. Shooting even the most unpopular people point blank in broad daylight would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, just ask Scott Roeder.

Though we have far to go and much work to do, we should in our defeats draw strengths from our victories over violence and hatred and be glad at least, that we no longer have to fear the bullets of our own soldiers turned against us as a method of crowd control. So let us continue to debate passionately about our future, but let us remember together how far we've come.

On the Death of Ted Kennedy

The night of April 4th 1968, riots raged across many, if not most, major metropolitan areas of the United States. Martin Luther King Jr. had been murdered in Memphis, and tensions finally reached their breaking point. Everywhere, that is, but Indianapolis. That night, Robert Kennedy spoke to a crowd, mostly black, that was expecting a political speech. Instead, he had to give the news that the standard bearer for the civil rights movement, the man who was going to lead blacks out of oppression and bring them as full members into society, had been shot and was dead. His extemporaneously given speech conveyed his empathy to the crowd, reminding them that he had also lost a family member to a white assassin’s bullet. He knew their pain, and he mourned with them. He called for love, forgiveness and understanding, and for that night, the cycle of violence was broken.

It was, perhaps, the most impressive speech a Kennedy has ever given. An amazing demonstration of the victory of love and forgiveness over vengeance and anger. An inspiration to all who work to combat hate, prejudice, and oppression. Proof that sometimes, just sometimes, the good guys can win.

That night showed what one man could do. It showed that reason and cooler heads could prevail. It showed what was right with America. It was one of the tiny ripples of hope that Bobby talked about. The ones crossing each other to build a current that would help sweep down the walls of oppression. It was a remarkable thing.

Two months later in another city was another gun, another assassin, and another slain leader. Bobby Kennedy also fell. The political history of our country is a shamefully bloody one. Many have been killed, and there is rarely anything positive, any consolation we can take from the event. Fortunately for Bobby, there was one, if only this: perhaps the second greatest speech given by a Kennedy, Teddy’s eulogy of the third brother he had lost too young.

He quoted liberally from Bobby’s speeches. He spoke on love; what it meant to him, what it meant to his brothers, why it’s important. He spoke to our aspirations, and our future, reminding us that even the most incremental change comes with challenge and danger. He told us why its important to strive continually for improvement, both of ourselves and of our nation. Perhaps most importantly, he laid out, in barest terms, what it means to be a good public servant, or for that matter a good Christian.

“My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.”

I know of no higher praise one could give.

Teddy, the last of his brothers, spent the rest of his life living his brothers’ legacy. Though by no means a perfect man (particularly in his personal life), none of them, and surely none of us are. As a public servant, he carried himself with dignity, and when he saw wrong he tried to right it, when he saw suffering he tried to heal it, and when he saw war he tried to stop it.

While his brothers were all taken at very young ages, their meteoric lives and tragic deaths cementing them in the collective psyche, Teddy toiled on after them. Though they had but a little time to create those ripples of hope, Teddy’s years in the senate enabled him to help build the tide that would sweep away much of the injustice of racism, sexism and socio-economic discrimination. He wrote the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave act, and created COBRA, to ensure those who lose their job have an opportunity to keep their health insurance. He helped raise the minimum wage, and was a constant opponent of discrimination in any form. He opposed the Iraq war, calling it the most important vote he ever made and his early endorsement helped propel Barack Obama to the nomination, an election night victory, and to his swearing in as the 44th President of the United States, when we as a nation showed that though much work remains, it is possible for anyone, regardless of the color of their skin, to rise to the highest office in the land.

Though he would be the first to admit he was not a deeply flawed person, he was a fantastic legislator, and when he went to vote, his mind was on those who are the least in society; those without a voice, without an advocate, and without protection. There are very few today who serve with that as their chief goal. The nature of politics and fundraising dictates that certain interest groups have sway over a politician. With his seat, Ted rarely had to worry about a challenger, he rarely had to worry about big business, and he could always beat his corporate opponents. He was free to carry on his family’s legacy. He knew that much had been given and that much was expected, and he worked tirelessly to repay the blessings he had recieved.

It will be impossible to miss his presence in the senate in the coming years as we debate wars, safety nets, and health-care, his signature issue. His loud voice for the voiceless will be sorely missed by all who needed him. As the last public figure of his generation, he carried the legacy of his family, shaping and molding its image, and keeping the issues that were important to him and his brothers in the forefront.

With the last of the Kennedy Brothers returned to the dust, all that is left is to eulogize them. I can think of no better way to remember them than Teddy’s own words..

They were good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.

May we forever remember the sacrifices they made for us, and the good they did.