Today is the day of Stephon Clark’s funeral.
Replete with celebrity preacher and accompanying crowds,
this unarmed young man who was shot twenty times by Sacramento Police officers
in his own back yard will be laid to rest.
The sounds of weeping and angry shouts barely filter through
tight lipped media as one more time we
encounter the appalling and ongoing war on African Americans carried out with
lethal effectiveness by police forces around our nation.
The rest of the nation cannot simply stand by and shake
their collective heads any longer.
While outrage finds voice in accompanying mass shootings in schools
around the country, we cast a sideways glance as African Americans,
particularly young African American men, fall victim to police violence.
Today is the day of Stephon Clark’s funeral.
As one more life is cut short we need to pay attention to
the fact that the leading cause of death among African American men under
thirty is gun fire. As Stephon Clark’s
family and children move dazedly through their grief, the responsibility for this war is certainly
laid at the doorstep of our police departments and the way they are trained,
not as civic protectors of the people but as paramilitary forces. Yes indeed, the steady transformation of our
nation’s police into military assault units is part of this ongoing
slaughter. However, the real
responsibility needs to laid at the feet of the rest of us. Those of us who are white, privileged, and not under
assault are morally accountable for the safety and protection of our sisters
and brothers who live their lives in harm’s way.
Today is the day of Stephon Clark’s funeral.
The story of history resonates as we recall the fact that perfectly
nice people, good people, church going neighbors stood by as Europe’s
Jews were murdered by the millions. As a nation we are unwilling to gaze into the
face of slavery and it’s continuing impact on our sisters and brothers. When the possibility of reparations is mentioned
in any quarter, the reaction is swift and curt as nice people dismiss this out
of hand. With our collective
unconsciousness we want to turn from this and also turn from real people who
are being killed every day. Here are
just a few of the names. Dontre
Hamilton, Eric Garner, John Crawford, Michael Brown, Ezell Ford, Dante’ Parker,
Tanisha Andersen, Tamir Rice, Rumain Brisbon, Akai Gurley, are but a few who
have died.
Today is the day of Stephon Clark’s funeral.
In the Christian community this day is known as Maundy
Thursday. It is the day that we
commemorate the last meal that Jesus ate before he was betrayed, arrested by military
police, tortured and then executed. In
our community we walk, sometimes numbly through the horror of this story in
anticipation of the resurrection, of the advent of new life. As we contemplate Jesus’ last supper, let us
also rise up and contemplate Stephon Clark’s last meal. Let us open our eyes and our hearts to the
last supper that so many African Americans have eaten before their lives were
terminated by police.
Today is the day of Stephon Clark’s funeral.
Instead of turning our hearts and our minds away while
countless last suppers take place across the nation, let us own our
responsibility. Yes, police and their
minions need to be held accountable, but the real reckoning comes to those who
are not in danger. The real
accountability for this ongoing horror falls to the sisters and brothers who
could and should do something but somehow manage to go about their daily
business, unaffected and uninvolved.
Today is the day of Stephon Clark’s funeral.
The violent whirlwind we are reaping can find a pathway to
healing and hope. The wailing of grief
and pain can finally end as justice rolls down like a mighty river. The ravages of slavery and a history of
unabated racism can begin to be addressed by White America. Peace can emerge from the smog of our complicity. But it must begin with a surge of compassion
and a recognition that we are each other’s sisters and brothers. We are responsible for the welfare and safety
of those under attack. We are, as we
sit down to table with Jesus, both the problem and the resolution.
Today is the day of Stephon Clark’s funeral.
May he rest in peace, and may real peace accompanied by
justice become the work of every person who has the luxury of being safe today.
sr
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