From the Pulpit: Black Lives Matter

The video of the murder of George Floyd was incredibly painful to watch. I wanted to scream, "Stop!" to the police officer pressing his knee against George Floyd's neck. I wanted the other officers to speak up and say, "Easy now, he's down!" I wanted onlookers to step into the video and confront the officer. But none of those things happened. George Floyd was completely incapacitated and clearly no threat to anyone. Yet the police officer did not stop. George Floyd pleaded with him over and over: "Please ... please ... please ... please officer ... please sir." Repeatedly he told the officer, "I can't breathe ... I can't breathe!" For minutes after George Floyd closed his eyes and stopped talking, the police officer still kept his knee on George Floyd's neck.

The devastation of that video brought back painful memories of other black deaths at the hands of police and neighborhood vigilantes: Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, Sandra Bland, Botham Jean, and recently, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. And that is just a bare handful of the many who have been killed. Whether walking down the street, playing in a park, eating ice cream on the sofa, taking a jog around the neighborhood, or lying in your own bed, there is no assurance of safety for black people in America.

In the news coverage following George Floyd's death, many black Americans have recounted that they are afraid every time they leave their home. Will they return alive, they ask themselves. A Brookings Institute fellow and college professor noted that he had been stopped by the police forty times in his forty years. Every time, he knew that in the eyes of the police, he was just another black man. His Ph.D. and position at a prestigious university made no difference. He said that he always kept his hands in full view on the steering wheel and was very, very polite to the police officer.

The Bible challenges the very idea of race. It makes no mention of a black race or a white race. In the King James Version, the word "race" refers exclusively to an athletic contest. The Bible does not divide humanity up into biological subgroups. In the eyes of God, we are all members of one human race and we are all beloved by God. Yet in many real-life situations, we Americans do not live out those truths.

At George Floyd's funeral at the Fountain of Praise Church in Houston, many speakers expressed the hope that his death would change the world. They noted the outpouring of grief and protests across the country. Many political leaders and news commentators have talked about ways to address mistreatment of black people by the police. With sufficient political will, there are many police reforms that would be first steps towards ending racial discrimination.

We can ban chokeholds. We can require that all officers wear body cameras. We can mandate that police speak up when a fellow officer uses excessive force. Officers can wear visible nametags whenever in uniform. Communities can demand that people of color are fairly represented on police forces including in command ranks. Police training can teach de-escalation tactics and provide regular anti-bias workshops. We can set high standards for educational requirements for police officers and provide support for completion of college and master's degrees. Police departments can be transparent about policies and procedures, using websites and social media to build trust with the public.

Such reforms are entirely practical here in the South Coast. They only require that the public demand them and political leaders take action. We can live out our high American beliefs in equality and insist that all are treated fairly no matter their racial, ethnic, national, or religious background. We can make all lives matter in America and we can start by making black lives matter here in the South Coast.

The Rev. Susan H. Lee, Ph.D.

St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Fall River