An Insightful Sermon from a Refashioned Source
I remember Al Sharpton from when I lived in the East Coast as a teenager. He was the defender of Tiana (sp) Brawley, a young blk girl who claimed she was raped by a white police officer. Back then Al Sharpton was as racist as any of us, overweight, a loud mouth---and even when it was proven the policeman did not rape the girl, Al Sharpton would not let it go. He seemed the caricature of all that was bad about humanity.
It is really hard for me to forgive or like Al Sharpton. But over time, and given the changes in Al Sharpton and changes in myself, it seems fair to say that many of us back then were hardly ideal examples of humanity or fairness, or empathy. My answer to him back then was simple; "If blacks don't like it here, leave." And he, no doubt, would reply: "Get used to it or create a level playing field."
I attended, out of curiosity, a lecture recently by Al Sharpton in an affluent suburb at a predominantly white College. He has changed in 50 years and so have many of us. He gave a sermon at a chapel which is hard to fault. I could have written the sermon myself, but not so clearly, nor have presented it as eloquently. Both his mind and body have changed over 50 years. He is thin, looks like some kind of bird walking to and from the podium, and talks with insight and reasoning instead of taunts, arrogance, and racist obsession.
Here is his speech----you might give it a look, if only to watch a small portion, but the whole speech I thought was intriguing.
http://public.elmhurst.edu/news/archive/225066212.html
