Jim Wallis, Adam R. Taylor
An excruciating 8 minutes and 46 seconds have focused national attention on the past 400 years as much as anything has in either of our lifetimes. This week in Houston, George Floyd was put to rest in a very emotional funeral service that drew thousands in person, and seemingly much of the nation online. The video of a white cop’s knee on the black neck of Mr. Floyd as he pleaded, “I can’t breathe,” has become a modern-day version of Emmett Till’s open casket — which awakened and galvanized a generation of people around racial violence and oppression — as so many new white allies are now joining in the long-fought movement for racial equality and justice.
The language of “America’s Original Sin” of racism and white supremacy has become part of the American narrative and consciousness like we have never seen before in a multi-racial and cross-generational conversation.
The Black Lives Matter movement has gone mainstream, with corporations like Amazon, civic leaders and police chiefs, and even NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell now emblazoning these words they once considered controversial on their websites and emails. But those words represent far more than a trendy slogan or hashtag; they are a resounding call for a deeper paradigm shift and transformation in American society to fully affirm the humanity and dignity of black people and ensure equal protection under the law for all.
Saying “Black Lives Matter” requires changing the culture of policing and transforming a whole system of racial injustice. Calls to “defund the police” have also been growing louder from the streets. Sadly this call is already being misunderstood, caricatured, and distorted.
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