Mary McLeod Bethune's Hope Today

By Rev. Brenda Girton-Mitchell
Grace and Race Ministries, Inc.

An Open Letter to Attorney General Eric Holder:

Dear Attorney General Eric Holder,

July 10, 2009, marks the 134th birthday of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune. I have been blessed and inspired by her life. I have always been moved by her words: "Rise up, ye women who are at ease . . . We must have a faith that makes us look beyond the miseries, the feelings, the ills and deprivations and the narrow little things to the big purposes. As you realize how chosen you are, you will be able to see the hand of God moving through our world, breaking down old constitutions, removing barriers, overturning old institutions, forcing men to reexamine old traditions, old loyalties and removing from this world the inadequate visions."

Today, I have accepted her challenge to "rise up." For several months, I have wanted to write this letter to apologize to you. Days, weeks and months passed by, but I have not been able to get over the feeling that I should have taken some responsibility to at least say something on your behalf.

I am writing to express my regret for my failure to speak up to support you when others were condemning you. Please forgive me and others who have been silent as you were criticized for a statement you made during your speech at the Department of Justice African American History Month Program.

You said, "Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards."

However, you continued by saying, "Though race related issues continue to occupy a significant portion of our political discussion, and though there remain many unresolved racial issues in this nation, we, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about race."

I am convinced that many of your critics did not desire to read that sentence or the others that followed. But I read the speech, the newspaper articles, and listened to the endless comments on radio and television. I became angry and frustrated by the responses. I prayed for you and for our President - but I was not able to get this off of my mind. And now I understand why. I am guilty of acting like a coward.

I am an ordained minister and an attorney. During the presidential election season, I felt called to create opportunities to have transformative discussions about race relations in our country. It is my belief that many people would welcome a way to talk together, to expand their knowledge and appreciation of the diverse society we have become. In the spring of 2008, I established Grace and Race Ministries, Inc. which conducted leadership training and dialogues to help advance racial understanding to move toward reconciliation.

Your words convicted and re-motivated me. I have acted like a coward and been guilty of not making waves, sidestepping hard questions about race, avoiding difficult people and potentially unpleasant discussions. I have been guilty of not facing always my own biases. I have been guilty of silence even though I have been called to a ministry of social justice and racial reconciliation.

Thank you for the critically important role you are playing to help move our nation to form a more perfect union.

In the spirit of Dr. Bethune and in honor of her birthday, I leave you love. I leave you hope. I leave you the respect for the use of power. I leave you faith. I leave you racial dignity.

Blessings,
Rev. Brenda Girton-Mitchell

Rev. Brenda Girton-Mitchell
is founder and president of Grace and Race Ministries, Inc., in Silver Spring, MD.

By Brenda Girton-Mitchell |  July 10, 2009; 6:22 AM ET
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