Jena 6: Standing on the Side of Love

In the soon to be released movie For the Bible Tells Me So, Rev. Irene Monroe talks about the real sin of Sodom and Gomorrah:

I know a lot of towns that are like Sodom and Gomorrah…you can walk into these towns and they don’t show any sign of hospitality simply because you are black or simply because you are gay or lesbian or just because you are an outsider. . . .That’s the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah.”

Jena Louisiana is a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah kind of town for the young African American men sentenced unfairly for a schoolyard fight. Yet the larger social ill exposed in Jena extends well beyond the six accused men. On a moral level, their story exemplifies how inhospitable so many of our cities are to African Americans. When we incarcerate nearly 1/3 of our black men, we are in a very real sense declaring open hostility on the entire African American community.

To date public outrage against the racial disparity in our criminal justice system has not been strong enough to effect change, which is why the recent protests in Jena are so heartening. They are a sign that people are finally demanding that we as a country act better.

On a personal note, I was encouraged that my organization, the Human Rights Campaign, stood in solidarity with the protesters in Jena as well. Quoting Martin Luther King’s famous line, “injustice against any of us is an injustice against all of us,” Joe Solmonese, the President of the Human Rights Campaign, spoke at the Washington, DC rally about the need to stand with others in the fight against injustice just as others have stood with us.

In Jena, Unitarian Universalist pastor, Meg Riley from Minnesota wore a tee-shirt imprinted with the UU slogan for marriage equality, “Standing on the Side of Love.” I’ve been thinking about how that marriage equality tee-shirt worked so well for the Jena 6 protests. Whether working for Marriage Equality or for racial justice in our criminal justice system, when we stand on the side of love we address the real sin of Sodom and Gomorrah and create communities built on expansive hospitality and welcome.