Williston Northampton Convocation Speech
Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum
September 15, 2017
A long time ago I read a disturbing story that had a powerful effect on me and I want to begin my talk today by telling it to all of you. Unfortunately I no longer remember where I first read it, but I believe it comes from the Buddhist tradition. It is a story about a king who wanted to create a large bell that could be heard across the country side, one that would be astonishingly beautiful in tone. He commissioned the most highly skilled bell maker he could find, and the bell maker worked diligently to produce a wonderful bell. The first bell he made was good, but not great. The sound quality just wasn’t what the king was looking for. A second bell was cast, and still despite the bell maker’s best efforts, it wasn’t good enough for the king. Finally in frustration, the bell maker told the king that the only way to get the beautiful tone he was looking for would be to sacrifice a young maiden in the casting of the bell. And so the king ordered his soldiers to find a suitable candidate. In a nearby village they found a poor woman with a young daughter, and snatched her away from her pleading mother. She was sacrificed for the bell, and indeed the bell that resulted was both beautiful to see and had an astonishingly pure and lovely tone. All who heard it marveled at the sound, but the poor mother who knew firsthand its terrible history cried with grief each time the bell rang. There was injustice literally baked into that bell, but those who did not know that history never had to think about that injustice. They simply enjoyed its sound. Continue reading