Fayetteville retired Army chaplain: Unity means slogans around Market House must go.
Editor’s note: Retired Army chaplain Archie Barringer intends to deliver the following open letter to the Fayetteville City Council. It has been edited for style and clarity.
“Mr. Gorbachev, Tear Down This Wall.” Many of us will remember the date, time and place we were when President Ronald Reagan issued this ultimatum.
The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 and stood until Nov. 9, 1989, separating the Communist East from the free West. It had torn Germany in half, separating families and friends, some of whom would never see each other again.Transition with me now and fast forward some 60+ years to Fayetteville, North Carolina. The date was May 30, 2020, when the Market House was set ablaze. It was surrounded by an angry mob. At least two people — based on later police charges — were defiant and determined to burn the structure to the ground.
However, today, the building still stands encircled by the mottos, “Black Lives Do Matter” and “End Racism Now.” That was then and this is now. It’s a new day. The smoke has dissipated and the Market House has been repaired.
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But you can’t erase history, and even if we could, the ground would still be marked where the Market House once stood as a stark reminder of that atrocity.
It appears the world has moved on from that fateful night, but we haven’t. It is what it is. A bell cannot be un-rung.
Time to replace the slogans
Although the world isn’t perfect, we can learn from our past, so we will not be condemned to repeat it.
Hopefully, we will never experience anything like it again. But, the memory of it is seared into our minds and the annals of Fayetteville’s history. No other reminders are necessary.
However, the slogans which now encircle this controversial landmark, “Black Lives Do Matter” and “End Racism Now” should be replaced with “All Lives Matter” and “United We Stand.”
Hitler wanted to spawn a superior race where no racism or discrimination would exist.
The hallmark of President Johnson's administration was “The Great Society.”
Neither of these ideas worked because, “we are all born in sin and shaped in iniquity.” But God still loves us all, regardless of our nationality or color of our skin. Jesus was neither black nor white.
As Ray Stevens sang: “Red yellow, black or white, we are ALL precious in His sight” — because we were all created in the image of God, and He does not see color. He is no respecter of persons.
Repair the chain
We all make up the human race. This is what our Constitution, Bill of Rights and the Emancipation Proclamation are based upon. We are all part of the circle of life and a link in the chain of humanity.
But, a chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link. What happened in Fayetteville weakened the chain and should never be repeated again.
Love conquers all, and that chain can and should be repaired and made even stronger. It will take effort on our part. The right thing to do is not always the easy thing to do. But, it’s still the right thing to do. Just do it!
With Fort Liberty, America’s greatest military installation, here in our own back yard, we should seek to set the example of being that, “ONE NATION , UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, with LIBERTY and JUSTICE for ALL.”
It is time we embrace the future, be emboldened by our past and put it into perspective. It is time to put our differences aside, come to the table of reconciliation and agree to disagree.
This is what President Jimmy Carter did in the 1978 Peace Accords at Camp David between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Prime Minister Menachem Begin.
Becoming the true All America City
On Aug. 28,1963, Martin Luther King Jr. made an endearing and enduring plea from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for integration and unification, so that all Americans would be equal and our country would be united as one.
And, so did Jesus prior to His betrayal and crucifixion: He talked humbly but forthrightly to His disciples at the Last Supper and about their commitment to Him and the hardships they would face.
And, you know, maybe, just maybe a good place for us to start would be the Market House. There, we can reconcile our differences and become the All America City that has been bestowed upon us as our moniker and be proud of who we are.
Do it for Fayetteville as an example to our country. Do it for our families, so that the word, “discrimination” may eventually be erased from our society.
And, finally, do it for the future that we might ALL come to enjoy the equality and love that God has intended for all mankind.And, so with that being said, Mr. Mayor and City Council members for God’s sake, “tear down this wall of words” that we might ALL come to live together in the peace and harmony that God has intended for all mankind.Respectfully submitted,Archie E. Barringer is a retired U.S. Army chaplain.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Former Army chaplain: Change slogans painted after Market House burning
