AmericaHypothesis: Since this post is projected towards an unknown future, I can offer no hypothesis based on the past.
Brandt Jean hugged Amber Guyger, the convicted murderer of his brother Botham Jean. It was depicted as an extraordinary act of forgiveness, which calls to mind another heroic act of forgiveness, that of Uncle Tom praying for his own murderer as he is being beaten to death by a slave master.
Most of us know the term Uncle Tom from its 20thcentury meaning as an African American who is so cowardly that they have allied with their own persecutor instead of standing up to protect themselves and their community’s rights. But Uncle Tom’s Cabin: Life Among the Lowly was written in the 19th century, and the intent of its author, a white woman unfamiliar with slavery first hand, Harriet Beecher Stowe, was far different than what 20th century politics and society did with the hero of her story, Uncle Tom.
When he met Harriet Beecher Stowe, President Abraham Lincoln purportedly joked that here was the woman who started the Civil War. Her writing reached hundreds of thousands of readers, primarily northerners, and raised their consciousness as to the evils of African slavery in the South, and it had a particular message as to the solution – which was decidedly not war. The book, while not based on a first hand accounting of slavery or of life in the south encapsulates the history of slavery, and did form the basis for abolitionist moral outreach in the 1850s.
Here is a brief synopsis of a book everyone in America should read. At the beginning of the story Uncle Tom lives on a small farm with his family who is enslaved to a middling white farming family. A majority of slaves in the 18th and early 19th century lived in similar circumstance, with only about a quarter of the slave population living on large plantations with large numbers of slaves. But hard times fall on the white family, and Uncle Tom and his family are subject to their worst fears, being sold down river to where the large plantations enforce their labor conditions with violence.
Of course, violence hung over their heads as slaves in all instances, but on the small farm Stowe depicts a more harmonious life. Such happens to Uncle Tom and he is sold down river. All he has is his faith in god and the love which that faith inspires in him. After saving a little white girl’s life Tom is nearly freed but instead his new owner, the clear villain of the story, Simon Legree, has him beaten to death – not because he is a slave, but because he refuses to divulge information on some runaways. As he dies he prays for the forgiveness and redemption of his murderers.
For Stowe, and Abolitionists of the time, Uncle Tom’s self-sacrifice was a Christ-like expression of power through Grace. Further, Uncle Tom would not succumb to the violence of hatred and rise up to fight against those who murdered him. Uncle Tom is a hero of the non-resistance strategy of the Abolitionist movement, and an example of how only love can overcome hate. At least in the 19thcentury.
By the 20th century, Uncle Tom’s actions fell under increased scrutiny. “For my part, I was never an admirer of Uncle Tom, nor his type of goodness,” stated Harlem Renaissance leader, the composer, James Weldon Johnson, who went on to state, “but I believe that there were lots of old Negroes as foolishly good as he.” Quite a different take than the suggestion that Stowe’s character sparked a Civil War to end the institution.
While the denigration of Uncle Tom may have come from the white produced film version in 1903 with black face actors and a change to the story – Tom was not terrific – it appears that the politics of the 20th century demanded a change with the rise of Marcus Garvey’s Black Nationalism. New ideas and new leaders who supported another, more active style of strength were seen as necessary. But most certainly, the greatest civil rights leader was not a nationalist, and instead, relied on non-resistance under the more familiar phrase, non-violence. Dr. King’s legacy is only love can overcome hate – not strength of arms and action, but love.
The murder of Botham Jean is a tragedy and a tragedy of the invidiousness of race in America. Had he been white, it seems highly unlikely that the white, off-duty cop would have shot him as he sat in his own apartment. Amber Guyger, the off-duty cop may well have been confused and thought a man was in her apartment, but she pulled trigger because Botham was black. He, like everyone in America, was judged by the color of his skin rather than the content of his character – and everyone is thusly judged, but some gain privilege and some punishment and persecution. Such was the fate of Botham Jean, guilty of being black in America.
Guyger was found guilty of murder, perhaps as a white female, she did not have as much privilege as other cops who have shot and killed black men. Still, the verdict is somewhat of a surprise, but not nearly as surprising as the sentencing. Botham’s brother, Brandt, was allowed to speak directly to the convicted murderer of his brother in open court. And what he said and did was overwhelming to even the judge, whose lack of judicial decorum will not be subject here.
Brandt forgave. Brandt loved.
Brandt even went so far as to hug his own brother’s murderer. Wow.
There are many differences between Brandt Jean and Uncle Tom – the situations are hardly the same, but quite obviously Brandt meant to convey a similar message to the World as did the author of Uncle Tom. Only love can overcome hate.
But already there is a disquiet about this scene. Not really about Brandt’s actions, yet, but mostly about how awed people have been at “Black Forgiveness” and the perception that this has become the focus instead of the alarming and continued persecution of blackness, browness, “otherness” in America. And those critics are right. The fascinating event of this hug cannot overshadow the continual systemic and personal violence perpetrated on some Americans (and non-Americans) because they are deemed criminal, or alien, or not worthy of the guarantees of rights in this society.
But it does make you wonder which Uncle Tom Brandt Jean will be remembered as.
No comments:
Post a Comment