Filed under: News, Politics, Race and Civil Rights
It seems that Bishop Eddie Long has quite a few supporters. A few of his "spiritual sons" have gone public to speak up for the Bishop and talk about all the wonderful things he's done for them over the years.
One of Long's spiritual son's, Marcus Culliver, had this to say:
"At Longfellow we all called him our pops. We all called him Dad because that's what he was to us. He took me to my first NFL game, he put me through my first NFL camp when I was in high school playing football. Anything we needed, if we were going through something and our parents couldn't help us or we couldn't get something, he was there for us to help us out. So to a certain extent, we were all his sons."
In addition to getting support from many of the young men he's advised, Long is getting massive support from his congregation. His words are greeted with standing ovations, and he's walked into packed houses every Sunday since those nasty sex allegations were released to the public. It appears that in the eyes of some of his followers, Bishop Eddie Long is untouchable.
Let's be clear: Long's spiritual sons have as much credibility in my eyes as the accusers themselves. The fact that Eddie Long may or may not have engaged in private sexual activity with some of the men under his care doesn't mean that he attempted to sleep with all of them. That would be like saying that someone accused of robbing a bank has robbed every single person they've ever met. In fact, many bank robbers, killers or even rapists have done nice things for someone at some point in their lives. The two realities are not mutually exclusive.
One also can't ignore the possibility that if Long had these alleged relationships with young men in his life, we would not be ones to assume that all of these relationships were either coercive or involuntary. There are real sexual relationships occurring every day between young people and their mentors. In fact, based on statements by Bishop Long's accusers, it seems that some of these alleged relationships were voluntary on the part of both parties.
None of us knows for sure what did and didn't happen between Bishop Eddie Long and his accusers. But one thing that's true is that his congregation deserves to learn the truth. Also, the fact that there are quite a few young people willing to say good things about Eddie Long doesn't take away the possibility that he did bad things. Simultaneously, if it turns out that he did bad things, that doesn't mean that he's done nothing good. The thousands of people who show up in Bishop Long's church every Sunday to cheer him on and pray with him are a testament to the fact that, like any other major public figure, Long's legacy has been both powerful and complex. He is not a perfect man, but neither is he completely imperfect.
One thing that must be noted by those who are standing and cheering with Bishop Eddie Long without spending a second to question him is that they may be getting played like fools. There's the stereotype of the Southern Baptist church-goer who believes whatever words come out of the preacher's mouth and have been truly convinced that he can do no wrong. There are those in our community who never slowed their commitment to buying R. Kelly records, even when he was accused of harming young girls. If our love of a celebrity's presence overrides our commitment to protecting our children, that is when our community is lost, blind and ignorant.
This is not to say that people should not stand and support Eddie Long's right to a fair hearing. It's not to say that we can't appreciate the man for all the good he's done in the world. But it does say that if you are following someone without using the brain that God gave you, you are begging to be played for a fool.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.