Reflections on an afternoon in the East Room, March 9, 2000
from Eunice Milton Benton, Mid-South District Executive

A phone call from the White House, with an invitation from the President, gives immediate meaning to the notion of being "called." It's not every day that the White House telephones our office—in fact, I can't think of a single other time when our Mid-South District Office in Oxford, Mississippi, has received such a call. My initial reaction (that the pile on my desk was too high to allow me time away . . .) quickly yielded to the imperative of such an opportunity. I realized that not I, but the Unitarian Universalist community I represent, was being invited into conversation with the President of our country. I re-arranged my schedule to be in Washington on Thursday, March 9, 2000.

In the spring of 1998 I had been a part of the planning for the visit to Oxford, Mississippi, of the Advisory Board of the President's Initiative on Race, which was active through 1997 and 1998. That had been two years ago. It had been a meaningful and memorable experience. A number of folks from our Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Oxford had participated—indeed there were more UUs on the stage for the Oxford event than from any other denomination. I had been proud of Unitarian Universalism and Oxford that day. I felt we had made a difference in lifting up the need to erase racism from our culture. Importantly, the UU anti-racism training I had received had helped inform my work during that experience.

And now, this new invitation: to join religious leaders from across the country on March 9, for a White House event billed as "A Call to Action: The President's One America Meeting with Religious Leaders." The two-hour meeting would be a follow-up conversation to the President's Initiative on Race. Planning for this occasion had been done through NCCJ, the National Conference for Community and Justice, and had involved Rev. Mel Hoover of the UUA's Faith In Action office, and other religious leaders.

Of all the images of that day, none is more memorable for me than the marvelous spectrum of raiment and faces gathered in the East Room of the White House that afternoon. This was not a collection of white folks in white collars! This was a dazzling assemblage representing faith traditions from Muslim to Mormon, from Seventh Day Adventist to the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is, from Conservative Judaism to the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. African American faces mixed with Asian American ones. Women leaders conversed with men. Suits took chairs next to robes. The Greek Orthodox Bishop, fully gowned and sceptered, was a palpable presence. A quiet Buddhist monk, wrapped in saffron robes, punctuated the front row facing the President and provided a serene center in the room. Jake Swamp, of the Mohawk Tree of Peace Society, delivered the benediction for the afternoon, leaving us all spellbound.

The President had set a Welcome Table and in doing so had sounded a call to all those assembled to provide leadership to dismantle racism in this country. Bill Clinton believes that a majority of Americans look to their faith communities for moral leadership and guidance. Thus he believes that religious leaders have unique opportunities to be influential and to lead the way to removing the barriers of racism. The under-girding imperative from the President to those seated in the East Room that afternoon was to inspire us to provide that leadership.

On a finer point, President Clinton suggested that training, not just good intentions, will be necessary, if racism is to be overcome. He observed that while many people of good intent desire to make things better, doing the work of defeating racism will require that people train themselves.

The President talked about having been in Selma, Alabama, the Sunday preceding. He talked about the continuing struggle to overcome the kind of oppression and injustice that had made history there in March, 1965. He suggested that the daunting issues of racial and religious understanding are linked. He noted that the struggle for racial justice continues not only in our own country but around the world. I remembered our UU minister, James Reeb, who had been attacked and killed in Selma those thirty-five years ago this very day . . .

Speakers from a number of faith traditions reported to the President about efforts their particular communities are making, shared good news of transforming events, and noted models that are being effective in teaching people about the destructive power of racism. I was impressed with the work that is going on in many religious traditions. There was lively dialogue and even humor and laughter. I was proud to know that there were four of us Unitarian Universalists included in this gathering of only a hundred and fifty at the White House this day: Rev. Mel Hoover, Dr. Laurel Hallman (senior minister of the First Unitarian Church of Dallas, TX), Robette Dias (a member of the Faith in Action Field Staff), and myself. I was proud to know that our own Journey Toward Wholeness effort was engaging more and more of us and had been affirmed as a "promising practice" by the One America effort. I was proud to be a Unitarian Universalist.

By Friday evening I was back in Mississippi and meeting with folks in Tupelo who want to start a new congregation. On Saturday evening I joined Oxford UUs to host Minister Eddie Muhammad and Sister Minister Patricia Muhammad, who are members of Mississippi's Nation of Islam community and who would speak to the Oxford congregation on Sunday morning. We had wonderful and transforming conversation. The stories and images from the White House were inspiring to these African-heritage Americans and gave them renewed hope for our country. They were warmed to know that representatives of their faith community as well as ours had been together with the President. We exchanged addresses and hope to stay in touch to work for peace and racial reconciliation in Mississippi.

We are talking about being "good neighbors in our religious communities" in the Mid-South District this year. It is a conversation we need to have so that we can be effective in our work in this region. We are talking about understanding folks whose religious truths are different from our own—and who are our back door neighbors. We are talking about what our call is, right here in our neck of the woods.

That call to the White House was a rare experience. I am inspired. But I know my real call, my real work, is to this area, right here in the South—in Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. It is in the connections on the courthouse square and the conversations with folks in my neighborhood and with my fellow Unitarian Universalists. (And, it is still piled on my desk and stacked under my feet!)

We are all called to the work of dismantling racism and crossing the barriers of religious misunderstanding that can divide us. We are all called to train ourselves about how we respond, how we behave, when these questions confront us. On an everyday basis, that is the call that matters most.

Meeting with Clinton Main Page 

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