Every day since last week’s inauguration, we have heard of the dismantling of another initiative that was put in place decades ago to end institutional racism and hiring practices that have plagued minorities for generations. And we are already witnessing the renewal of this president’s declaration of war on immigrants. Their only mistake was to follow the example of millions of others who left their native lands seeking to start a new life in this country — people like my parents, who left Puerto Rico for New York City almost 80 years ago with hopes of a better future for their children.
We are also hearing about plans to rescind the basic rights of marriage and deny the full humanity of members of the LGBTQ community. At the same time, the president has chosen a secretary of defense who has a history of sexual assault, as, of course, Trump himself does.
The veil has been taken down in these first weeks, and the ugly truth is there for all to see. The hatred and bigotry that have been part of the fabric of this nation since its earliest days are out there in full sight. There is no longer any doubt about how this country will look if Trump is successful in making America “great” again — unless good and decent folks speak up and take action.
How do we respond as a community? I have chosen to speak truth to power and to resist the evil and injustice of a vision that is totally contrary to what Christians, Muslims, Jews, and moral people, however we choose to identify ourselves, believe.
I celebrate the example of Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde, who demonstrated to the world what it means to speak truth to power when she faced President Trump at the National Cathedral and called upon him to show justice, love, and mercy to the poor instead of pursuing the course that this new administration has embraced.
The bishop was very clear when she repeated the words from the Gospel of Matthew: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
“Have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away,” she said to Trump. “Help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land.”
In these last two weeks I have heard echoes of George C. Wallace when he became governor of Alabama in January 1963 and proclaimed, in his inaugural speech, “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” I can only imagine how hopeless and defeated Black people felt on that day — probably very much like some of us feel today.
Let us not fall into despair and lose hope. Remember that in August of that same year when Wallace extolled segregation, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke words of love and hope on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. What followed was a re-energized and empowered civil rights movement.
What I am seeing and hearing has been scary. Speaking truth to power has always been scary and in this climate may be more dangerous than it has been in years. But each of us is called to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captive and recovery of sight to the blind, and to free those who are oppressed. Only as a united front can we hope to realize Dr. King’s dream of seeing the day when all of God’s children are judged not by ethnicity, color, immigration status, gender, or sexual preference but by the content of their character.
Edgar Miranda lives in Eastham and is the pastor of the Provincetown United Methodist Church.
