Justice in bombing case ends city's identity
A very poignant column by Birmingham Post-Herald writer Wade Kwon from yesterday afternoon about the final conviction in the 16th Street church bombing and what the future holds for Birmingham. For those of us who live here (whether "here" is Birmingham, Alabama, or the South) Kwon’s last paragraphs strike particularly hard:

Still, educated folks tend to take away but a single lesson from the chapter, that cities in the South were the havens for racism and oppression. In its three-minute 75th anniversary montage earlier this month, NBC News showed a few seconds of footage of Birmingham police and fire personnel turning hoses and dogs on the marchers. Maybe by the 100th anniversary, they'll throw in the convictions -- but I won't hold my breath.

Those outsiders might have a point. For all our indignation at their grip on the past, what have we done in the 39 years hence to make a name for ourselves? What have we done to honor the four lives cut short? Did we have to wait until 2002 to heal ourselves, our community?

And what is the plan for the next 39 years?

As troubling as it may be that the next generation is blind to the recent past, it's far worse that it has a cloudy future ahead in this town. Birmingham has few significant bright spots on the horizon to mark its progress, whether it's distinction in education, industry, culture or growth. We've grown used to the self-imposed shackles of complacency.

We could blame shaky race relations, lack of a dome, a certain Georgia city down Interstate 20 or any other factor, but to what end? We've done little to move forward, though we had the same opportunity in 1963, 1973, 1983, 1993 and will again in 2003.

By all means, let's close the chapter. How disheartening that in all these years, the next one never opened.

Perhaps it’s simply a cultural by-product by which we feel compelled to linger over the past, over old wounds—the future is abstract, after all, while the past is tangible. Why try to discern something cloudy and dark, when the past shines so brightly? The future will be past soon enough, and then will be worth taking a look at.

It’s not that we cannot see the value of looking forward—we can see the benefits of progress all around us. It’s not that we are not smart enough to make a better future happen—despite the stereotype, there is more than enough brainpower here. It’s not that we lack bravery or drive or initiative or love or money or any one thing necessary to set our own course. Other than a willingness to move on.

Even the most fearsome warship is useless when it’s hard aground in port.

One day, we might decide that there are better people to send to Montgomery than a tribe of self-serving fools. Maybe one day, we’ll start comparing ourselves to the best, instead of saying ‘at least we’re not the worst.’ At some time, we might understand that history is best used as a tool for understanding the future, not as a way to nurse our feelings of inadequacy or victimhood.

Or, we might just continue to turn around backwards to walk down the road.
posted by Terry at 9:16:00 AM