#BLACKLIVESMATTER and our faith, a reflection
- Rev. Jason Ridley
- Feb 26, 2017
- 2 min read
As an African-American male I’ve had multiple run-ins with the police, simply because of the color of my skin. It is a part of a policy that goes by many names: racial profiling, “driving while black,” stop and frisk. These experiences are also why I used to believe that the criminal justice system was broken. In reality, however, as Jackie Iyamah of the Friends Committee on National Legislation explains it, the criminal justice system “is functioning exactly as it was intended to,” in particularly when it comes to policing in the black community.
On anniversaries like today's, when we not only remember the life of those lost to police or vigilante violence, but the fight to prevent it from happening again, we should ask ourselves a few questions:
What is Justice?
When you think of the word justice, it is defined as the legal or philosophical theory by which fairness is administered. At its very core, justice inherently implies equality because it’s centered in fairness. Meaning, the only way to have fairness is that everyone, regardless of race, gender or sexuality must be treated equally. So in theory, having a justice system implies protection and service for all mankind.
What is the intent?
The only problem with this theory is that for black communities, especially in the South, the original intent of policing was not about public safety or equality. Dr. Victor E. Kappeler states that, “the institution of slavery and the control of minorities, were two of the more formidable features of American Society shaping early policing.” During that time period they were known as slave patrols or night watches and they were empowered to monitor and enforce discipline upon black slaves in particularly runaways and defiant slaves because they were considered as the property of their wealthy slave owners. Slave patrols played an important role in maintaining social order, as well as economic stability and growth in the South.
This means, early policing (or slave patrols) was intended to protect the interest of white Americans and traditional power structure.
Why does it matter?
With this contextual history, we should be able to see the wolf behind sheep’s clothing. Today’s policing tactics disrupt one community for the benefit of the other. The system has been woven into the fabric of American Society.
Rev. Meg Riley declares it best, “we are buried up to our necks in a history of violence and brutality against people of color. I refuse to be silent anymore.” I along with the faith community cannot continue to be silent about a system that only succeeds in inequality and division. The system can be broken.
And we will proclaim it loudly, Black Lives Matter! Because as humans, an attack on one of us, is an attack on all of us.
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