Leaders: Dr. King would be disappointed in violence

Civil rights leader would not have wanted to see violence in protests

Published: January 15, 2015

By Aprille Hanson
Associate Editor

Malea Hargett

Verdell Bunting, president of the Diocesan Council for Black Catholics, introduces the Daniel Rudd Award winner at the conclusion of the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Mass Jan. 10 at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock.

Malea Hargett

On Aug. 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. told the world of his dream to simply, “Let freedom ring” for “all of God’s children.”

No, 2015 is not like the 1960s in the middle of the Civil Rights struggle. However, for those turning on the news throughout the past six months, it doesn’t take a stretch of the imagination to see the need for King’s message: armored vehicles, police in SWAT gear throwing tear gas canisters at protestors in Ferguson, Mo., after the Aug. 9 shooting death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown by white police officer Darren Wilson. Besides the use of military-style force by police, violent individuals took advantage of the situation, using the veil of protests to loot and burn down buildings. Then, on the East Coast, an unarmed black man, Eric Garner, is choked to death by police in Staten Island, N.Y., despite pleas of “I can’t breathe” on July 17, yet a grand jury hands down its decision Aug. 19 not to indict the white officers.

It’s these images that force society to think back to King, who is remembered Monday, Jan. 19, and what he wanted from us and for all of us, said Verdell Bunting, president of the Diocesan Council for Black Catholics.

“I just think the whole thing is sad,” Bunting said, referring to the unrest in Ferguson, New York and even going back to the 2012 case of Trayvon Martin, a black teenager who was unarmed, shot and killed in Florida. “They weren’t maybe the best persons they could be, but let’s give the people the benefit of the doubt before we attack or shoot with guns. It could have been handled a little differently … at least let’s get the whole story before we just automatically assume” who is considered the guilty party.

However, a violent reaction that has plagued too many protests flies in the face of King’s message, Bunting said.

“I think he would be disappointed because that wasn’t his message,” Bunting said of the civil rights leader who was shot and killed April 4, 1968. “His message was to treat everyone with kindness, respect and try to solve things through a peaceful matter. With that situation in Ferguson, Mo., he’d be really disappointed to know that these things still occur.”

The reality is racism still exists, but a way to lessen its power is by living out King’s example of faith in our own lives.

“From him I learned that being a faithful Christian requires doing more than saying my prayers, being good and trying to get my own soul into heaven. Rather it means following Jesus, who laid down his life as the cost of building the Kingdom of God,” Bishop Anthony B. Taylor said. “Dr. King taught me that it is no different today and got me to ask myself how Jesus wanted to use me to establish justice and make the world a better place.”

Rosalyn Pruitt, secretary of the DCBC, said she has often discussed with her 24- and 30-year-old sons on how to act around law enforcement as black men.

“I said, ‘Hey, you know what you’re going to do when a cop stops you. You stop immediately, you don’t move until he comes to you. Don’t get sassy, bite your tongue, say a Hail Mary,’” Pruitt said. “They want to go home to their family too. You’ve got to have that respect for them, all cops are not bad. I tell my boys there are two sides to every story.”

Bunting, a fifth-grade teacher at Indian Hills Elementary School in North Little Rock, said changing the stereotypical perception that people have of the average black male — he said namely “uneducated, school drop-outs, the majority of time crime is committed is usually at the hands of a black male” — starts at home for many black families.

“That label is not what we need to have,” Bunting said. “Not everyone acts that way. It starts with parents educating their kids. I had parents about two years ago of a black male student write me the nicest note, saying ‘We appreciate you showing our son there are positive black role models out there, and we try to make sure he is around that and it’s important we instill that in him.’ That was just a very heartfelt message, it was really positive.”

Though Pruitt, 58, has seen worse examples of racism in her life, she stills hears and sees it in society from the way people talk about President Barack Obama to her own recent experiences.

“I have gotten in an elevator in downtown Little Rock and older white women grab their purses. It’s a shame,” Pruitt said. “People don’t realize how racial they can be … In the Bible it says if we let this stuff happen we’re just as guilty. I listen to the Chaplet of Divine Mercy every day, and I say that prayer and that helps me get through.”

Events like the Martin Luther King Jr. Mass held at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock Jan. 10 help reinforce that all races bring different spiritual gifts to the faith, especially for those parishes in the state that are not as diverse.

Bunting said his parish, St. Bartholomew in Little Rock, is one of three predominately black Catholic churches in the state but has become more diverse in recent years.

“When I was little there weren’t any whites there, but now we have several white families,” Bunting said. “It’s that message we give,” for all the races to be one faith family, “making sure we’re showing the good Christian values that we should be showing.”

Prayer, education and openness are needed to slow the spread of racism and to keep King’s message alive, Bunting said. For 17 years, Bunting has been showing his students King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, which also shows footage of the brutality shown to blacks merely standing up for their rights.

“I will never forget one of my white female students in the room was in tears and I was all, ‘What’s wrong?’ She said, ‘I never knew my race could be so mean,’” Bunting said. “It’s a good eye opener for them. It’s up to you as you get older to educate that it’s wrong to discriminate against anyone for any reason: What they wear, where they choose to go to church, a young man with an earring or who wears their hair long; we just need to be open and mindful.”

As a Catholic family, parishioners can keep King’s message of hope and peace remembered easily: by following God’s teachings, Bunting said.

“Staying out of trouble, treating others how you want to be treated — that’s how you can keep Dr. King’s dream alive,” he said.