Message
eye on the times
Person standing in front of large clock in clock tower
Washington Post reported that:
Black Americans have the highest rate of fatal police shootings between 2015 and March 2021.
  • Black Americans were killed at a rate of 35 deaths per million, which is 2.5 percent higher than White Americans.
  • White Americans are killed by police at 14 deaths per million.
98.3% Police Officers uncharged
  • Hispanics are killed at 26 deaths per million
  • From 2013-2020 98.3 percent of the police involved in killing, walk away from the incident with no charges. (Mapping Police Violence)
BY EDWARD WOODS, III
W

hile news pundits reference former police officer Derek Chauvin’s conviction and sentencing in connection with the death of George Floyd as proof that the “system” works, they provide no answers for the rate of deaths being so much higher for black people. Conviction requires such an egregious level of interaction, captured on mobile devices, in order to ensure that the “system works.”

Unfortunately, that is reminiscent of the Civil Rights era and atrocities captured in the era of television that led to the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. At the time, the role and respect of the faith community played a critical role in the moment, though it appears that Martin Luther King, Jr. was more respected in death than in life by some of the leadership in the faith community when addressing systemic racism and police brutality.

Marginalizing the leadership of Black Lives Matter, disparaging critical race theory, denouncing social justice, or using “alternative” facts seem to be the new playbook to repudiate systemic racism and police brutality. In some churches, they even preach it from the pulpit with no regard for their members who are people of color.

35 per million
14 per million
26 per million
How can we celebrate a rare conviction when the struggles persist? How can we celebrate a rare conviction when some faith leaders ignore the evidence and fail to give the trumpet a certain sound when it comes to human dignity, sufferings, and rights?

The time is right to join or lead an interfaith and national effort to strengthen police-community relations emanating from the local faith community level. It can begin by advocating for, and passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to address misconduct, excessive force and racial bias in policing. It is no time to celebrate; the struggle is not only still real, but it continues.

Edward Woods III serves as the Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Director for Lake Region Conference of SDAs and the chairperson of the Conscience & Justice Council.
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