Two Lives Observed
Published in Marietta (GA) Daily Journal, 8/8/20
It’s worth noting that
the recent deaths of black leaders John Lewis and Herman Cain were dealt with
quite differently by the liberal media. But then Lewis was a liberal politician
and Cain was a conservative businessman.
In some ways Lewis and Cain were very much
alike. Both were Southerners. Both were well known. Well into his adult life,
Lewis was called an activist. Business leaders such as Cain are seldom if ever
called activists even if they are involved in politics and other social
concerns. Let’s just say that both Lewis and Cain were men of action fulfilling
the individual yearnings of their hearts.
Politically and
philosophically, Lewis and Cain were far apart. Cain was strongly pro-life
while Lewis repeatedly received a 100% legislative rating from the National
Abortion Rights Action League. Cain was a Republican, Lewis a Democrat.
Who could not admire
Lewis for his bravery during the tumultuous civil rights movement? Like his
mentor Martin Luther King, Lewis withstood clubs, water hoses, jeers, and cursing.
No violence came from Lewis. His reasoned engagement in civil disobedience, his
belief in non-violent protest, and his moral and physical courage led to change
that could never have been achieved with the destructive tactics of Black Lives
Matter or Antifa.
White New England
preachers broke the back of slavery. Black Southern preachers broke the back of
segregation. An ordained Baptist minister, Lewis spent less time in the pulpit
than he did at rallies, marches, and in jails. Like Moses before Pharaoh and
the Apostle Peter before the magistrates, Lewis was a holy troublemaker. He had
to obey God rather than men. Lewis was one of the “Big Six” leaders of the
groups who led the famous 1963 March on Washington, his own organization being
the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Lewis was never the
angry young black man like former Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed during his Georgia
House of Representative days. Nor was he an unforgiving, turbulent Al Sharpton.
Perhaps Lewis’ closeness to King helped him follow his moral compass. Whites
who lived during segregation, observing its indignity and benign neglect,
should grant Lewis his due. He risked his life fighting against something he
could not abide.
The life of Herman Cain
has not been so heralded. But did he not persist and succeed as Lewis did? Did
he not put the lie to “white privilege,” the most racist term ever concocted,
by working hard, using his talents, and rejecting self-pity? Instead of crying
“systemic racism,” did he not avail himself of America’s systemic opportunities?
How is it that “white privilege” and racism didn’t keep Cain from success and
business leadership positions?
While marches, rallies,
protests, and speeches are not totally symbolic (Lewis’ bloodied head was no
symbol; it was real), did Cain not go beyond symbolism and pursue the path of
self-help through free enterprise and work? Was his life not therefore a model
for young men and women, black or white? His was a joyous spirit; his lust for
life, infectious. He never put America down. Like Clarence Thomas, Cain refused
to let the negatives of his past dictate his future.
The questions above in
no way diminish the life and work of Lewis. They simply illustrate the two
different paths taken by two Black men. Lewis was a needed voice crying in the
wilderness, and Cain was a needed example of how to seize what was available,
namely freedom, and to move on in spite of obstacles. Lewis can and should be
faulted for his inconsistency of supporting “abortion rights” while preaching
justice.
Those who fault the
president for not attending Lewis’ funeral might recall that Lewis refused to
attend the president’s inauguration. Both men were being petty.
During Cain’s
presidential campaign, he was mocked by the media, particularly by CNN. One CNN
guest dubbed him “an Uncle Tom who never understood the black experience.”
CNN’s humor-challenged duo, Wolf Blitzer and Jake Tapper, bemoaned “the very
thought of a Herman Cain presidency.”
Shakespeare wrote, “Tis
marvelous to have a giant’s strength but tyrannous to use it like a giant. Men
should be what they seem.” Both Lewis and Cain were giants and they were what they
seemed. If liberals must berate Cain for not following their script for what a
Black man should think, say, and do, conservatives should still take the high
road and honor Lewis.
Leadership guru John
Maxwell once remarked, “To add value to others one must first value others.”
Both Lewis and Cain did exactly that.
It’s sad that, in death, Cain has been slighted,
but at least we know why.
Roger Hines
August 5, 2020
