THE Rev. Joseph Lowery’s inaugural benediction – which began with the words from “Lift Every Voice And Sing,” often called the Negro National Anthem – underscores how far the nation has come.
At 87, Lowery is of a generation that sacrificed much, physically and emotionally, to create opportunities that would enable an educated, talented African-American such as Barack Obama to excel.
Many of Lowery’s old friends – starting with Martin Luther King Jr. – never lived to see yesterday’s historic moment. Yet, for the survivors, as President Obama said in his much-lauded speech on race last year, “The memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness.”
Such anger likely lingers in Lowery. But he turned it on its head in his closing passage:
“Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right.”
Now, on the written page and out of context, those words might offend. Yet Lowery delivered them in a manner meant to elicit laughter – and succeeded.
But the words have an origin in a place of shameful pain. For decades, throughout the black community, the reasons for its second-class status were “explained” thusly: “If you’re white, you’re alright; if you’re yellow, you’re mellow; if you’re brown, stick around; if you’re black, get back.”
That thinking helped sow such self-loathing that some lighter-skinned blacks would themselves discriminate against their darker-skinned brethren.
But at the inauguration, Lowery’s intentional humor drove away such thoughts.
Barack Obama can’t cure racism. But his inauguration gave Lowery – and the weary generation he represents – a chance to take a bitter phrase and dismiss it to the heavens in a spirit of joy and hope.
Say Amen. rgeorge@nypost.com