“I AM A MAN.” A sign worn by those
that wanted equal treatment.

The lynching tree and the Christian cross. This may sound like an antagonistic pairing of symbols, but after listening to a very enlightening man named James Cone, it made me not only see the light in its relationship, but how to bridge the gap of a century’s old American sin.

This man with his oddly raspy, slightly “Cosby-ish” voice speaks nothing short of volumes, you can’t help but be drawn into his story. Now that I have been educated to this “terribly beautiful” relationship of the two most powerfully evil and godly symbols, it is now upon me to share this newly learned perspective with the rest of my “brothers”, white, and black.

My confusion was never about my perspective on blacks per se, but their affinity for religion, and their viewpoint on “being black”. Throughout my life, I have had many deep conversations with blacks of all types and backgrounds, but none tapped me into this confusing perspective like Mr. Cone.

- - -

This Sunday was like any other Sunday, that is until I finished eating and sat down for a little R&R. What makes this Sunday different was the fact that my TiVo had little … no, nothing to watch. Well, nothing but a Bill Moyers Journal. Unfortunately, poor Mr. Moyers rarely gets viewed, not because his show lacks in substance or intellect, but because it is usually quite long, dry and well, draggy. His guests are usually old, educated, intellectuals that couldn’t entertain a 1 year old, but then again, that is not what he intends to do. Bill Moyers is out to inform and educate his viewers.

I usually choose to watch the show if the short description that follows the title interests me, and this one was looking rather wrong for my taste. It read, “Professor James Cone of Union Theological Seminary describes a relationship between the tragedy of the noose and lynching tree and the triumph of the cross.” If you know who I am, you could probably guess that religion and anything derived from it turns me quite sour. Add this to the subject of racism, and that is a potentially depressing show. Though, for some reason, I could not get myself to delete it. Whether it was the fact that there was nothing else to watch, or how this brazen man was going to attempt to tie religion in with the dark side of American history, I ended up watching the Journal. And, the journey began.

Theologian James Cone has shared his story with many people, but mostly with a limited audience. Fortunately, Mr. Moyers gave him a bigger stage, TV. His truth about race and religion and the possibilities of America’s united future starts out being painted with his colorful words and expressive mannerisms, and the importance of our recognition of the post civil war lynchings become illuminated. Mr. Cone explains his rationale behind the marrying of the two images — the lynching tree and the cross — by explaining the similarities between the Roman crucifixions, and the whites and their lynchings. He mentions how both were used to control the community by fear and terror, and how they wanted to exemplify their power of governance by the public display of the deadly consequence to any rebellious act or individual.

This is an image of a spectacle lynching.
Hundreds used to come to these horrific events.

Yet, within this tumultuous sea of hate and fear came the amazing display of the human spirit, and no matter how much control any group may have of the political, economical and/or social environment, you can never “have control of someone’s humanity”. Now this is when he interweaves the importance of religion, and its power that it gives the powerless.

Now here is where I struggle with the subject. I, opposite to Mr. Cone, believe that religion robs the individual of power, and creates an imbalance in society. But, when he goes on to say, “There is a spirit deep in you that nobody can take away from you because it is a creation that God gave to you. If you know that you have a humanity [sic] that no one can take away, then they can lock you up, they can lynch you, but they don’t win … because you are not defined by what people can do to your body!”

When this freedom of mind is then linked to God, whether real or not, this God is the only thing that gives you hope in a hopeless situation. Thus creating a relationship that may only make sense to that individual, and in that world, that is all that matters.

This really challenges my personal opposition to religion. I have always viewed religion, no matter the application, to be a damaging, negative thing, but that was before anyone could explain its benefit like Mr. Cone. Now don’t worry, this will not make me run to the nearest church, but it does help me understand why this seemingly irrational belief is important to many people. If applied correctly, it, as Mr. Cone explains, “is a search for meaning when you don’t have it in this world.” This seems very rational. When you don’t have any other source of explanation, especially when you are denied an education, or lack resources, it helps place meaning on a seemingly meaningless situation. Now that makes sense to me.

I now have a better understanding of the importance of religion to those who may be in a powerless situation. It is my first glance into the emotional mind, and its near permanent bond with God. Now with my slightly more elevated understanding of blacks and their relationship with religion, I can see why the black churches were so powerful back then, and even now. It allowed them the imagination and freedom that they were not allowed outside of those four walls. God was their only ally, but He also connected them to the white people in a way that allowed a deeper understanding that we are all a part of the same matrix, and that cannot be taken away.

(If you would like to watch the whole video of Mr. Moyers and Mr. Cone, please click here (due to the fact that I cannot find a PBS archive for this show, I have uploaded mine onto Blog4Brains).)

In part two, I will go into how the healing of America begins when its citizens begin to recognize the absence of our innocence. See you then.