THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 14, 1996 TAG: 9601140169
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: PAUL SOUTH
LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
There's a cancer killing America.
It's draining the life from our country, bit by bit, ripping at the heart of what's best in us.
Just ask Reggie White.
Those who follow pro football know White as No. 92 for the Green Bay Packers. One of the best defensive linemen ever to play the game, White will take the field this afternoon in the NFC championship game.
But Reggie White is also an ordained minister, the associate pastor of the Inner City Church in East Knoxville, Tenn. Along with his duties at the church, White spends a week of every summer in Black Mountain, N.C., at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes National Conference.
There, 13 years ago, we met. It was not unusual to see Reggie - a towering giant of a man - encouraging the least of the athletically gifted among the junior high and high school children there. He saw neither black nor white, only the hearts of children who needed a word of encouragement.
Some of those kids came from inner city or poor rural homes. Some came from shattered families. When Reggie saw hurt, he reached out. And when the pain became too much, and the kids cried, Reggie cried.
In a world where ``role model'' gets casually tossed around like a backyard football, Reggie White is a certified hero.
But even heroes can be hurt by hatred.
A few days ago, Reggie White's church was firebombed. The remains of Molotov cocktails, tossed by those drunk with bigotry, were found at the scene, along with literature from white supremacist groups.
At a news conference in Green Bay, Reggie White talked about the disease that's taking our national life.
``There are a lot of people who say we're getting along, but there's something that's being swept under the rug,'' White said. ``We spend so much time trying to hurt each other and make money off each other, when we really ought to be loving each other.''
Reggie White's words strike as powerfully as any Sunday sermon. The easy road of complacency tells us that we are all right. After all, complacency says, there are no water fountains or restrooms labeled ``White'' and ``Colored.'' There is no banishment to the back of the bus. And there at no more ``Negro Nights'' at local theatrical events.
But we're kidding ourselves if we sit back like fattened diners at a holiday table, and think that racism is long gone.
The good folks, black and white, who watched their Tennessee church burn to the ground this week know better. We often are a house divided, slowly sinking to the ground.
We can change laws. We can elect new leaders. But all the laws and leaders in the world can't heal the human heart.
Like Reggie says, only love can make us whole.
There's a cancer killing America.
It's draining the life from our country, bit by bit, ripping at the heart of what's best in us.
Just ask Reggie White.
Those who follow pro football know White as No. 92 for the Green Bay Packers. One of the best defensive linemen ever to play the game, White will take the field this afternoon in the NFC championship game.
But Reggie White is also an ordained minister, the associate pastor of the Inner City Church in East Knoxville, Tenn. Along with his duties at the church, White spends a week of every summer in Black Mountain, N.C., at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes National Conference.
There, 13 years ago, we met. It was not unusual to see Reggie - a towering giant of a man - encouraging the least of the athletically gifted among the junior high and high school children there. He saw neither black nor white, only the hearts of children who needed a word of encouragement.
Some of those kids came from inner city or poor rural homes. Some came from shattered families. When Reggie saw hurt, he reached out. And when the pain became too much, and the kids cried, Reggie cried.
In a world where ``role model'' gets casually tossed around like a backyard football, Reggie White is a certified hero.
But even heroes can be hurt by hatred.
A few days ago, Reggie White's church was firebombed. The remains of Molotov cocktails, tossed by those drunk with bigotry, were found at the scene, along with literature from white supremacist groups.
At a news conference in Green Bay, Reggie White talked about the disease that's taking our national life.
``There are a lot of people who say we're getting along, but there's something that's being swept under the rug,'' White said. ``We spend so much time trying to hurt each other and make money off each other, when we really ought to be loving each other.''
Reggie White's words strike as powerfully as any Sunday sermon. The easy road of complacency tells us that we are all right. After all, complacency says, there are no water fountains or restrooms labeled ``White'' and ``Colored.'' There is no banishment to the back of the bus. And there at no more ``Negro Nights'' at local theatrical events.
But we're kidding ourselves if we sit back like fattened diners at a holiday table, and think that racism is long gone.
The good folks, black and white, who watched their Tennessee church burn to the ground this week know better. We often are a house divided, slowly sinking to the ground.
We can change laws. We can elect new leaders. But all the laws and leaders in the world can't heal the human heart.
Like Reggie says, only love can make us whole. by CNB