Black Lives Matter Pastoral Letter 2016
Black Lives Matter: A Pastoral Letter to the UU Congregation of York
Rev. Lyn Cox, Interim Parish Minister
September 21, 2016
Dear Ones,
It has been, once again, a difficult week to be human. I would like to talk with you about violence against Black and Brown people. This might be a difficult discussion, and if you or someone in your immediate family is a person of color, tired of discussing racism with fatal consequences, I will understand if you need to sit this one out. I am here. I am listening. Your wellbeing is important to me. Please let me know how the congregation and I can support you. For those of us who are white in identity, family, and culture, I invite you into an important and necessary conversation. For all of us, let’s bring our rage, pain, confusion, and fear into the circle of community. Let’s face our feelings and the work ahead of us together.
Three recent shooting deaths by police at different places around the country have gained national attention. We mourn for 13-year-old Tyre King in Columbus, OH; 40-year-old Terence Crutcher in Tulsa, OK; and 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte, NC. We hold their families in our thoughts and prayers. We call for justice. By one estimate, Scott’s murder makes 214 deaths of Black people at the hands of police this year. That’s 214 friends, neighbors and family members. It is immaterial whether some of those deaths may have been in the midst of criminal activity or investigation. (Not all of them. Neither Keith Lamont Scott nor Terence Crutcher had been charged with or suspected of a crime.) Past or alleged criminal activity doesn’t make the level of violence acceptable, and nothing makes it acceptable that police-involved deaths disproportionately affect people of color. Execution before judgment is not how our justice system should operate. Let us work toward the training, oversight, and accountability necessary to put an end to the murders of Black and Brown people.
For our friends, family, and neighbors of color, police brutality is nothing new. For many of us who are white, the reality of racist violence is shocking and overwhelming. I would like to suggest that we do our best to support our Black and Brown loved ones as they wish to be supported. Be present with them, to the extent that is comfortable for them. Do not ask them to educate us about racism or to help us heal the pain we are feeling as we process current events. We have plenty of other resources to which we can turn. In our congregation, we have a new Racial Justice Team, led by Bryan Stevens. This team is looking into ways UUCY might partner with other institutions so that we can develop relationships and act in solidarity with communities of color. Locally, the York YWCA has a number of events to help our city and county dismantle racism. Across the country, Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) hosts conference calls and provides resources for white racial justice allies. If you are feeling angry, sad, or numb, that is understandable. Church is where we transform despair into hope, move hope into faith in action, and learn how to be human. Let’s talk about it.
We also need to recognize that, even if we look around on Sunday and see a majority white congregation, we are interdependent as a wider community. Members of our congregation may have children, grandchildren, siblings, and loved ones who are at risk for racist harassment and violence. Learning to talk about race and racism, learning how to advocate for racial justice, is an urgent concern for our shared pastoral ministries. We must care for one another, and dismantling racism is part of that practice of care.
Coming to terms with racism is hard work, and no task or skill comes easily at first. I envision our congregation (as, I believe, do you) as a place where people can bring their whole selves, no matter where we are on our journeys. Let us be tender with one another, even as we make mistakes in the process of learning how to be more compassionate and culturally competent. Do not let perfectionism get in the way of learning, growing, and cultivating right relations. We all have something to learn, and that’s OK. It is all right to admit our brokenness on the way toward creating wholeness.
I believe that dismantling racism is integral to living our values as Unitarian Universalists. From the inherent worth and dignity of every person to the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all, our principles call us to pay attention to the humanitarian crisis in our communities. The journey of being fully awake and learning to be human will ask much of us. We must encourage one another, challenge one another in lovingly accountable ways, and be prepared to learn more each day than we knew the day before. In remembering our connection with the Spirit of Life and with each other, we will be strengthened for our shared ministry ahead. May it be so.
In Faith,
Rev. Lyn Cox
Rev. Lyn Cox, Interim Parish Minister
September 21, 2016
Dear Ones,
It has been, once again, a difficult week to be human. I would like to talk with you about violence against Black and Brown people. This might be a difficult discussion, and if you or someone in your immediate family is a person of color, tired of discussing racism with fatal consequences, I will understand if you need to sit this one out. I am here. I am listening. Your wellbeing is important to me. Please let me know how the congregation and I can support you. For those of us who are white in identity, family, and culture, I invite you into an important and necessary conversation. For all of us, let’s bring our rage, pain, confusion, and fear into the circle of community. Let’s face our feelings and the work ahead of us together.
Three recent shooting deaths by police at different places around the country have gained national attention. We mourn for 13-year-old Tyre King in Columbus, OH; 40-year-old Terence Crutcher in Tulsa, OK; and 43-year-old Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte, NC. We hold their families in our thoughts and prayers. We call for justice. By one estimate, Scott’s murder makes 214 deaths of Black people at the hands of police this year. That’s 214 friends, neighbors and family members. It is immaterial whether some of those deaths may have been in the midst of criminal activity or investigation. (Not all of them. Neither Keith Lamont Scott nor Terence Crutcher had been charged with or suspected of a crime.) Past or alleged criminal activity doesn’t make the level of violence acceptable, and nothing makes it acceptable that police-involved deaths disproportionately affect people of color. Execution before judgment is not how our justice system should operate. Let us work toward the training, oversight, and accountability necessary to put an end to the murders of Black and Brown people.
For our friends, family, and neighbors of color, police brutality is nothing new. For many of us who are white, the reality of racist violence is shocking and overwhelming. I would like to suggest that we do our best to support our Black and Brown loved ones as they wish to be supported. Be present with them, to the extent that is comfortable for them. Do not ask them to educate us about racism or to help us heal the pain we are feeling as we process current events. We have plenty of other resources to which we can turn. In our congregation, we have a new Racial Justice Team, led by Bryan Stevens. This team is looking into ways UUCY might partner with other institutions so that we can develop relationships and act in solidarity with communities of color. Locally, the York YWCA has a number of events to help our city and county dismantle racism. Across the country, Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) hosts conference calls and provides resources for white racial justice allies. If you are feeling angry, sad, or numb, that is understandable. Church is where we transform despair into hope, move hope into faith in action, and learn how to be human. Let’s talk about it.
We also need to recognize that, even if we look around on Sunday and see a majority white congregation, we are interdependent as a wider community. Members of our congregation may have children, grandchildren, siblings, and loved ones who are at risk for racist harassment and violence. Learning to talk about race and racism, learning how to advocate for racial justice, is an urgent concern for our shared pastoral ministries. We must care for one another, and dismantling racism is part of that practice of care.
Coming to terms with racism is hard work, and no task or skill comes easily at first. I envision our congregation (as, I believe, do you) as a place where people can bring their whole selves, no matter where we are on our journeys. Let us be tender with one another, even as we make mistakes in the process of learning how to be more compassionate and culturally competent. Do not let perfectionism get in the way of learning, growing, and cultivating right relations. We all have something to learn, and that’s OK. It is all right to admit our brokenness on the way toward creating wholeness.
I believe that dismantling racism is integral to living our values as Unitarian Universalists. From the inherent worth and dignity of every person to the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all, our principles call us to pay attention to the humanitarian crisis in our communities. The journey of being fully awake and learning to be human will ask much of us. We must encourage one another, challenge one another in lovingly accountable ways, and be prepared to learn more each day than we knew the day before. In remembering our connection with the Spirit of Life and with each other, we will be strengthened for our shared ministry ahead. May it be so.
In Faith,
Rev. Lyn Cox