Nashville must embrace “the fierce urgency of now” and correct inequities | Opinion

• Regena Davis is a member of Metropolitan Interdenominational Church.
• Ron Heady is a member of Congregation Micah.

Many have claimed that events of the year 2020 are “unprecedented,” meaning that  nothing in our history forecasts or explains our current situation and suggesting that “now” is more a time for reviving and surviving, not a time for solving old  problems.  

But some paths lead directly from our past to events of today, emphasizing that “now” is in fact the time to continue our work.

The13th Amendment (ratified in 1865) declared that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." 

But soon after the “abolition” of slavery, Black people imprisoned for committing crimes were leased out to the same businesses that lost slaves after the passing of the 13th Amendment. 

This practice made arresting Black people a lucrative business.  Because nine states, Tennessee among them,  began to lease out Black convicts for labor, hundreds of White men were hired by these states as police officers with the primary responsibility of searching out and arresting Black people who were in violation of Black Codes. This of course was a continuation of the old slave patrols and a continuation of slavery under a different name.

This prison labor for hire, peonage, is one example of race-based practices established and perpetuated by government systems. Slavery, segregation, Black Codes, and Jim Crow were also made legal by the U.S.  government and upheld by the judicial system. These race-based practices were built into the system and are the source of the term “Systemic Racism.”

2020 has only further exposed systemic inequalities

This backdrop of our history frames much of the unrest of 2020:

• The killing of African Americans by police. 
• Nation-wide demonstrations calling for restructuring our criminal justice system and building systems of community on a foundation of real safety and real justice. 

In addition, the COVID pandemic, which may well be “unprecedented,” has spotlighted the well-known, well-documented, but unfortunately “precedented” inequities in healthcare, shortfalls in education funding, and lack of safety nets for people facing evictions due to their inability to pay rents and mortgages.

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There is a fierce urgency to recognize now that housing stability helps people focus on their medical needs and improves health outcomes. Furthermore, investments in programs that house vulnerable families and individuals have the potential to reduce public spending on health care.

What you will learn at the NOAH meeting Sunday

As Dr. King said, “We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there ‘is’ such a thing as being too late.”

Nashville Organization for Action and Hope (NOAH)’s mission is to empower ordinary people to act powerfully in the political and economic decisions that affect their lives and proposes that NOW is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children.    

On Sunday, at 3:00 PM, NOAH will hold a Virtual Public Meeting: “The Fierce Urgency of Now!” (Register at www.noahtn.org.)  

NOAH task forces will outline their work on Criminal Justice, Education, Affordable Housing, and Economic Equity – and what needs to happen NOW!  Local and state decision-makers are being invited to make commitments to act on these issues that affect us all and make real the promises of democracy.

You readers and citizens are also decision makers and are cordially invited to attend this meeting to have your voices heard and to help dismantle systemic racism. 

Regena Davis is a member of Metropolitan Interdenominational Church. Ron Heady is a member of Congregation Micah. Both congregations are members of NOAH (Nashville Organized for Action and Hope). Davis and Heady are both active leaders of NOAH task forces.