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Home » When Will It Stop?

When Will It Stop?

Dave's Raves Posted on by

preliminary thoughts on the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis

The problem is systemic.

I’m talking about the brutal killing of an already handcuffed black man at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis. The video of the killing of George Floyd is horrific. Floyd is gasping out, “I can’t breath…” Onlookers are pleading for mercy. The burly cop, loaded down with weapons and surrounded by similarly armed officers, kneels on Floyd’s neck until the man goes limp. Dead.

George Floyd

The killing and the video that brought it to the attention of the world rightly sparked outrage and response. We want this kind of policing to stop. Right now! So the police officers involved were fired. They may be arrested. They might be convicted, though it’s doubtful.

We’re quick to point out that most police officers are good. It’s a stressful, sometimes impossible job.  Yes, there are a few bad apples and they should be dealt with, but overall, we support our police.

But, what black friends and thinkers are telling us is it’s not that simple. The problem is systemic. The whole policing system is flawed from the ground up.

Think of a dysfunctional family, locked in a dance that involves all the members and ultimately harms all the members. The identified patient (or addict) isn’t the only one that needs to change. Everyone has a vested interest in the status quo. Each participant has to become aware and take responsibility for their part in the problems. Each one has to change the way they think, act and interact with each other.

What black friends are telling white people like me is the problem is not with a few bad apples. The whole system is flawed at its foundation to the point where black citizens do not trust their own police to serve and protect them. We need to recognize the ways the majority benefits from this system and supports the status quo even while we cry out for reform in Minneapolis. (Watch Chris Rock eviscerate the “Few Bad Apples” argument)

For example, we decry pollution and the vast islands of plastic waste in the ocean while continuing to drive our SUVs to Costco and loading up on plastics. We want change in the outcome, but we don’t want change in our own consuming habits. We don’t want more plastic waste in the ocean, right? Or do we? If we continue to support and benefit from the system that results in more plastic waste, what does that say about what we really want?

When you have a good person in a bad system, that good person has to join in or get squeezed out. When you have a bad person in a good system, the bad guy will have to reform or the system will squeeze the bad guy out. That’s not happening sufficiently with policing in America. That’s why we’re seeing George Floyd and Aumaud Arbery and Eric Garner and Oscar Grant and who knows how many more that we’re not seeing because cameras are not rolling.

If the policing problem is a few bad cops, it would be simple to fix. Identify and force out the bad apples. But if the problem is with the system, the solution is much more complex. The system requires fundamental change and that includes the police – the “good guys” and the “bad apples,” the police unions, the courts, the police commissions and city councils, political leaders and the citizens. The folks in the inner cities and folks in the country. Southerners and Northerners. Conservatives, progressives, moderates and the disengaged. The coastals and the folks in between. You and me.

It means you and I have to change.

As Jesus said,

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
– Matthew 7:3-5

It’s far too easy for you and I to sit in the comfort of our family rooms and tweet out justice for Alabama or Minnesota. Of course, a man who passed along a counterfeit bill should not be executed by police on the spot. That’s an easy call. Fire the police officers. Convict them for murder. And the job is done. Right?

The more difficult and necessary task is for us as citizens and as a nation to reflect on the whole policing system and develop a plan for building a new system of policing and justice that serves and protects all citizens. In the meantime, the “bad apples” need to be squeezed out, good people need to be hired and promoted. We need change now, but it won’t be enough.

Each of us needs to be asking hard questions:

What do I need to learn? Who do I need to listen to? How do I need to grow? What changes do I need to call for in how the police operate in my town? At the same time, let’s talk about what happened in Minneapolis.  Let’s demand change from our political leaders.

I’m back to prayer – personal confession and intercession:

“Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

Follow-up

Watch my June 14, 2020 Sermon: Race Matters at Grace Community Church San Francisco

As I’ve been talking with some black friends, I’m hearing of their personal experiences with police. They’re also passing along lots of reading material. “Read this. This sums up my thinking.” Here are a few recommendations I’ve received and read”

“This writer from the Washington Post says it all.”
Eugene Robinson Black Lives Remain Expendable
“See SF Chronicle today. Ann Killion article in Sports section. I agree with her.” – Ossie
Colin Kaepernick and George Floyd: Two knees, two reactions, one issue

My Thoughts on George Floyd’s Death, by LaRosa Johnson.

Video: Trevor Noah – George Floyd, Minneapolis Protests, Ahmaud Arbery & Amy Cooper | The Daily Social Distancing Show

President Barack Obama’ Statement – June 1, 2020 This man knows what he’s talking about. We need protest and politics.

As millions of people across the country take to the streets and raise their voices in response to the killing of George Floyd and the ongoing problem of unequal justice, many people have reached out asking how we can sustain momentum to bring about real change…

Let’s get to work! READ MORE

Sermon Video: “The Third Option” by Miles McPherson – May 31, 2020

In this message, Pastor Miles (The Rock Church San Diego) addresses the current social crisis of racism in America and reviews Joshua 5:13-15 to explain how we can come together and heal our nation.

Movie: Just Mercy, starring Jamie Foxx and Michael B. Jordan (released Jan. 2020, Netflix)

Just Mercy, based on the life work of civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, is one resource we can humbly offer to those who are interested in learning more about the systemic racism that plagues our society.

For the month of June (2020), Just Mercy will be available to rent for free across digital platforms in the US.

Books

Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates

When the journalist asked me about my body, it was like she was asking me to awaken her from the most gorgeous dream. I have seen that dream all my life. It is perfect houses with nice lawns. It is Memorial Day cookouts, block associations, and driveways. The Dream is tree houses and the Cub Scouts. And for so long I have wanted to escape into the Dream, to fold my country over my head like a blanket. But this has never been an option, because the Dream rests on our backs, the bedding made from our bodies.

Read an excerpt from the book, Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice That Restores, by Dominique Gilliard

The United States has 5 percent of the world’s population but 25 percent of the world’s incarcerated. We have more people locked up in jails, prisons, and detention centers than any other country in the history of the world. There are more jails and prisons than degree-granting colleges and universities, and in many places more people live behind bars than on college campuses. Mass incarceration has become a lucrative industry, and the criminal justice system is plagued with bias and unjust practices. And the church has unwittingly contributed to these problems.
In Rethinking Incarceration Dominique Gilliard explores the history and foundation of mass incarceration, examining Christianity’s role in its evolution and expansion. He assesses our nation’s ethic of meritocratic justice in light of Scripture and exposes the theologies that embolden mass incarceration. Gilliard then shows how Christians can pursue justice that restores and reconciles, offering creative solutions and highlighting innovative interventions. God’s justice is ultimately restorative, not just punitive. Discover how Christians can participate in the restoration and redemption of the incarceration system.

Rethinking Incarceration, by Dominique Gilliard

Documentaries

True Justice (HBO)

True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality follows 30 years of EJI’s work on behalf of the poor, the incarcerated, and the condemned. The film has been nominated for a Peabody Award.
Told primarily in his own words, True Justice shares Bryan Stevenson’s experience with a criminal justice system that “treats you better if you’re rich and guilty than if you’re poor and innocent.” The burden of facing this system is explored in candid interviews with associates, close family members, and clients.

13th – Ava DuVernay (Netflix)

“Powerful, infuriating… Ava DuVernay’s documentary ‘13TH‘ will get your blood boiling… Electrifying.” –THE NEW YORK TIMES.

Netflix is offering the full feature for free (as of Apr. 17, 2020) HERE.

Comments

When Will It Stop? — 2 Comments

  1. by James A Palmore (Facebook)
    – a friend’s husband – a Gospel musician in Chicago

    When will we(African Americans & people of color) be human? When will the value of our lives been seen as equal to every other group of people in our country?
    My heart is broken and I’m fighting back tears as I read and watch the latest developments in the MURDER of another Black man in America by Law Enforcement Officers. I’m mad as hell and can’t seem to find a way to ease my pain and dissipate my anger.

    This is where America is and unfortunately has never strayed from as her history proves over and over again. And in America, our soul, our birth as a nation, is tied to the undeniable fact that the United States was founded and its growth and expansion, built on theft & and slavery. Theft, because we STOLE, thru willing deception, lies and malicious manipulation, a country that already belonged to its indigenous people. It was built on the backs of a people STOLEN from their homelands, brought here under conditions we wouldn’t want our pets to endure and forced to live, work and die as PROPERTY. All of this because of the COLOR OF OUR(Indigenous & Africans), SKIN.

    Our nation of laws has in place, practices enforced and empowered by law, that automatically sees all that isn’t White as inferior and to some degree NONEXISTENT.
    Where do we go from here. The very first thing we can and must do is pray. However, the majority of White Christian’s unfortunately are blind to their privilege and natural security due the color or better put – non-color of their skin.

    That is the security blanket that African Americans and people of color WILL NEVER HAVE. Nevertheless we pray, knowing that God does hear our cries and He will answer.
    The ONLY way that White America will EVER understand and then ACT, is to actually experience the effect of having their every action judged, scrutinized, analyzed and then acted upon because of their skin color. They will NEVER know the fear of never seeing their children again when they walk out the door to go to school, to go to the store or just simply hang out with friends. This is EVERY BLACK MOTHER AND FATHER’S NIGHTMARE. And let’s not forget, the only reason that Black people make most of the ills that happen to them a race issue is because White people were the ones that made the determination that a person’s skin color would be the deciding factor of whether a person was even CONSIDERED human. Remember the 3/5th law. As a people, we’re just dealing with the hand dealt us.

    Those of us who profess to be Christian have an obligation because of our vow to follow Christ, to seek the higher ground, to activate our Faith in God that He is working for the good of all mankind. For Black Christians, this is something we will always do. And yet still wonder where the conscience of White Evangelicals is, when they can overwhelmingly support a man as President, whose every action goes against the basic principles Christianity is founded on. Empathy for people of color is one thing, sympathy is one thing. Actual agreement from the heart and living that agreement through a relationship with Christ, would produce a different response and reaction to what is happening to Black men in America.

    And by the way, this recent tragedy IS WHY COLIN TOOK A KNEE IN A FOOTBALL GAME! If we can’t see that, your agreement with Christ is missing a very key ingredient. His protest doesn’t have to meet YOUR standards for it to be legitimate or acceptable.
    Just this man’s humble opinion!

  2. Melannie Denise Cunningham
    shared on Facebook by DuRhonda Baskett Palmore

    White friends:
    If you see one of your Black friends post their frustration over the continued murder of Black people (especially our men), here are some tips:

    1. Don’t say All Lives Matter. I don’t know why there is this need to drop this every time someone posts Black Lives Matter. No one is saying only Black Lives Matter. But if all lives really mattered then Black lives wouldn’t be getting snuffed out over the most mundane things. There would be actual justice when a Black person was murdered by a cop or a White person called the cops on a Black person for no reason. The past “crimes” of a Black person wouldn’t be dug up and posted on social media so his/her death could be “justified.” The first conversation wouldn’t be well they should have complied or what were they doing to “deserve” being killed. If all lives mattered then you shouldn’t have a problem saying Black lives matter. If you only bring up all lives matter when someone says Black lives matter…

    2. Don’t bring up Black on Black crime. When Black people kill other Black people, they are usually held accountable. This isn’t always the case when a White person murders a Black person. Plus you don’t really see Black folks asking what about white on white crime when a White person murders another White person.

    3. Don’t ask well what about the good cops. What about them? We not talking about them. Black people understand all cops aren’t the same and that there are good ones. What about the ones that aren’t good? The ones that profile us and see us as a threat. The ones that seem to “fear for their lives” every time a Black person is around. That is who we are angry with. Those are the ones we worry about. And since there is no easy way to identify these good cops, you need to understand Black people will probably always be suspicious of cops until things change.

    4. Don’t say if you’re not doing anything wrong, you don’t have to worry about the cops. See point 3. Also, false. Black folks have been killed when doing absolutely nothing wrong. We could be the “model” minority and still get murdered because reasons.

    5. Don’t ask why we are always posting about race. You want to know why we are “always” posting about race? Because we can’t escape it. One of the first things you notice about a person is their skin color. If our skin color is automatically seen as a threat, how can we not talk about it? How can it not constantly be in the forefront of our mind?

    6. Don’t place the burden of educating you solely on your Black friends. You want to learn more about the Black experience and how to be a better ally. Awesome! Just don’t rely solely on your Black friends to teach you. We have a lot on our plate: seemingly constant reminders that our lives don’t mean much to some, micro aggressions, overt racism, and then having to deal with day to day life stuff. I’m not saying don’t ever ask your Black friends, but also do your own research…find other White allies to ask your questions to. Show us that you are actually putting some effort into understanding where we are coming from instead of just expecting us to spoon feed you everything.

    If you’ve never felt extreme anxiety when a cop pulls up behind you…if you’ve never cycled through all the ways to make yourself appear non-threatening in your mind…if you’ve never thought about going live on social media so in case something does happen to you there is at least a video somewhere, then count yourself blessed and privileged. Because I can guarantee these are the thoughts that run through a lot of Black people’s head when dealing with the police.

    If you don’t shift between a constant state of outrage, anxiety, and numbness, then count yourself blessed and privileged. If you’ve never had to pray to God for peace because you have a Black husband/son/brother and there is always a very real possibility that once they leave home, they might not come back alive and there really isn’t much you can do about it, then count yourself blessed and privileged.

    To the White people that speak up when issues affect the Black community…that are actual allies and not only talk the talk, but walk the walk, thank you.

    To those that never say anything or who are more outraged when a dog is mistreated than when a Black person is, we see you. Do better.

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