When I lived down South, one of the first things I heard was how much the South had changed from its previous reputation. No longer was it a place that was oozing racism and, even though there were problems, look how much progress we have made. On the surface, that was certainly true and I never saw the reputation the South was infamous for in my serving as a rabbi there. I never heard anything from anyone but respect and admiration. The South was not the same place as it was in the 1940’s. I believed that then because I simply didn’t know better.
Rather, I have come to see that what was really going on was a conscious repression of racism by too many of my acquaintances. I came to understand that we Jews clustered together in our synagogues and our summer camps to not just have shared experiences, but also to escape the racial inequalities, the covert anti-Semitism, and the wink-wink culture that places white Christian men and women above all others and in control of all others.
The truth is that any culture does not lose such a powerful self-image in one or two generations. The simple truth remains that, for too many people, racism simply still exists and is taught, reinforced and whispered in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. I guess that when too many celebrate their cultural background with the Confederate symbol of owning black people that should have been a dead giveaway.
So, it does not surprise me that so many states are have continued the process of silencing black and Latino voices. The voter repression laws signed into law in the ‘new South state’ of Georgia forever stains that state’s ‘new’ reputation as somehow enlightened. It isn’t. The legislature could not get away with any of it if it wasn’t supported by the population. That is a fact.
What really struck me about this particular state law is that the people who claim to be such holy Christians fully support the part of the law that says no-one can offer or supply food or water to anyone standing in line waiting to vote. I suppose I could quote our bible and say to them, “Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether one of your brothers or one of the foreigners residing within a town in your land.’ Or maybe just read any of the Jewish prophets and see how they railed against injustice, hypocrisy, and frankly would be disgusted if they could see the way this country dealt with and deals with minorities. Or maybe I would quote their bible to them and remind them that Jesus said, ‘For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.’ But I would be wasting my time. They wouldn’t listen. Why? Because for them God is white and hates everyone except them.
For reasons solely of cruelty and to make sure minorities have no voice in the direction of their own lives, the ‘new Georgia’ is the same old Georgia only this time the master is withholding water from the people who he deems sub-human. There is no other way to explain to it. Not allowing people to get water from another while in the process of determining their own future is the new symbol of the state.
Which reminds me of the story from the Talmud: “Rabbi Joshua ben Levi (who lived in the first half of the third century), was visited by the Prophet Elijah. “When will the Messiah come?” asked Joshua. “Ask him,” replied the Prophet. “The Messiah is at the gates of Rome, sitting among the poor, the sick and wretched. Like them, he changes the bindings of his wounds, but does so one wound at the time, in order to be ready at a moment’s notice.” Then Joshua went to Rome and met the Messiah and greeted him, saying “peace upon thee, Master and Teacher” and the Messiah replied “peace upon thee, O son of Levi.” Joshua then asked “When will you be coming?” and was told “Today!”. Joshua went back to Elijah and was asked what the Messiah said. ‘Peace upon thee, O son of Levi’, Joshua replied, and Elijah told him that that meant that he and his father would have a place in the world to come. Joshua then said that the Messiah had not told him the truth, because he had promised to come today but had not. Elijah explained “This is what he said to thee, Today, if you would just listen to his voice”
Any state that hides behind legalese to deny someone even a drink of water deserves no praise, ever. This isn’t politics as usual. This is the politics of revisioning the plantation and antebellum America. It has no future but it is a miserable present for too many people. And if the messiah is among them, God help Georgia.
