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Last Sunday, May 25, was the fifth anniversary of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is serving a 22-year prison sentence for his death. As part of the police response to an accusation that Floyd allegedly passed a bad $20 bill at a nearby store, Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes until Floyd ultimately died of asphyxiation. Throughout, Floyd pleaded for breath, onlookers filmed the encounter, and several called for police to let up.
The incident led to weeks of nation-wide and global street protest against police violence upon Black people, including demonstrations in Philadelphia. The protests were marked by violent encounters between police and protesters, tear gas, mass arrest and the destruction of property.
At the time there was also an intense response by White people who wanted to better understand the pervasiveness of racism in our country and their role in it. The diocesan Anti-Racism Commission (ARC), which I co-chair, saw an exponential increase in the number of people registered for anti-racism trainings at the time. It was the height of the COVID pandemic, the heart of the first Trump administration, and a time of intense soul searching on race, police violence and institutional and
personal responsibility. Many people of faith prayed, marched, and searched their own hearts and institutions for where change should occur. Others didn’t.
Five years later it’s tempting to say that not much has changed, that the passion for racial justice has cooled, and that things are worse than they were before. Our ARC trainings, open to all, are no longer bursting at the seams, though they continue. Read more.
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