For those who are white, repentance is the path
Jun 08, 2020- We must make reparations to the descendants of those who were enslaved and to those who lived on these shores when the Europeans arrived. I do not know what this looks like. And it would be inappropriate for me to say what this looks like. The oppressor does not get to set the terms when trying to make amends. Agency means the party who was harmed gets to determine how amends, and in this case, reparations are made.
- We must defund the police. I do not believe in police reform. Policing in the United States was created to exploit some and enrich others. Reform is not enough. The wheel must be broken and a new creation put in its place.
- We must support the political empowerment of Black people. If the change in public opinion from when Eric Garner and Michael Brown were murdered six years ago to recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery tells us anything it is that Black Lives Matter works.
Here are the sources I used to write this sermon.
Two Minneapolis officers were put on leave after decorating their precinct with a 'racist' Christmas tree
https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/03/us/minneapolis-racist-christmas-tree-trnd/index.html
Shooting of Jamar Clark
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Jamar_Clark
Mary Douglas “Purity and Danger”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purity_and_Danger
Ex-Officer Charged in Death of George Floyd in Minneapolis
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/29/us/minneapolis-police-george-floyd.html
Call It What It Is: Anti-Blackness
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/opinion/george-floyd-anti-blackness.html
74% of Americans view George Floyd's death as an underlying racial injustice problem: POLL
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/74-americans-view-george-floyds-death-underlying-racial/story?id=71074422&cid=social_fb_abcnp
George Floyd Protests: A Timeline
https://www.nytimes.com/article/george-floyd-protests-timeline.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article
Independent autopsy and Minnesota officials say George Floyd's death was homicide
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/us/george-floyd-independent-autopsy/index.html
Twitter Adds Warnings to Trump and White House Tweets, Fueling Tensions
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/29/technology/trump-twitter-minneapolis-george-floyd.html
57 Buffalo Police Resign From Riot Unit In Protest Of Officers' Suspension
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/06/05/57-buffalo-police-resign-from-riot-unit-in-protest-of-officers-suspension/#1cff6c7a473e
Twitter thread of violent police actions
https://twitter.com/greg_doucette/status/1266751520055459847
The History Of Police In Creating Social Order In The U.S.
https://www.npr.org/2020/06/05/871083599/the-history-of-police-in-creating-social-order-in-the-u-s
Liberation Theology in Latin America
https://library.brown.edu/create/modernlatinamerica/chapters/chapter-15-culture-and-society/essays-on-culture-and-society/liberation-theology-in-latin-america/
Reclaiming Jesus Leaders Call Nation to Repentance
https://episcopalchurch.org/posts/publicaffairs/reclaiming-jesus-leaders-call-nation-repentance
