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