Send Your Enemy Flowers

From the 1920s until the late 1960s, a group of white men named the Ku Klux Klan who opposed civil rights for African Americans would often try to intimidate black citizens by burning large wooden crosses on their lawns in the middle of the night. It was a dire warning: Stop voting. Stop protesting. Stop moving into white neighborhoods. Stop demanding equality. Or next, we will burn down your house with you in it. And often they followed up with their threats, beating and murdering black people.

Although the Klan has been shut down more or less by law enforcement, every so often racists still burn crosses from time to time to try to intimidate and harm. It's a powerful evil sign that ancient hatred could explode again against black people at any moment.

Last week, Jason Martin woke up early Wednesday morning as the fire department was putting out a burning cross outside on the lawn in front of his house in Arlington, Washington, about 40 miles north of Seattle. Mr. Martin lives in the house with his wife and six children. They are African American. Sadly, it soon became clear that it was two teen-aged European American men who had done this, hoping to scare the Martin family into moving away. The two 16-year olds turned themselves in to police when the town was on the brink of exploding in anger.

Most in the community-whites and blacks-were outraged. Protests were organized to show support for the Martin family, and to send the message that such racist behavior would not be tolerated. Mr. Martin appreciated all this, but when he went to work on Sunday, he had a different idea.

Jason Martin is Pastor Martin, the pastor of a black church in nearby Marysville, Washington. When he took to his pulpit to preach on Sunday, he asked people to pray for the teens. "Some may think that what these young men have done what cannot be forgiven," he said. "They can be forgiven. We want to throw stones and cuss and do all kinds of things when someone hurts us. But if we want to be Christians, if we want to be a good community, I say, 'Send your enemies flowers.'"

Click here to read more about the cross-burning and Pastor Jason Martin's inspirational perspectives on Christian forgiveness.

Catholic Connections

"Our neighborhood is the first place we encounter those with whom we are to dwell in love. A just neighborhood must be open to all people-black and white, Hispanic and Asian, young and old, wealthy and poor, Christians and people of all faiths. Access to housing in particular, needs to be fair and open. In a society that is still structurally racist, open housing cannot be taken for granted; it must be achieved.

"We confront racist patterns in housing sales and rental markets through programs that help establish and maintain diversity throughout a community. To be successful, such programs require collaboration among neighboring communities, towns and villages throughout the Chicago metropolitan area. The goals are clear. Neighborhoods must be safe and free of discrimination and hate crimes; schools must provide a good education for all students; transportation must be accessible. The means to reach the goals involve cooperating across racial and cultural divisions."

- Cardinal Francis George, Dwell in My Love: Pastoral Letter on Racism.

Reflection Questions

"Sending flowers" to one's enemy is a metaphor for not returning violence with violence. Name one way in which you "send flowers" to an enemy and thus build peace.

Join us in our Forum to discuss these questions!