Good update on this terrible Detroit 1967 time of police & army over-reaction to be found here
I remember the riots in Detroit summer of 1967. Having attended Sacred Heart Seminary at
Chicago & Linwood near the center of the clash between inner city residents
and police/national guard, I returned at the end of that summer to help a
couple of days at a child care center in the area. The rage and distress of some of these young black
children shocked me—the white caregiver.
The gulf between their life and mine all too evident. An extensive Kerner Commission Report was
written in 1968 for Congress, trying to explain the roots of this explosion of
violence breaking forth from the suffocation of society’s racism. But very little has changed. Governmental, economic, & political abuse
of power is a virtual jailor for a major portion of the black community,
especially those most poor. And few of
us who live on the other side have family or real personal relationship with
people of color.
From footage of 9 minutes of a police asphyxiating George Floyd--from Fox News
Full video can be seen here--tragic & disturbing
One terrible recent result: the death of George Floyd with a
white policeman kneeling relentlessly remorselessly on his neck. And the death of countless others down
through back alleys of current American history. We are a divided country founded to a
significant degree on the backs of African slaves. There has been a brief period of recognition
brought to us by African Americans in the Civil Rights Movement. The danger now is that we become ever again
more divided in a resurgent economic and social racism.
here is much to do for people of faith, and for the whole
country. The Sermon on the Mount is not
a sermon of law & order, to the victor go the spoils, might makes
right. We must all reach out in ways
that go way beyond the offer of a handout.
Firm personal and societal connections must be made which bridge the
gulf and persist, providing paths to true justice and mercy. Jesus is a person of color. Praise the Lord, all brothers and sisters,
whites too, are invited to the heavenly banquet!
Sources & references
More info on how this happened
The U.S. in these violent times faces a violent challenge to family values. Some personal reaction
Living Abroad Is My Way of Prolonging My Black Son’s Life
- The New York Times
Thank you Michael.
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