Three years and six days ago, an unarmed young black man named Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. In the aftermath of the unrest that followed the criminal act of injustice on the part of the police department, the United States has seen the largest groundswell of anti-racist sentiment in the last few decades under the guise of #BlackLivesMatter and similar movements.
Nine months ago, as if in response to the groundswell, this nation of immigrants, descendents of slaves, descendents of those that owned slaves, and descendents of the aboriginal tribes voted a man into office with clear ties to neo-Nazi and other racist groups. Catholics and Protestants together voted him into office. Mostly white people. Mostly men.
Combine this with the fact that the United States already exists as the most violent and heavily incarcerated wealthy country in the world, and then add to it a small but fiery movement to rid the US of statues and monuments that celebrate the Confederacy…and you get #Charlottesville.
….Read the rest of my post at www.DailyTheology.org!
John P. Slattery, PhD 