I don’t know if Michael Brown ever attended preschool. I don’t know what kinds of toys he played with or if he enjoyed watching certain television shows while growing up. One study that I read recently, however, made me think about Michael Brown and preschool and how speaks to the tremendous barriers that people of color face from a very early age. A recent government study found that black children make up 18 percent of preschoolers, but make up nearly half of all out-of-school suspensions. These are 4-year-olds, friends. More than any other research I’ve read, this chills me to the bone because it shows how much the deck is stacked against people of color from an early age.
There is sadness and outrage because of the grand jury’s decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. None of us were in the grand jury. We were not privy to each witness or piece of evidence. And yet there is a sense that justice has not been done. There is a feeling of helplessness. And there are many voices from black Americans who cry out that, once again, our cries are being ignored.
We must listen to those cries and continue to take a hard look at our own lives, our city and systems that are put into place that place a higher value on those who are white.
Trey Hall wrote this last summer after Michael Brown was killed. It bears repeating:
“Urban Village Church joins our voices with those across the nation who seek honesty, justice, and social transformation.
”We believe that black lives matter, brown lives matter, white lives matter. All people matter to God.
“However, merely believing that is not enough. In this country built on and persistently plagued by racism, we must confess the terrible truth that white lives have systematically been empowered at the direct cost of black and brown lives being oppressed. We must not only confess this reality but also work to change the system that fuels this reality.
”An increasingly multi-ethnic and anti-racist congregation, Urban Village Church continues our commitment to work for racial justice in the world, in Chicago, and in our own Christian community. This is a lifetime commitment, not a one-time initiative. This is complicated, difficult work that invites courage and humility from everyone. This is a commitment that will be sustained only by depending on Jesus, through whom God is bringing down all the walls.
“How can you participate in this ministry?
"1) Join our monthly (third Saturday) Church Without Walls conversations, as we discuss what it means to be an anti-racist community. Next gathering: 1/17, 4-6p, 1000 N. Orleans.
"2) Join the Faith in Action Team at your UVC site to work for justice in Chicago and Illinois.
"3 )Reflect on this article by Ta-Nahesi Coates on the history of racism in America and how it has particularly influenced modern Chicago.
"Let’s continue walking together in faith, justice, and love.”
We remain committed to this effort, friends. As followers of Jesus, we can do nothing less.