Edgewood United Church

United Church of Christ

October 8, 2006           Edgewood United Church UCC              Rev. Karen E. Gale

Affirmative Action and the Politics of Justice
Leviticus 25
Amos 5:21-24
Luke 4:14-21

Gandhi is credited with saying, “Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.”

I affirm that. Our religious convictions are intricately connected with how we see political decisions enacted in this country and how we are called to speak out against injustice and advocate for change.

This morning is one of those times I feel called to speak out, to oppose Proposal Two, a ballot measure that seeks to dismantle affirmative action.  I do not speak from a partisan position for this is not an issue of Democrats or Republicans--both parties have supported affirmative action over the years--but this is an issue for all of us as Christians as it is rooted in our scripture and faith tradition.

What is Affirmative action?
“Affirmative Action as commonly understood is a phrase describing a set of policies intended to remedy the results of discrimination and to remove the cause of that discrimination. It is not itself an ethic. The ethical ground of affirmative action is rooted in the Christian understanding of the love of the neighbor, our belief as a nation in laws that are just and fair toward all, and our Christian and democratic belief that we are individuals who exist in community.

“As Christians, we support affirmative action because the God we worship bends justice in the direction of the poor and the oppressed. As Mary the mother of Jesus recites in the "Magnificat."

"...God has shown strength with God’s arm, scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. God has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty." (Luke 1:51-53 NRSV)

“The Christian faith is centrally concerned with helping the neighbor in need. Its central core supports and encourages affirmation action orientations and policies. Our democratic government does not possess a similar compassion for the poor and the oppressed. But is a government pledged to serve the welfare of "we the people" and to promulgate and enforce laws that are just and fair in respect to all persons. The moral basis and necessity of affirmative action flows from the recognition that most of the history of the United States of America has been characterized not by loyalty to the principles of justice and equality toward all but rather by the acceptance, practice, and the enforcement by state action of division and enmity among "we the people." Our history of slavery, lynching and brutality, disenfranchisement, and legal segregation and discrimination has compounded the benefits and rewards received by African Americans, Native Americans and women.” (Rev. Dr. Preston N. Williams, Houghton Professor of Theology and Contemporary Change at Harvard Divinity School)

Affirmative action exists in our own Bible, not under that heading of course, but certainly God speaks and the prophets speak about redressing injustice, assisting the disenfranchised and bringing about justice.

When Jesus begins his ministry as recorded in the gospel of Luke, he goes to the temple lifts up the scroll and reads: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19)

“That is why I have come” he says.  An upending of inequity and oppression.

We need to remember that Jesus was speaking to a Jewish audience, he himself being a Jew, and he was speaking to a Jewish tradition, the tradition of Jubilee. The book of Leviticus stipulates Jubilee:  “Count off seven sabbaths of years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbaths of years amount to a period of forty-nine years.  Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land.  Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each one of you is to return to his family property and each to his own clan…In this Year of Jubilee everyone is to return to his own property.

“If one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells some of his property, his nearest relative is to come and redeem what his countryman has sold…But if he does not acquire the means to repay him, what he sold will remain in the possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. It will be returned in the Jubilee, and he can then go back to his property.

 “If one of your countrymen becomes poor among you and sells himself to you, do not make him work as a slave. He is to be treated as a hired worker or a temporary resident among you; he is to work for you until the Year of Jubilee. Then he and his children are to be released, and he will go back to his own clan and to the property of his forefathers.” (Leviticus 25, excerpted)

In Jesus’ day, society did not treat everyone equally. There were those who had a lot and those who had nothing. There were those who lost their land. There were those who were poor or in debt, and those who were enslaved because of debt or natural disaster or ill health. This was not right. Inequality was not what God wanted for people. So the practice of the Jubilee year was described and written down in the holy book, Leviticus being a book of mostly rules. Jubilee was a time of forgiveness of debt, release of captives, and return to one’s true land and home.

It was sort of like a “do-over” like I mentioned to the kids. An evening out of society and wealth.

Whenever I describe Jubilee, folks inevitably ask me, “was this ever practiced?” Scholars don’t know if it was ever practiced. Probably not. Imagine what would happen if we put it into practice here. I don’t know how many Native Americans we have in this congregation, but for everyone else, your land would no longer be yours. As it was taken from Native Americans it now with the Jubilee would revert back to its original owners. (You can see how this plays out in the Middle East as well given the disputes about who the original owners of the land actually are).

So the roots of affirmative action are biblical. They are in the service of restoring justice and fairness since the scales get tipped unfairly over time. And every 50 years, which would be about every third generation, seemed a good time to do this.  Without the Jubilee, we just go on and on and the sins of prejudice, oppression, and injustice compile and get compounded and concretized.

Consider that African Americans have a 375-year history on this continent: 245 involving slavery, 100 involving legalized discrimination, and only 30 involving anything else (Wilkins, 1995).

The lawsuit that led to our current Proposal 2 in Michigan came about because one student, Jennifer Gratz, did not get into Univ. of Michigan. She complained because minority students were awarded 20 points to start with on their application to assist in creating a diverse student body.

But I want us to consider this morning that there is another form of affirmative action at play in our world. It is called White privilege. Or the privileges of money or class. Lots of folks are upset about affirmative action as it applies to women or minorities. But no one is complaining about the injustice and bias inherent in the system already.

Higher education is one place where affirmative action is more visible. And let’s use two political figures, powerful figures from both sides of the political divide. John Kerry and George W Bush, both contenders for the 2004 election. These are powerful men with wealth and connections.

How did they get into Yale, though? Neither one had particularly good SAT scores, at least compared to the usual Yale student body. Their grades while there were certainly not great; both got D’s in their first year.

They were average students, certainly not outstanding. But what they did have were connections. And money. And parents who were alums for their school. Big donations were made, administrators were called, and strings were pulled. Both got into Yale.

What is that if not affirmative action? The power of wealth built up over generations. Wealth built up in some cases on backs of African Americans in slavery. Power built up based on skin color. Kerry and Bush both had far more than 20 points on their scorecard as they applied to Yale.

And this kind of affirmative action, or preferential treatment, is everywhere. It is woven into the fabric of our society. Look at Harvard. Harvard accepts 40% of applicants who are children of alumni but only 11% of applicants generally. (CNN.com) The same children allowed in from primarilyy white, wealthy families who have built up their connections generation upon generation, from before the time when women or African Americans were allowed to go to Harvard.

Would you rather have 20 points for race, or kind of connections and wealth Gore and Bush have? Which is more effective, not just for college admissions, but job placement, securing loans, treatment in our justice system, etc.?

“Antonia Hernandez, well-known defender of Latino rights, is president of the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Education Fund. Class-action suits, redistricting cases are some of her legal triumphs.

“It was affirmative action that helped change the course of her life. Her family lived in Las Cruces and worked in the cotton fields, until her uncle brought the entire family to Los Angeles.

“"I was," she writes, "an immigrant kid out of Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. I am a pretty bright individual, and I had decent grades. I was just dirt-poor. My parents lived in the projects and I dreamed of going to Cal State L.A., because it was just across the street. That is as far as my dreams would take me. Without affirmative action I would not have been an opportunity to go to UCLA and explore horizons that were never opened to my parents. I am sure that I was judged by standards other than just grades or test scores. They saw in me a burning determination, the drive, the willingness to work. They gave me a break, but I am not the only one. It happened to thousands of Latinos who went to medical school, to architectural school."

"That is the beauty of affirmative action. It gives the flexibility to find new standards that are more relevant, more current, taking into account our past and present history of exclusion." Universities enable individuals to build personal careers. But public universities also serve a larger public purpose. Improving legal services in the Hispanic communities is a noble goal.” (InMotion Magazine)

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19) That is Jesus’ message. The heart of his ministry.

But again, let’s flip over to the other side. Affirmative action programs are not unique to women and people of color. White males are beneficiaries of many types of special programs, including programs that make exceptions to strict meritocracy. “Albert Vetere Lannon lives in San Francisco. He writes: "The fact is that we older white men are beneficiaries of affirmative action. I 'm a tenured teacher now, but seven years ago, I was a high school dropout. I entered San Francisco State University at age 50 through the re-entry program, a form of affirmative action. I graduated with honors and am working on a master's degree in history.

“"Affirmative action benefited me directly, and I am now able to give something back to the society that gave me a hand."  (InMotion Magazine)

But what about when affirmative action is reality for us?

Many of us are a mix of privilege and disadvantage. Our race, gender, education, class, ability/disability all come together to set us higher or lower on the social scale.

For example, I am white, highly educated, middle class and temporarily able bodied.  But I am also a woman and in a same sex relationship. I have experienced privilege and I have experienced discrimination.

But what happens when I apply for a job and I have similar attributes and skills as another. We are equal. Except that I am white and she is black. If she gets the job because of affirmative action, is that unjust?

Would I feel it to be unfair? Probably. I am the one losing the job. But what about all the other jobs I applied for and got never knowing that my black sisters were never even considered. Because the interviewer just felt more comfortable with me, well, because we were more alike, because we connected, well….because we were both white…

In the one case the job offer is made with the recognition of the unfairness of our society and historic discrimination and enslavement of a group of people based on race. And affirmative action tips the scale toward rectifying that injustice and the injustice that still lives on in our society.  In the other case the job offer is made as business as usual.

Discrimination is a sin that is rooted in our society and has enacted permanent damage on African Americans, Native Americans, and women. Discrimination goes against God’s desire for a loving, just community. Jesus spoke out against it all the time.

And discrimination is a reality. Despite the progress of civil rights over the last 40 years. Despite the progress with women’s rights over the last 60 years.

“For women, Michigan is worse than the national average. Women in Michigan make 67 cents to every dollar that a man makes, ten cents less than the national average. Hispanic women only earn 56 cents. Women earn 47% of all professional degrees and 41% of Doctoral degrees, also both stats worse than the national average.” (One United Michigan)

This is a reality for life in Michigan: in our state, in our community, in our congregation.

Discrimination is reality for African Americans as is institutionalized racism, when acts of preference go beyond individual’s discriminating and are instead part of the very system of government. Look at the disproportionate number of minorities who grow up in poverty, who have sub standard schools for their children, who are victims of violence, who are incarcerated far beyond the national average, who live next to toxic waste sites or breathe polluted air.

“Black people continue to have twice the unemployment rate of White people, twice the rate of infant mortality, and just over half the proportion of people who attend four years or more of college.” (One United Michigan)

Inequality is the reality. And it is wrong. Affirmative action is one way to redress the problem, a problem that is rooted in legalized discriminatory practices of past decades, the horror of slavery and more. It is part of bringing about the Jubilee, to restore equality and justice.

The United Church of Christ in Michigan has come out with a statement against Proposition 2. It reads:

“Whereas the United Church of Christ has made a historic commitment to be a true multiracial and multicultural church, and to nurture, support, and advocate public policies to make our society more just and equitable.
Whereas, the Nineteenth General Synod of the United Church of Christ challenged the churches in 1993 to “encourage the ongoing inclusiveness of our entire community of faith, we reaffirm our commitment to advocacy and public policy development on the issues of racial, gender, social and economic justice. As a multiracial and multicultural church we affirm our commitment to achieving affirmative action goals and objectives.”
Therefore let it be resolved that the 2006 Annual Meeting of the Michigan Conference of the United Church of Christ opposes the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, and to that end endorses the One United Michigan campaign to defeat the proposal to ban affirmative action programs in Michigan.” (michucc.org)

Because in the UCC we know that we also struggle with the sin of discrimination. Right now those of us on the search committee are wading through many profiles from candidates for the second pastor position. We have had some racial diversity in our pool, but not too much. We have more gender diversity.

It is the first time I have sat on this side of the search process, having instead been a pastor searching for a call and applying to church after church hoping to be considered. When I was completing my profile our seminary professors told us that our personal demographic would dramatically affect our search. If we were white, married men, we would most likely find a position within six months, sometimes before we graduated from seminary. If we were women, it would take twice as long. If we were an older woman it could take two years. And if we were a minority or disabled, even longer.

We know discrimination intimately even within a denomination where we fight hard for equality and justice. Racism and privilege are woven tightly into our societal fabric and just because we are church people even socially aware church people, does not mean we are immune.

There are many reasons to oppose Proposal 2.

From a practical, economic perspective, companies need greater diversity in their applicant pools and oppose this measure for it makes them less competitive in the work environment. Michigan already struggles economically.

One can oppose Proposal 2 because it would mean eliminating programs that have proven to work in preparing women and minorities for equal access to opportunities. Programs like summer science camps for girls, notification to women owned and minority owned businesses of upcoming contracting opportunities, and college prep for students of color. And that 5 million minorities and 6 million women are in higher occupational classifications than they would have been due to affirmative action politics of the 60’s and 70’s.

But I believe we should oppose Proposal 2 because it is wrong. We have a history in this country that we need to take responsibility for. We have a current culture and society that in unjust, unequal and oppressive to women and minorities.

We believe in a God who calls us to do what is right, to redress wrongs, to seek our neighbor’s well being, even if it costs us to do so.

It is entirely possible that you or I will lose a job opportunity or a business contract or an application spot due to affirmative action. But until we live in a truly equal society, in a world that resembles the kingdom of God, that is part of the sacrifice we make toward greater justice for all.

Easy? No.
The right thing to do? Yes.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19)

That this may be a Jubilee year, that we may restore our society. That we may come together through our faith to work so that justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.

Amen.

Benediction
An Affirmation Based on the Writings of Dr. King 
I refuse to believe that we are unable to influence the events which surround us.

I refuse to believe that we are so bound to racism and war, that peace, brotherhood and sisterhood are not possible. 

I believe there is an urgent need for people to overcome oppression and violence, without resorting to violence and oppression.

I believe that we need to discover a way to live together in peace, a way which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of this way is love.

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.  I believe that right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.

I believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.

I believe that what self-centered people have torn down, other-centered people can build up.

By the goodness of God at work within people, I believe that brokenness can be healed.  "And the lion and the lamb shall lie down together, and everyone will sit under their own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid."