The Rev. James Lawson, a renowned nonviolent civil rights
activist, spoke Tuesday about the current status of the U.S. Civil
Rights Movement and its future direction and shape.
Lawson was a leader of the sit-in movement of the 1960s and one
of the organizers of the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Worker Labor
Strike.
He spoke to the Work, Labor, and Social Justice General
Education Cluster, advocating a policy shift toward a more
socialized economy.
“Racism in the United States is not about personal
prejudice. Racism is a system of oppression that … prevents
people from obtaining rights,” Lawson said.
Lawson opened the lecture with a historical analysis of some of
the causes of racism in the United States that contribute to the
“system of racism” and a system of the wealthy
exploiting the workers that dates back to the domination of the
Native Americans by settlers.
He cites that economic exploitation, violence, white male
supremacy and the teaching that people of color are inferior are
the four causes of racism in the U.S.
Lawson argued white male supremacy in the United States still
exists in Washington, as the vast majority of the people making
decisions are white men.
He then moved on to highlight the problems faced by minorities
in obtaining high-paying jobs.
“Many Americans believe that these problems have been
solved, but you need to look at sociological academic studies which
show that (racism in the workplace) is still a problem,”
Lawson said.
Lawson delineated an idea of infusing Christian values of
justice, as outlined in the biblical story of Moses freeing the
slaves, into “democratic economics.”
Lawson’s position is that regardless of occupation,
workers should be earning enough to meet their needs, and that the
focus of the new Civil Rights Movement should be eliminating
poverty.
Lawson said studies have shown that half of the white population
believes to some degree that God did not create black people equal
to whites.
“The Declaration of Independence declares that all are
created equal. … The government should recognize that unalienable
rights are built into the fabric of the land,” Lawson
said.
Students that attended the lecture had a generally positive
attitude.
“I thought that (the lecture) was inspirational and
thought-provoking,” said Parker O’Brien, a first-year
undeclared student.
One student had mixed feelings about the lecture’s
religious content.
“I was happy that he outlined a plan to move toward a
better society. … (But) he is a reverend so I can’t really
get on him about the religious stuff,” said Kelcey Cheung, a
first-year undeclared student.
With Martin Luther King Jr. weekend approaching, Lawson called
to the students of UCLA to “find a cause that is larger than
yourself …, break the back of past history and make this country
a democratic economy.”