Once A Republican, Always A…? Apparently Not!About ten years ago I wrote: I find that I am bracing for a very ugly debate which will only serve to associate all of my Hispanic friends with the evils of drug trade from the south of our federal border. I can just imagine how racism will attempt to cloak itself in the “stars and stripes”, as it seeks some sort of national justification. Continue reading →Right to What ?The expression “right to life” in abortion discussions is very potent. Although popularized by Pope Pius XII in 1951, the phrase currently brings to mind the modern ultra-sound image of the unborn. Pro-Life advocates would view the premature removal of … Continue reading → Continue reading →Thinking a Little “Less White”From age 14-21 Larry worked at his uncle’s grocery store which served Charlotte’s first housing project. Larry’s experiences there allowed him to transcend the segregation of the city, and step into a culture not his own. To this day, these memories are fond and impactful. Continue reading →Fake News and Christian EvangelicalsAs a young minister in the 1970’s, Larry became a witness to fake news gone viral, twenty years before the modern internet. In their desire to defend religious freedom of speech, many preachers and pastors were “rushing to print” with false claims which continue until the present. The original article was clearly bogus, unattributed, and embarrassing. This should have served as an instructive moment for the evangelical community. Apparently, it did not. Continue reading →In Search of HopeAs Deacon of Multicultural Ministry in a well-established Charlotte church, I take my mission very seriously. Yet as a Christian traumatized by the overt racism in my land, I often don’t know where to begin. One year ago I could … Continue reading → Continue reading →Dream President For Evangelicals?When President Donald Trump chose Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA to deliver a graduation speech, the school’s leaders were elated. According to University President Jerry Falwell, Jr., President Trump is a “dream president” for evangelicals. Not all of the 65,000 “distance learners” would agree, including Ivan Herrán, a church deacon and facilitator for incoming community college students. Ivan has not found the Trumpian message or agenda particularly helpful to the Hispanic community. In addition to working full-time, Ivan has earned a Biblical studies and counseling degree from Liberty, and will attend the 2017 graduation. The irony of having President Trump as his graduation speaker has not gone unnoticed. Continue reading → No Fake Jacksonian History for Tom Cole!Republican Congressman Tom Cole is not impressed with President Trump’s recent embrace of Andrew Jackson, whose portrait proudly graces the Oval Office. It was not the president’s recent fractured attempt at history that bothered Cole, but the fact of Donald Trump’s obsession with Andrew Jackson, period. To President Trump the Jacksonian presidency was “a long time ago.” But to the “proud Chickasaw” and member of the U.S. House, Jackson’s Indian Removal Program is a perpetually fresh memory. Continue reading →Filth and ContextWashington Post contributor Daniel W. Drezner may have gotten well over his skis when tweeting that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had referred to immigrants entering from Mexico as “filth”, in the prepared transcript for his border speech. Drezner later retracted his statement with an apology for not correctly noting the context in which the phrase was originally intended. Sessions, for whatever reason, did not give voice to what he had written, and dropped the “filth” reference from his public proclamation. Continue reading →The Racism Behind the Immigration IssueFor those of us who advocate discretion and compassion when dealing with families with an undocumented member, the emphasis on “enforcing the law” rings hollow. In this “country of law”, there will always be a law to enforce. Yet historically our laws have often been a way to codify some form of white supremacist dogma, as evidenced by the immigration hardliners such as Representative Steve King. Continue reading →Does US Citizenship Mean Anything?Originally published But then, the question is, whether U.S. citizenship really matters. Or to say it another way, Do Brown Lives Matter? Continue reading → |
