LYNCHING LESSONS from page

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were people like this," said Wanetick,
a Beth Shalom member from
Southfield.
She feels the legacy of lynching
lingers, evidenced by continuing
racism and the resulting anger of its
victims, and she hopes we can get
beyond it. "Sometimes we need to
forget a little," she suggested, a bit
tentatively. "We need a little bit of
optimism to move forward."
Sala found the exhibit "very sad
and hard to look at and to realize
that the people who did it really felt
no remorse." Describing a picture
with a little girl smiling behind a sus-
pended body, she said, " It was even
harder to look at her than the man
who was hung."

Beyond Racism

Following a 20-minute film and
guided tours of the exhibit, about
100 people listened to a clergy panel
comprised of six of the nine partici-
pants who traveled together to .
Senegal and Israel on a March 2002
JCCouncil trip.
"I am reminded again of our poten-
tial to do evil," said Rev. Robert
Dulan Jr. of the Metropolitan Church
of God in Detroit. "We need to work
together and hold each other account-
able," he said. "To combat evil there
must be a commitment to love of
kindness and love of mercy."
Likewise, Rev. Nicholas Hood III of
Plymouth United Church of Christ
said, "I am struck by the incredible cru-
elties that we can visit on each other."
He was heartened by "how wonderful
it is that we are here together.
"We have to go beyond racial,
social, religious, economic and cultural
boundaries," he said. "I hope we will
continue to try to talk with each other
so we can set the table for the opposite
of what we saw."
Susan Ruttenberg, a Beth Shalom
member from Huntington Woods,
agreed that "dialogue is the way we
can really, really get to know each
other as human beings." She told the
group, "We need to be honest with
ourselves. If not, we can never be hon-
est with one another."
Referring to lynching celebrations,
Rabbi Jonathan Berkun of
Congregation Shaarey Zedek in

Oakland County said, "It doesn't take
so many to commit these acts but
there are thousands and thousands
whose silence allows it. The Hebrew
Bible says you are not allowed to stand
idly by the blood of your neighbors,
and here we have exactly that."
He called for working together to
"bring healing and peace and love to
this city."
To make meaningful change, "we
need to start with. the self," insisted
Dr. Benjamin Baker of New Light
Baptist Church in Detroit. "We need
to reject that it is just 'those people
out there' who can commit evil ...
Maybe it is a little inside each of us."
Dr. Ronald Turner of Detroit's Peace
Baptist Church said, 'Are we wasting
our time with words when we should
be painting new pictures? All too often
we try to camouflage our pain through
words and we substitute words for
confronting the reality. We must not
return hate for hate; we must lift up
above it ... take a paintbrush and paint
a new image."
Wendy Robins, a Beth Shalom
member from Huntington Woods,
often goes to Detroit, but had never
before been to the museum.
"Before I came here today, I
thought the African-American muse-
urn had little to do with me," she
admitted. "Now I believe it as impor-
tant to the city as we believe the
Holocaust museum is. Both include
stories of incredible cruelty and evil.
People need to know."
Crediting her values to her parents
"who didn't distinguish people by race
or religion," Robins is ready to take
action together with friends.
"We are already talking about
coming back here to spend more
time in the museum, to become
members to support it, and to
encourage other people to come and
support it," she said. ❑

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"Without Sanctuary: Lynching
Photography in America" runs
through Feb. 27 at the Charles
H. Wright Museum of African
American History, 315 E.
Warren Ave. (at Brush) in
Detroit. Phone: (313) 494-5800.

2/3
2005

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