City
Councils Should Take Stand For Peace
by
Leah C. Wells
Dissident Voice
February 23, 2003
Editor’s Note: This article
was written just before the City Council of Los Angeles, California voted 9-4
in favor of a resolution condemning a US war against Iraq, on February 21. LA
surpasses Chicago as the largest city to oppose war.
In
September 1959, a group of students from Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn.,
began a successful nonviolent desegregation campaign in their city by targeting
the lunch counters of popular diners and restaurants.
Led by the Rev. Jim Lawson,
the students started an economic boycott of downtown stores, in addition to
their ongoing nonviolence workshops and the weekly sit-ins at local
establishments. Lawson's experience studying at Gandhi's ashram in India
provided powerful insight into the nature of their nonviolent work.
At the risk of being beaten
and jailed, hundreds of black and white students sat peacefully side by side in
the restaurants while grownups heckled, threw milkshakes and punched them. The
police stood by while private citizens assaulted the students. In a public
address to the city, Mayor Ben West reaffirmed the "rule of law" in
the city, stating that the existing segregationist laws must be upheld.
When the students were
jailed, they refused to pay fines to support a system that oppressed them.
Instead, they opted for 30 days in the workhouse. The students' continual
willingness to suffer forced their jailers to look them in the eyes every day,
challenging the system whose laws treated them unequally.
In April 1960, the home of
their lawyer, Z. Alexander Looby, was bombed. The students' response was to
lead a silent march to City Hall in an attempt to rectify the continual threats
and injustices perpetrated in the Deep South.
Mayor West emerged from City
Hall to address the students. Diane Nash, a young woman who had been at the
core of organizing the student movement, stepped up to speak with him.
She asked: "Mayor West,
do you believe it is morally right to discriminate against a person solely on
the basis of his or her skin color?"
He responded that he could
not discriminate against a person solely on the basis of skin color.
She then asked him if he
believed the lunch counters should be desegregated.
He said, "Yes."
West did not subordinate his
personal views to uphold his public responsibilities. He chose to listen to his
conscience and act with integrity to make a decision that became a major
turning point in the civil rights era. By May 1960, the lunch counters were
desegregated.
Undoubtedly, West's
constituency in Nashville was upset with him. In the segregationist South, Jim
Crow was a powerful voice. But West chose not to delegate his personal moral
responsibility to another venue, like the office of mayor. He did not hide
behind his official title, nor did he pass the buck.
He did not say, "It's
not my responsibility. Someone else can decide. I don't have enough information."
West took a stand opposing
segregation, discrimination and racism because in his heart he could not look
Nash, a young black woman, in the eye and say he supported policies that denied
her rights and humanness.
On Feb. 10, the Ventura City
Council voted down a resolution condemning the proposed invasion of Iraq.
Some City Council members
rationalized that in their personal lives they oppose the war on Iraq, but
professionally, in their duty as public officials, they could not vote on a
resolution that they were not sure their constituency supported. They said that
city councils do not have the authority to rule on matters that reside at the
national or international level.
In doing this, they passed
their individual moral responsibility to avoid being criticized for their
anti-war stance, even though hundreds of supporters of the resolution brought
more than 1,000 signatures from Ventura residents stating they, too, oppose the
war.
All of us should have the
courage and support to take stances for justice and peace. We should never have
to shelve our conscience to follow the crowd or to avoid being stampeded by the
crowd. It would be a civil rights nightmare if we were denied the right to
speak our conscience, denied our power of choice, our ability to stand up for
those with no voice.
Why then should we throw
away the opportunity to voice our conscience, especially on such a crucial
topic which affects everyone in Ventura County, like the proposed war in Iraq?
We cannot say that we are
disconnected from any instance of human suffering. Moreover, we should take
every opportunity to stand against injustice and work toward promoting a world
where compassion rules over intolerance and diplomatic solutions are sought.
Nash took that stand when she
posed her insightful questions to West in front of the thousands of marchers in
Nashville.
West's noble articulation
that segregation is wrong turned the tide for those working toward justice and
equality during the shameful racist era of U.S. history. His one voice made a
difference.
Elected officials have the
historical precedence and permission to vote their consciences.
It is also a massive lesson
for all of us. We cannot wait for someone else to take a stand. Each voice
weighs equally, from the smallest child to the most powerful ruler. Each of us
has something to contribute to the overall good of humankind.
The power of one can change history.
Leah C. Wells of Santa Paula, CA is a teacher and
writer, and serves as the Peace Education Coordinator for the Nuclear Age Peace
Foundation (www.wagingpeace.org) She just returned from Iraq and spent time
there last year.
She
may be contacted at education@napf.org