Three deeply troubling events have occurred recently. There are three very public acts of deeply racist violence we have almost no words.
Ahmaud Avery was gunned down in Georgia, his assailants left free for way too long.
An affluent white female business executive threatened the very life of a Black man who’d told her to leash her dog in Central Park.
A Black man, a possible – POSSIBLE – suspect in a forgery was killed in front of our eyes by the arresting officer who knelt on his throat until he died.
Those of us in the faith community are sickened by such actions in no small part because while they were all recorded on video, the perpetrators acted with impunity, free in their own minds to carry on despite being recorded. Where does such entitlement and hate come from?
Because we have no words, we are linking you to John Pavolovitz whose essays often do find the words.
“Prolific Racism Needs Complicit White People” is his post today. He speaks to us eloquently of how we got to such a place and how we need to challenge it.
Please link to his essay here.
Even in the Age of COVID, we can practice peace, practice justice, practice humanity, practice love. Let’s have these things be our legacy of these hard times.
Thank you.