The Constitution of the United States gives Americans a lot of power. Free speech means we can use our words to change the world. Freedom of assembly means we can come together and join our voices and become a powerful group.
Those powers, like all powers, come with responsibility. Because we live in a free country, that means that the government usually isn't going to tell us where the limits are. We must set those limits ourselves, and make sure we're using our rights to help people and not to hurt them.
Recently, a group of Americans gathered outside of the U.S. Capitol. They wanted to stand up for their rights and use their voices to influence the government. During their protest, though, some of them allowed their anger to get the better of them. Instead of using their words to make a point, they used them as weapons. They shouted some really awful things, obscenities and insults, at members of Congress who they disagreed with.
Some of the worst things were shouted at members of the Congressional Black Caucus who walked by. Rep. James Clyburn said, “I heard people saying things today I've not heard since March 15th, 1960, when I was marching.”
Rep. John Lewis, another veteran of the civil rights movement, agreed. “It's okay, I've faced this before. It reminded me of the '60s. It was a lot of downright hate and anger and people being downright mean.”
Lewis has faced much worse than this, though. Just like those protesters, he too once joined up with other citizens to change the world. After hearing a speech by Dr. King, he joined the local sit-in movement in Nashville, TN. Soon, he was organizing sit-ins and bus boycotts and became a Freedom Rider.
The Freedom Riders' goal was to desegregate buses. During a Freedom Ride in 1961, John Lewis entered a “Whites Only” waiting room at a Greyhound bus station. A group of white men, led by a young KKK member named Elwin Wilson, attacked him. Wilson wasn’t always a violent man. His parents, he says, weren't bigots. They tried to raise him right. But growing up in the segregated South, he heard a lot of racist talk. He began to listen to it and then to repeat it, and pretty soon he was throwing eggs and watermelons at civil rights protesters. By the time John Lewis came to his town, Elwin Wilson had been turning his anger into violence for some time.
This wasn’t the first time Rep. Lewis had been hurt, and it wasn’t the last time. Later, he was the leader of a famous march in 1965 in Selma, Alabama called “Bloody Sunday.” Six hundred people got together to stand up for voting rights. They had only marched a few blocks when they were attacked. The Governor of Alabama had told police officers to stop the peaceful march. The protesters were beaten with clubs and attacked with chemical gases. The police beat John Lewis so badly that they broke his skull. He still has the marks on his head today.
Rep. Lewis didn’t want all of this hatred to leave a mark on his heart, though. He says, “Hate is too heavy a burden to bear.” That’s why his career has been dedicated to finding peaceful solutions to conflict, and finding ways to turn pain and anger into positive change.
That man who beat him at the Greyhound bus station, Elwin Wilson, recently decided to turn his hate into something good. He had been hurting people and saying awful things for decades, but one day he took a good look at himself, and he saw that he had the power to make things better. This happened because a friend of his, a black man who had been his friend since childhood, invited him to church. The mostly black congregation knew what Mr. Wilson had said and done in the past. They recognized him, and still they welcomed him into their church.
Elwin Wilson, 72 years old, decided then and there to change his life. He didn't want to lead a life of hate anymore. But how could he begin to heal these decades-old wounds? He returned to the places where he had thrown food or fists. He started to apologize to people he had done wrong to. When he found out one of his victims was now a member of Congress, he reached out to news reporters to see if they could help him contact Rep. Lewis.
Last year, they met for the first time since that day at the bus station. “I’m so sorry about what happened back then,” said Mr. Wilson. “I never thought I'd see the day when I'd find out who I'd beat up at the bus station.”
John Lewis looked him in the eye, and accepted the apology. “It’s okay. I forgive you.” Rep. Lewis was as surprised as Mr. Lewis. “I never thought this would happen. It says something about the power of love, of grace, the power of the people being able to say, 'I'm sorry,' and move on. And I deeply appreciate it. It's very meaningful for me.”
Elwin Wilson is the first person to ask Rep. Lewis to forgive him for his hatred, but they both hope he won’t be the last. Maybe those protesters outside the Capitol will hear the wise words of John Lewis, and use their powers to bring people together instead of driving them apart.
“We should have a capacity and ability to forgive,” he says. “Love is much stronger than hate.”