One of the most powerful moments I can remember, as an activist or as a minister, was when we were working to pass the James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Bill in Texas.
James Byrd, Jr. had been murdered horrifically in Jasper, Texas by three white supremacists. The gentle prophet Dianne Hardy-Garcia honored me incredibly by asking me to go with her to meet with James Byrd’s mother about naming the proposed bill after her son.
The topic of hate crimes was very immediate to me because, several years earlier, I had presided over the funeral of Ernest Saldaña, a kind and gentle gay man, who also murdered in a brutal hate crime.
The campaign to pass hate crimes protection was emotionally brutal. Many straight white lawmakers argued that protections for groups specifically target for reasons of race, religion or sexual orientation were asking for special rights.
At one point Republican lawmakers sent word to the Black Caucus that, if they took protections for the LGBTQ community out of the bill, they would pass it. The offer took place behind the scenes but I will never in my life forget the reply of the Black Caucus. Clearly steeped in the story of the Exodus, the leader of the Black Caucus responded, “Either we all cross over into the promised land or none of us crosses over.”
I think of that moment often when so called practical politicians want to use any part of our human family as bargaining chips for short term political victory. The only power that will stand up fascism is universal human rights and grass roots solidarity. Solidarity means seeing all humanity as our family and not leaving ANYONE behind.
When I reflect on the crises facing this nation, as more and more institutions crumble, as more and more voices of minority communities are silenced, as the human rights of more and more people are dismissed as “identity politics,” I remember the voice of the Texas Black Political Caucus showing us the way home. We are one human family, none of us will ever cross over into the promised land until all of us can cross.