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Celebrating the legacy: a lesson in contrasts
by Noah Kruis
Staff Writer
FILE PHOTO
Calvin students witness the differences between the different sections of Grand Rapids; one with houses falling readily into disrepair, the other full of large yards and fully restored mansions.
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Trying to keep warm, five Calvin students huddled at the Rapid bus stop last Saturday afternoon. As the #6 bus rumbled through East Town towards the Downtown Transfer Station, these five passengers were keenly aware of their surroundings, both on the bus and in the neighborhoods it passed through.
They arrived at Messiah Baptist Church forty-five minutes after their departure from Calvin. At the church they were met by four other students who had driven separately. These nine students had gathered with Assistant Dean of Multicultural Student Development Jacque Rhodes for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Retreat.
Riding the bus, which lasted under an hour and cost only a quarter, was frustrating to Calvin students who were used to the convenience of a personal vehicle. It involved walking several blocks to the bus stop in the bitter cold. The students were faced with the reality of what many people in Grand Rapids experience every day, and for people without a Calvin College ID the ride costs $1.25.
It was easy to realize that a reliance on public transportation would pose many challenges. One would have to find a place of employment that was accessible by bus routes. Bus schedules would limit ones flexibility in work hours. Missing one bus would put one a half-hour behind schedule, and if it happened more than once, would likely end in being fired from a job.
This is a reality that Calvin students easily become blinded to in their day to day lives.
The theme for the weekend was set after watching a video about the speeches of Dr. King. Rhodes referred to King’s final, prophetic speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountain Top,” in which he compares himself to Moses, who, before he died, caught a glimpse of the Promised Land. The remainder of the retreat was spent in search of this Promised Land.
Rhodes lead the students on a driving tour of the area, starting at Messiah Baptist Church, located on Henry St. near the corner of Franklin and Eastern Ave. The students observed as the passed through this busy business district neighborhood, through East Town and into the quiet residential areas of East Grand Rapids.
The contrasts were plentiful. Franklin and Eastern contained many homes in disrepair and several businesses with flashy signage. East Town featured homes of similar style that had been renovated and restored. East Grand Rapids boasted large beautiful houses with massive well-kept yards.
Some of the more subtle differences were the large porches that seemed to come standard nearer to the urban center, whereas the houses in the suburb lacked these localities of social interaction within the neighborhood.
Students also contrasted elementary schools from the varying areas. Sigsbee Elementary consisted of an old school building surrounded by archaic playground equipment on an asphalt playing surface. Wealthy Elementary, living up to its name, was a formidable building with state-of-the-art jungle gyms and slides in oases of wood chips.
This discontinuity in quality of educational facilities was explained by the fact that schools in Kent County are funded by the property taxes paid by those in the same district. It was no wonder that the school in the urban neighborhood of run-down houses was similarly run-down. Nor was it a surprise that wealthy homes surround a wealthy elementary school.
This inequality certainly did not seem to fit into King’s prophetic vision of the Promised Land.
The lack of opportunities faced by residents of urban areas was reinforced to the students, when they were informed that no pizza restaurants would deliver to the Harambee House, the Project Neighborhood house located on Bates and Henry. The operator explained that no deliveries were made to that address because it was located in a high-crime area.
One can begin to understand that life doesn’t come easy to urban dwellers. Low cost housing, leads to low quality schools and difficulty in securing loans for property improvement. Lower educational standards lead to higher crime rates and denied rights that are taken for granted in other places.
A video on urban sprawl helped to explain how these inequalities tend to reinforce racial divisions. Historically, real estate agents drew segregated lines through residential areas. They offered low mortgages to white people who were moving out of the urban centers and into the suburbs. Then in order to accommodate commuters, interstates were built, intentionally displacing prominent black owned business districts.
The following morning the lesson in contrast was reinforced again when students attended two separate church services: Messiah Baptist at eight and First Christian Reformed at ten. The congregations were practically mirror opposites, with as many whites in attendance at Messiah as there were African Americans at First.
Though the two services followed similar orders of worship the style in which the sermon was delivered and the way the hymns were sung was quite different. The retreat goers were challenged to consider whether the racial make-up of the two congregations was based upon worship style preference or something deeper.
Though no conclusions were made on the nature of their separateness, it was agreed upon that King’s Promised Land did not include segregated places of worship. Rather, his dream called for unity, especially in the church.
The retreat concluded with a dinner with James Skillen, President for the Office for Social Justice in Washington D.C.
Junior Erin DeYoung attended the retreat. “It was good to realize that we can get caught up in our lives and not see how people in our own community are suffering. I will always remember the lines from one of Dr. King’s speeches about how if we are wrong for fighting for the rights of others, then God Almighty is wrong.”
King is an excellent example of how we can use nonviolent protest to fight for justice in the hope of the Promised Land.
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