Episcopal Press and News
Episcopal Leaders Confront Questions of Racial Equality and Peace During Phoenix Celebrations
Episcopal News Service. January 25, 1991 [91018]
National and local leaders of the Episcopal Church joined 20,000 Arizonans in a rally under the shadow of the Arizona State Capitol on January 21, demanding the establishment of a paid Martin Luther King holiday for Arizona and the fulfillment of King's dream of racial equality for the nation.
Beneath a rainbow of red, white, and blue balloons, a stream of civic, state, and religious leaders addressed the crowd with fiery optimism that the legislature would soon enact a King holiday for Arizona. "I stand here today to pledge to you that the Episcopal Church is here in the struggle as it has been for many years..., and we will continue to stand with you as long as necessary," said Arizona Bishop Joseph Heistand, in his introduction of several Episcopal bishops who joined the march.
"I have joined you today to say that we have the power to make the dream a reality," said Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning. "We have the power to say to the state legislature, 'enough is enough,"' Browning said, calling upon the crowd to encourage state lawmakers to enact a paid holiday honoring King.
"We will have a Martin Luther King civil rights day in Arizona," said Arizona Governor Rose Mofford. "We are committed to it -- not because of the Super Bowl, nor because of money for tourism -- but because it affirms our creed that all men and women are created equal."
"We cannot, we will not give up the struggle. Let's just do it!" Mofford proclaimed to a cheering crowd.
"Let us remember that it [a paid Martin Luther King holiday] is not just about being black -- it's about being proud to be an American," said State Representative Rochella Horton of Tucson. "King's dream still lives, because it lives in us," she said.
One state official suggested that the King Day controversy has given Arizona a chance to reflect on its commitments and put them into practice. "It has left us divided in the state and discredited us in the country -- but it has given us the opportunity to stand up, to affirm our faith, and to take action," said Arizona Secretary of State Richard Mahoney.
"Something is happening because of the controversy in Arizona." added Bishop Coadjutor Herbert Thompson of Southern Ohio. "The issue of racism is being put back on the front burner. The issue is not Arizona -- the issue is America."
The rally was the climax to the sixth annual three-mile march in downtown Phoenix by supporters of the King holiday. The occasion was part religious service, part pep rally, and part a march for peace in the wake of the recent outbreak of war in the Middle East.
In a thundering invocation, the Rev. Henry L. Barnwell of the First Life Baptist Church in Phoenix prayed that "God would accept our prayers for peace -- both in our state of Arizona, and all over the world."
The multigenerational and multiracial throng of people sported political buttons, wore yellow ribbons as a sign of solidarity with American troops in the Persian Gulf, and carried black balloons and placards with King's picture. Scores waved banners and posters calling for justice and peace: "We will win the war, but can we win the peace?" "Kuwait is Arabic for Vietnam," "God loves all people."
Throughout the rally, speaker after speaker linked the call for racial equality and concern about the Persian Gulf war. "True peace is not merely the absence of tension -- it is the presence of justice," said Arizona State Representative Art Hamilton, quoting King.
In a prelude to Monday's city-wide commemoration, Episcopalians gathered at Trinity Cathedral on Sunday for a special service honoring King. Under the glare of television cameras and surrounded by reporters, Arizona Bishop Joseph T. Heistand welcomed visitors to the service, including Presiding Bishop Browning, Bishop Herbert Thompson of Southern Ohio, Bishop James Ottley of Panama, and Dean David Collins, president of the House of Deputies.
In his sermon Thompson repeated his conviction that the General Convention should be held in Phoenix because of the unique opportunity to address racial equality and civil rights. "How strange and wonderful are the ways of God," Thompson said. "He takes unlikely people, unlikely places, unlikely situations and makes them center stage for his ongoing work of liberating, reconciling, serving, and healing his people.
"The church intended the General Convention for business as usual. God intends it for a higher purpose," Thompson continued. "So I'm glad that we are coming to Phoenix that we might address this yet unfinished business in our church and our society."
In a reference to the Old Testament, Thompson likened God's call of Martin Luther King to the call of Samuel. "From as unlikely place as Montgomery, Alabama, God raised up a prophet. God called person-to-person, and Dr. King answered and said yes and offered himself to God. And despite his weaknesses and his imperfections, King became the man of the hour," Thompson asserted. "God used him to change the course of this nation.
"Martin Luther King, Jr., is important to us not because he lifted up civil rights, but because he lifted up humanity," Thompson continued. "His life and work takes on an even deeper importance for us as we stand in the midst of this tragic war in the Persian Gulf.
"Dr. King was right when he said we will either learn to live together as brothers and sisters or we will perish as fools," Thompson said. "We must come to affirm with the sacredness of all human life -- that everyone is somebody because he or she is a child of God -- and if a child, then he or she is my brother or sister.
"When all the world understands this -- that we are all God's children, that we are all brothers and sisters, that all human life is sacred -- then we will not exploit, will not discriminate, will not oppress, will not kill," Thompson said.
The special service included a new hymn, "Blessed Martin, Pastor, Prophet," written by Canon Harold Lewis of the Episcopal Church's Black Ministries Office. Although the hymn was written three months ago, one verse had special relevance in the light of the Persian Gulf war: "Preacher of Christ's love for neighbor, He won Nobel's prize for peace, Peoples beat your swords to plowshares, Wars'twixt nations all shall cease."
In a press conference after the service, Browning reiterated his contention that war was not the answer to problems in the Persian Gulf.
"My heart was broken...when the war broke out, and I still have sorrow over what has happened," Browning said. Despite public opinion polls that indicate overwhelming support for the president's action in the Persian Gulf, Browning said he hoped he was not witnessing "the kind of patriotism that doesn't respect the rest of the world and the rest of humanity -- that says might is right.
"I will continue to question the use of war to solve problems that are political," Browning added. "I support my president. I pray for him...(and) that this war can be brought to a speedy conclusion."
Bishop James Ottley of Panama told reporters that his experience during the American invasion of his country led him to assert that "war is evil. What happened in Panama leads me to say that I cannot support the war in the Middle East at this time.
"With all the problems we face in today's world -- it is unbelievable that we still use war as a solution," Ottley added.
Browning said that the decision to keep the General Convention in Phoenix followed "a very conscious decision to come and stand with the people of Arizona, especially Bishop Heistand and his diocese and others who have worked so hard for the establishment of the Martin Luther King holiday. This is a moral issue."
Thompson reported that "sentiment is changing a bit" among some groups in the church that had earlier called for a boycott of the convention to protest the lack of a King holiday in Arizona. "If blacks stay away, they will be missed terribly, and the things we feel are significant to the church may not be addressed," Thompson said.
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