This week our nation is reeling from the combined impact of three tragic events of police brutality against black men – the George Floyd murder trial, the abuse of Lt. Caron Nazario during a traffic stop in Virginia, and the killing of Daunte Wright during a traffic stop in Minnesota. This continues the cycle of violence connected with dwb – driving while Black. Just last year PBS produced a very insightful documentary on this historic form of systemic racial injustice. The image above comes from that production, and I encourage you to see it. Yet even when we acknowledge this unjust reality, the question arises, what can we do? As a white man, I want to start by addressing other white people. First listen to the pain, the pain of the families and friends of the men mentioned above as well as the pain of Black people who live with this reality every day. That pain is clearly visible in the two short videos posted below – one featuring the mother of Daunte Wright and the other featuring reflections by a Black journalist and a Black attorney. While there are no easy answers about how to eliminate systemic racial injustice, I believe that we challenge injustices and advocate for meaningful change based on what truly matters to us. Listening to the real life pain caused by systemic racial injustice makes this more than an “issue.” For those of us who believe that all people are created in the image of God, this becomes a matter of life and death for our Black sisters and brothers. That is the foundation for systemic change. So let’s resist the temptation to be defensive or to debate the “justification” for the seemingly unending series of the abuse and even death of those who have no choice but to drive while Black.
