Thomas Merton's writings on race resonate, gain renewed attention in 2020 | National Catholic Reporter

Thomas Merton's writings on race resonate, gain renewed attention in 2020 | National Catholic Reporter

By Peter Feuerherd

***In "Letters to a White Liberal," Merton wrote that unless the nation came to grips with racism, "the survival of America itself is in question." In a reference to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Merton wrote using early 1960s language that the civil rights leader "clearly spelled out the struggle for freedom not as a struggle for the Negro alone, but also for the white man."

Merton added, "the sin of white America has reached such a proportion that it may call down a dreadful judgment, perhaps total destruction, unless atonement is made." He added, citing the long history of slavery and discrimination, that "white society has sinned in many ways. It has betrayed Christ."

And, in an appeal to white Christians, he wrote: "Most of us are congenitally unable to think black, and yet that is precisely what we must do." He called upon Catholic leaders, including bishops, to go beyond the usual responses of the era and embrace the call for change no matter the pushback: "We still want to please everyone with soft words and pleasant generalizations, which we convince ourselves are necessary for charity," Merton wrote.

Anne Pearson, a student in Hillis' class on Merton, told NCR that the monk's words spoke to her as a supporter of the demonstrations in Louisville surrounding the police killing of Breonna Taylor this past March.