by Phil Porter
The shock of the wanton and racist violence in Charleston, SC, where nine African-American church people were murdered, must be fully registered in us, even as it causes pain and confusion. For a moment, and then many moments to follow we must let ourselves feel the outrage and disbelief that this tragedy engenders.
We mourn the loss of these nine souls: Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, Depayne Middleton-Doctor, Clementa C. Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel Simmons, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton and Myra Thompson. We stand in solidarity and grief with their families.
As we feel the pain in our own hearts we join our voices in the lamentations of our brothers and sisters who are hit hardest by this. As progressive Christians we know that this attack was not just an isolated incident, but part of a much larger picture, one that reaches back in history. We must acknowledge the ways that hate and discrimination are woven into the fabric of our culture.
A white man killing African-Americans—this is not a new story. It has happened over and over and continues to happen. Enough! It must stop.
The insidious power of terrorism—targeted violence intended to do both direct and indirect harm—is that at a fundamental level, at the level of basic physicality—we experience what happens to others as if it is happening to us. And if an act of violence is perpetrated on a specific group, all members of that group will feel the reverberations of the act in a frighteningly personal way.
This physical reality, however, is also a blessing. This deep sense of identification is also the root of compassion—“feeling with.” It is what makes it possible for us to experience the powerful ways that all of us are connected across lines of race, class, gender, religion, sexual orientation, gender expression and ability. The people who were killed in South Carolina are our people.
And so, we let our tears flow and then we stand up and act. We give voice to our care and concern and we speak up against the patterns of violence. We hold our brothers and sisters in our hearts and we join hands to march together for justice.
Let us lift up the fundamental value of each and every life—God’s presence in all of us. Let us recognize that we are one body and when one suffers we all suffer. Let us break the patterns of silence and passivity and take each small opportunity available to us to change the way things are into the way they can be. Let us shape our politics and policies accordingly.
Diversity Reflections FCCB 