Myrial Holbrook
Moral language is an important means of re-framing policy,Reverend William Barber, president of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP of the NAACP Legislative Political Action Committee, argued in a lecture on Wednesday.
He denounced the use of political terminology such as “left” and “right” or “Democrat” and “Republican” because the fascination with labels and classification detracts from the bigger problems at hand, such as poverty, injustice and violence.
“Language is either a tool of liberation or a tool of domination, and if you allow your opponent to dictate the language you use, you have already given them a certain level of victory,” Barber said.
Instead, Barber stressed the importance of moral language.
“Moral language gives you new metaphors,” he explained.“You can say, ‘I’m against this policy — not because it’s a conservative policy or a liberal policy — I’m against this policy because it’s constitutionally inconsistent, it’s morally indefensible and it’s economically insane.’”
He stressed a broad coalition of people from all faiths and walks of life to achieve a moral agenda of anti-poverty, economic sustainability, a green economy, affordable housing, strong safety nets for the poor, cessation of extreme militarism, educational equality, universal healthcare, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, equal protection under the law and the protection and expansion of voting rights.
“If you stay together, you can change the consciousness of the state, and if you change the consciousness of the state, you can change the public policy,” he said.
To understand the present social, racial and political situation in the United States, it is essential to study the first two reconstruction periods in America, the post-Civil War Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Movement Reconstruction, Barber said.
“We are in the embryonic stages, the birthing stages, of a Third Reconstruction of America, and if we can fully grasp the power of moral fusion, intersectional movement building, we can birth it into existence,” he said.“You cannot expect to elevate the conversation and the actions of your politics if you keep dumbing down people’s understanding of history."
He stressed the foundation for the First Reconstruction as an agenda of national moral redemption on all fronts — social, racial and political.From voting rights to public education to equal protection under law to criminal justice improvements, the First Reconstructionists worked together in moral fusion, Barber said.
By 1883, however, the Deconstructionists had taken control in the courts, rolled back voting rights and unraveled these efforts, he added.
“They said, we have come to redeem America," he said.
