Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 7—The Georgia Bulletin, February 13,1975
BISHOPS’ PASTORAL:
This Land Is Home
THIS LAND IS HOME TO
ME: A Pastoral Letter on
powerlessness in Appalachia
by the Catholic Bishops of
the region.
Many of our Catholic people,
especially church workers,
have asked us to respond to
these cries of powerlessness
from the region called
Appalachia. We have listened
to these cries and now we
lend our own voice.
The cries come now from
Appalachia, but they are
echoed --across the land
-across the earth in the
suffering of too many
peoples. Together these many
sufferings form a single cry.
The living God hears this cry
and he tells us, what long ago
on a different mountain, he
told his servant Moses that,
-he had heard the cry of his
people, -he would deliver
them out of the hands of
oppression, -he would give
them a rich and broad land.
But before we turn to this
message from the Lord, we
must hear first the cry of
Appalachia’s poor.
Their cry is a strong message,
not because we have made it
that way, but because the
truth of Appalachia is harsh.
In repeating this message we
do not put ourselves in
judgment of others. The truth
of Appalachia is judgment
upon us all, making hard
demands on us bishops, as
well as on others.
We know that there will be
other opinions about the
truth of Appalachia, other
views than those of the poor.
But we must remind ourselves
that the poor are special in
the eyes of the Lord, for he
has told us, in the voice of his
Mother,
He has pulled down princes
from their thrones, and
exalted the lowly. The
hungry he has filled with
good things, the rich sent
empty away.
Even so, we know that our
words are not perfect. For
that reason, this letter is but
one part of an unfinished
conversation -with our
people -with the truth of
Appalachia - with the living
God.
Yet we still dare to speak,
and speak strongly, first,
because we trust our people
and we know that those who
belong to the Lord truly wish
to do his will; and second,
because we believe that the
cry of the poor is also a
message of hope, a promise
from the Lord, that there can
be a better way, for he has
told us, The truth will make
you free
PART I.
THE LAND AND ITS
PEOPLE
Appalachia makes us think of
people who live in the hills,
who love nature’s freedom
and beauty, who are alive
with song and poetry. But
many of these people are also
poor and suffer oppression.
Once they went to the
mountains fighting to build a
dream different from the
injustice they knew before.
Until this day, their struggle
continues, a bitter fight
whose sound still rumbles
across the hills,
Yes, the poor of the
mountains have been
wounded, but they are not
crushed. The Spirit still lives.
The sound of music still
ripples through the hills.
Continually the tears of song
bum in outrage, and outrage
lives in struggle.
But the hill folk of the
mountain are not the only
ones who struggle.
Besides the struggle in
hollows, typical of the central
region, there are struggles in
industrial centers, grown grey
with smoke and smog, blaring
with the clank and crash of
heavy machinery and urban
congestion, where working
people, and those who wish
there was work, white and
black, native and immigrant,
speakers of one and many
languages, battle for dignity
and security, for themselves
and for their children.
So too there is the struggle in
farmland, typical of rolling
hills in the southern sector,
where little farmers and
sharecroppers, day laborers
and migrant workers, who
help the earth yield its food
to the hungry, battle for that
same dignity and security, for
themselves and their children.
In all three areas, -the center
-the north -the south in
every labor - -the mine -the
factory -the farm the struggle
is different, yet remains the
same. It is at once the
struggle -of all Appalachia
-of the whole nation -of the
human family.
The Appalachian mountains
form the spiny backbone of
the eastern United States.
This whole stretch, which the
federal government calls “The
Appalachia Region” runs
from Southern New York to
Northern Georgia and
Alabama. It contains 397
counties in 13 states, parts of
--Alabama, --Georgia,
--Kentucky, --Maryland,
-Mississippi, -New York,
-North Carolina, -Ohio,
--Pennsylvania, --South
Carolina, --Tennessee,
-Virginia, and all of West
Virginia.
In the region there are:
-mountain folk, -city folk,
-country folk, -coal miners
and steel workers, -union
workers and non-union
workers, -industrial workers
and service workers, -farmers
and farm laborers,
-housewives and children,
-teachers and health workers,
-ministers and rabbis and
priests, -artists and poets,
--professionals and
technicians, -lawyers and
politicians, -lobbyists and
interest groups, -executives
and managers, -little business
people and big business
people, -coal companies and
chemical companies,
-industrialists and bankers.
So, you see, Appalachia is not
a simple place. There are rich
and poor, big and little, new
and old, and lots in between.
But somehow, no matter how
confusing it seems, it’s all tied
together by the mountain
chain and by the coal in its
center, producing energy
within it.
Of course, there is more than
coal in the region. There is
-gas, -timber, -oil, -farms,
-steel mills, -cheap labor, but
coal is central.
COAL
There is a saying in the region
that coal is king, that’s not
exactly right. The kings are
those who control big coal,
and the profit and power
which come with it. Many of
these kings don’t live in the
region.
A long time ago in this
country when big industry
just got started, Appalachian
coal played a big role. It fed
the furnaces of our first
industrial giants, like
Pittsburgh and Buffalo. The
coal-based industry created
many jobs, and brought great
progress to our country, but
it brought other things, too,
among them oppression for
the mountains.
Soon the mountain people
were dependent on the coal
companies and on the
company towns that came
with them.
An old song sings, Another
day older and deeper in debt.
That was life for many people
who lived in the shadow of
the mountain’s coal. Many of
our Catholic people lived
under this suffering, -in the
coal mines, -in the steel mills,
-in the other harsh jobs that
surrounded coal and steel.
Then came the unions, as
men and women fought hard
to change their lot. The
unions did good work and for
that reason they were bitterly
attacked by enemies of
justice.
But seeds of injustice were
also sown within the labor
movement.
Sometimes criminal forces
entered to crush their
democratic structure, or to
use one union base to prevent
union growth in other areas,
or to turn contracts into
documents of deceit, both for
labor and management, thus
encouraging their breech
from both sides.
Sometimes workers allowed
themselves to be used for
selfish ends, like keeping out
blacks, or women, or Indians,
or Spanish-speaking.
Sometimes the labor
movement thought only of
workers in the U.S. and did
not take seriously their
membership in the global
human family.
Sometimes, too, they used
the unions to protect the
relative advantages of a few
workers with little concern
for the great disadvantage of
the many.
The real power of the labor
movement, a power which
has not been totally crushed,
is the vision that an injury to
one is an injury to all,
whether to white or black,
whether to male or female,
whether to worker or
consumer, whether to union
member or non-member,
whether to U.S. citizen or to
citizen of any nation.
But later on for many people,
whose lives were tied to coal,
the unions didn’t matter so
much any more. Coal gave
way to oil, and a different
suffering came across the
mountains.
The mines in the hills began
to close. The industrial
thunder of cities near the
mines weakened. The people
from the mountains fled to
the cities looking for jobs.
But in the cities, the jobs
were few.
It is a strange system which
makes people suffer both
when they have work and
when they don’t have work.
THE WIDER PICTURE
The people had to fight one
another for the few jobs: -
mountain people against city
people, - white people
against black people, -Irish
people against Polish and
Italian people, -skilled
workers against unskilled
workers, -union workers
against non-union workers.
As the people were forced to
fight over jobs, self-defense
often became a way of life,
-in wars, -in sports, -in
movies, -even sometimes at
home.
Our country meanwhile grew
strong and powerful because
of -exploding war-stimulated
technology, -cheap raw
materials from abroad, -lots
of oil, -and a large work
force.
But many people stayed
poor, and suffered attacks on
their dignity, especially
-Indians, -Blacks, -Mexican
Americans, -immigrants,
-Puerto Ricans, -and poor
whites, like Appalachians.
Brothers and sisters in
suffering, these people were
often forced to turn against
one another, for some meager
piece of a pie, which,
however big (the biggest the
world had ever known),
refused to feed all its
children.
As industrial production
grew, it brought blessings to
the human family, but the
more it grew the more some
felt it became like a cancer
eating away its own
foundation. The system
produced for production’s
sake, and it tried to train
people to consume for
consumption’s sake. The ever
growing production and
consumption needed ever
more energy, more than
domestic gas and domestic oil
can supply. When foreign oil
producing nations suddenly
became more demanding on
the world market, giant U.S.
business interests (who before
used to decide prices of
things like oil on the world
market) got frightened.
They began to plan for U.S.
“energy independence.” One
way to do that was to go
back to a half dead and
forgotten past, to coal.
BACK TO THE
MOUNTAINS
So the corporate giants turn
their eyes to the mountains
once again. Slowly, but
powerful their presence
rumbles in, the heavy trod of
the powerful among the
powerful, those who control:
--finance and credit,
-information systems, -and
energy resources.
Already voices from this
camp have spoken of
Appalachia as an “energy
reservation,” or “giant
to Me -- Powerless in Appalachia
this
land is
home
to me
a pastoral letter on
powerlessness in appalachia
by the catholic bishops
of the region
APPALACHIAN PASTORAL - This
is the front page of the first regional
pastoral letter in the U.S. Church,
written in lyric, free-verse style by the
bishops of Appalachia. It is divided into
three parts; “voice of the people;” a
statement of Catholic social principles
and suggested responses to people’s
needs.
industrial park.” Appalachia,
a field of powerlessness, may
soon become the seat of
economic power in the
United States.
But the new power, which a
return to coal could bring to
Appalachia, would probably
not make its people any more
powerful. Instead, they
would live a different kind of
powerlessness, one common
to the rest of our society- the
powerlessness of isolated
little people in the face of the
most powerful corporate
giants on this earth.
THE WORSHIP OF AN
IDOL
The way of life which these
corporate giants create is
called by some “technological
rationalization.” Its forces
contain the promise of a
world where -poverty is
eliminated -health cared for
-education available for all
-dignity guaranteed -and old
age secure. Too often,
however, its forces become
perverted, hostile to the
dignity of the death and of its
people.
Its destructive growth *
patterns -pollute the air
-foul the water -rape the
land.
The driving force behind this
perversion is “Maximization
of Profit,” a principle which
too often converts itself into
an idolatrous power.
This power overwhelms the
good intentions of noble
people. It forces them to
compete brutally with one
another. It pushes people into
“conspicuous consumption”
and “planned obsolescence.”
It delivers up control to a
tiny minority whose values
then shape our social
structures.
Of course technological
rationalization and the profit
principle have served
important functions in
human development. It is not
they themselves that form an
idol, but the idol is formed
when they become absolutes
and fail to yield, when the
time has come, to other
principles.
Neither do we believe that
our people or the people of
the nation have totally fallen
prey to the power of this
idol. But even without that
happening, “Maximization of
profit” in today’s world, has
become a crazy death wish,
every day using up more and
more of the earth’s riches and
our own dignity. Like those
who write spy thrillers, its
process is fascinated with
everything that can
“self-destruct,” even if it is
ourselves.
Without judging anyone, it
has become clear to us that
the present economic order
does not care for its people.
In fact, profit and people
frequently are contradictory.
Profit over people is an idol.
And it is not a new idol, for
Jesus long ago warned us, No
one can be the slave of two
masters; either he will hate
the first and love the second,
or treat the first with respect
and the second with scorn.
You cannot be the slave both
of God and money. This is
not a problem only for
mountain folk: it is
everybody’s problem.
APPALACHIA AS A
SYMBOL
In a country whose
productive force is greater
than anything the world has
ever known, the destructive
idol shows its ugly face, in
places like Appalachia.
The suffering of Appalachia’s
poor is a symbol of so much
other suffering -in our land
-in our world. It is also a
symbol of the suffering which
awaits the majority of plain
people in our society
-if they are laid off -if major
illness occurs -if a wage
earner dies - or if anything
else goes wrong.
In this land of ours, jobs are
often scarce Too many
people are forced to accept
unjust conditions or else lose
their jobs.
Human services for the poor,
and for the almost poor, are
inadequate. Safety standards
are often too weak, or
ignored. Workers are injured
unnecessarily.
Legal and medical recourse
for claims a gainst
occupational injury or
occupational disease are often
too difficult or unavailable.
Sometimes those who should
be helping people in their
claims, seem to stand in the
way. Black Lung and mine
accidents are the most
famous examples, but not the
only ones.
On the other hand, powerful
reform movements are
underway -in the union
movement -in community
organizing -in the consumer
movement --in public interest
lobbies -in religious circles.
To these must be added even
forces from within the
business community:
-managerial personnel who
are concerned not only with
salaries and promotion, but
also with the contribution of
the economic order to social
well being, particularly the
bringing of jobs to poor areas;
-small and medium size
business people, who wish to
operate justly but who
struggle under the pressure of
giant economic competitors
ruthlessly trying to wipe
them out; -stockholdere who
rebel against the impersonal
structure of ownership and
try to make their voices felt
for justice within large
corporations.
Together these groups
struggle to achieve what must
become the foundation
principle of our common life,
namely citizen involvement
-in our productive base -in
our political institutions -in
our cultural life. The main
task for such citizen
involvement will be to build
social structures which
provide full employment and
decent wages for all people.
Despite abuses, we feel that a
strong and broad labor
movement is basic, one which
can stabilize the labor market
North and South, East and
West and prevent groups from
playing off different sectors
of working people against
each other. Even so, these
movements are just beginning
and reach too few people.
We know also that as they
grow stronger, they will be
attacked; that other forces
will try to crush them.
Unaccountable economic
powers will continue to use
democratic political
institutions for non-democra-
tic purposes. Sometimes this
shows itself brutally, when
policemen act like company
enforcers.
At other times, it’s more
complicated, when lawyers
and legislators seem to get
paid to keep the people
confused, and to find
loop-holes for the benefit of
the rich.
These same massive economic
forces, still accountable to no
one, will even use vehicles of
our cultural life, like
communications media and
advertising, and even the
educational system, to justify
their ways, and to pass off
their values as our national
values. This happens when
news that’s important to
people can’t get time or
space, or when school
programs are designed by
experts without incorporating
the voice of the people.
We know that there are many
-sincere business people,
-zealous reporters, -truthful
teachers, -honest law
enforcement officers,
-dedicated public officials,
-hard working lawyers and
legislators who try to do a
good job. But we know too
that, the way things are set
up, its hard for good people
to do a good job.
It’s strange, for instance,
despite earlier reforms, that a
country which took such
richness from Appalachia left
so little for the people. Great
fortunes were built on the
exploitation of Appalachian
workers and Appalachian
resources, yet the land was
left without revenues to care
for its social needs, like
-education -welfare -old age
-and illness.
Some may say “that’s
economics” but we say that
economics is made by people.
It’s principles don’t fall down
from the sky and remain for
all eternity. Those who claim
they are prisoners of the laws
of economics, only testify
that they are prisoners of the
idol. The same thing which is
so obvious in Appalachia goes
on outside the mountains.
Plain people work hard all
their life, and their parents
worked hard before them, yet
they can’t make ends meet.
-Food is too expensive.
-Taxes are too high for most.
-(Too low for the rich).
-Sickness puts people into
debt. -College is out of reach
for their children. -Paychecks
keep shrinking.
And it’s worse still for those
who can’t work, especially
the elderly.
Meanwhile corporate profits
for the giant conglomerates,
who control our energy
resources, keep on
skyrocketing.
But now there is some
promise of fresh “economic
development” in the
Appalachian region, at least if
our industry returns to a
substantial coal base. From
the rest of the world,
however, we know now, after
hard experiences, that
“development” often brings
little to the poor, or to the
workers.
Often the reverse. Yet even if
it were to bring prosperity,
there is a question we must
ask about the new energy
resources.
It is “How will we use our
energy?” as well as, “Where
will we get it from?”
If our present system keeps
on growing and growing, it
will bum up ourselves and
our world. The present
pattern of energy use, a great
deal of which goes for
military production or else
for the production of
discardable junk, is barbaric.
This nation, containing about
6% of the earth’s population,
consumes over 1/3 of the
earth’s energy and causes 40%
of the earth’s industrial
pollution. But even that
doesn’t tell the whole truth,
because, at least by 1962
figures, 1.6% of the population
of this country owned 80% of
the corporate wealth, so that
averages or per capita
statistics really mislead us
about the ordinary people’s
situation. Some talk about a
population problem among
the poor. There’s an even
bigger consumption problem
among the rich- consumption
not just of luxuries, but of
power, of the power to shape
--economic structures
-political structures -cultural
structures all in the service of
-more waste -more profit
-more power, Even worse,
U.S. energy consumption is
expected to double in the
next decade. What kind of a
world would it be, where
“Maximization of Profit”
destroys life for so many
today, and for future
generations?
Ironically, most people in this
country are not satisfied-with
the consumer society. It
makes life a rat race, where
nobody feels they belong,
where all are pushed around,
where roots disappear. With
so much busy-ness and clutter
of things, -things that don’t
work, -things you have to
keep fixing -no time to play
or sing like folks used to we
get lost in our busy-ness and
grow to hate and abuse all
our things.
Worse still, swallowing us up
in things is the power of the
idol which eats away at our
openness to the living God.
But the children of the
mountains have fought for a
different way. Their struggles
and their poetry together
keep alive.
-a dream -a tradition -a
longing -a promise which is
not just their dream, but the
voiceless vision buried
beneath life’s bitterness
wherever it is found.
They sing of a life free and
simple, with time for one
another, and for people’s
needs, based on the dignity of
the human person, at one
with nature’s beauty,
crowned by poetry. If that
dream dies, ail our struggles
die with it.
(To be continued)
insurance A o ? V'
Tuenj c )leed sAnij
THOMPSON INSURANCE AGENCY
P.O. Box 1026 / ’
3847 Roswell Rd„ N.E.
Atlanta, Ga. 30319
(404) 237-0931
Crain - Daly Volkswagen
Sales-Servite-Parts
Authorized
2980 Piedmont Rd. 261-7500 Dealer
TAYLOR S DRUGS
Phone 948-2588
Austell, Go.
i. ? y
V. ' ou, /.c.
Let us make sure that your insurance
program is just right for you.
m
/utter ond fTlcLeNan
Insurance
2010 Rhodes - Haverty Building
Atlanta, Ga. 30303 (404) 525-2086
“The only insurance people-youll ever need'
I
v