Baltimore Riots Against Police Violence Tikkun and the Baptist Response

by: Rabbi Michael Lerner on April 29th, 2015 | No Comments

We endorse the statement below from the Progressive National Baptist
Convention. Police violence, particularly though not only against African
Americans, requires immediate and forceful response at every level of our
society. People should be protesting in the streets of our country wherever an
ethical consciousness has not yet been snuffed out by cynicism, surplus
powerlessness, indifference, or inability to focus due to mind-destroying
absorption in the distractions that abound in cyberspace, the media, and the
entertainments of contemporary American society.
At the very least, everyone should be writing to all of their elected officials
from President Obama to the local city councils and state legislators asking for
new laws that require an independent prosecutor in every city and for every
state (to be chosen by a panel of civil rights, civil liberties, and human rights
leaders and lawyers) to investigate every incident of alleged police violence and
charged with the ability to directly bring to trial those for whom there is strong
reason to believe that they violated the civil and/or human rights of those
assaulted, , to penalize through pay reductions every police officer in the
district in which one of them engages in acts of excessive violence (because the
collective energy of that police community will soon change the ethos of violence
that exists in many police forces when they face personal financial loss as a
result of the actions of one of the members of their local police district), the
creation of independent police review boards personned by clergy and civil rights
leaders who have the power to impose financial penalties on the leadership of
police forces that have had more than 3 excessive violence instances in a year
validated by the independent prosecutor, and an automatic reduction in the
police budget in any city where more than 5 excessive violence instances have
been validated by the independent police review boards. And we welcome other
suggestions as well from our readers about strategies to end police violence. In
addition, every classroom in America receiving federal or state public monies
should be required to teach about civil rights, human rights, the history of the
violation of those rights by police and others, and the proposals currently being
brought forward by communities of color and other groups facing discrimination.
After reading the statement below, please also read the suggestions of Allen
Baptist Church deacon (and former police officer) Reginald Lyles which he
delivered at the Tikkun Town Hall Conference on Reclaiming America in
December 2014 and which is reprinted below the official Baptist statement.

Rabbi Michael Lerner,editor, Tikkun magazine RabbiLerner.tikkun@gmail.com

Statement on Events in Baltimore
As I look out upon the tragic events occurring in the streets of Baltimore, MD,
I cannot help but feel shocked and brokenhearted. Anger over the yet
unexplained death of Freddie Gray is one thing, but to respond through the
violence which has engulfed the city is another matter. The rioting, looting and
burning does not accomplish anything.
The anger underlying this behavior is understandable. Over the last year we
have seen too many unarmed Black men killed with no consequences for those
who committed the act. Living in neighborhoods where there are no jobs, no
quality education, no livable wage, and the resurgence of racism all leads to a
sense of hopelessness and despair.
After a certain point, people begin to throw their hands up and cry out in
hopeless resignation, Whats the use? All of us need to be concerned. These
same conditions exist everywhere. It could be your city or mine next. And until
these underlying conditions are addressed, none of us can be comfortable.
As the PNBC, our challenge is how do we reach an unparented and unchurched
generation to teach them the history of nonviolent protest as the strategy to
create social change? Those who have engaged in these violent actions have
surrendered the moral high ground to those who could care less about our
condition and our hopes. Nonviolent protest was calling attention to the culture
of police brutality and initiated a conversation about change. Now that message
is being lost.
The Progressive National Baptist Convention condemns this violence, but we also
condemn the system that consistently ignores the need to engage in urban
revitalization and providing jobs that pay a livable wage. Until the larger
underlying issues are addressed, this frustration will erupt again and again. Let
us pray and work to effect true, lasting and positive change.
As we pray and support the people of Baltimore, Im asking all PNBC pastors and
churches to make yourselves available to Baltimore clergy and congregations to
provide tangible support as the Holy Spirit directs. Im also asking that we use
this as a moment to teach this current generation about the practice of
nonviolent protest as practiced by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his
words, Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and
immoral. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible.

In Christ,
Dr. James C. Perkins, President
Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.

For Whom the Bell Tolls

No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thine own
Or of thine friends were.

Each mans death diminishes me,

For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.
When Rogue Cops, claiming irrationals fears, empty their weapons
executing Black children in the streets for nothing or less than
misdemeanors,
When bodies are allowed to lie in the streets for four hours to traumatize a
community, with its growing stench,
When the Criminal Justice System is manipulated by District Attorneys to
defend the accused police officer and its purpose is to absolve their guilt,
When police unions disregard their oath of office and campaign that all
police actions are justifiable, promote prevarications, leaks and defile their
oaths intent,
When racists and bigots from the murkiness of Americas DNA arise and
shout justifications for the carnage and they begin with He was a demon
or a monster, proclaiming size and darkness of skin as rationalities,
When former elected officials and politicians join the fray by saying it is
the fault of the victims, or property damage is more important than life, or
that because of some on-going criminality, state sanctioned murder by
Rogue Cops is acceptable; I stand and say:
Each mans death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee.

John Donne and Reginald Lyles

Isabel Wilkerson wrote in the Guardian on August 14 the following:
Not terribly long ago in a country that many people misremember, if they knew
it at all, a black person was killed in public every four days for often the most

mundane of infractions, or rather accusation of infractions for taking a hog,

making boastful remarks, for stealing 75 cents. For the most banal of missteps,
the penalty could be an hours-long spectacle of torture and lynching. No trial, no
jury, no judge, no appeal. Now, well into a new century, as a family in Ferguson,
Missouri, buries yet another American teenager killed at the hands of
authorities, the rate of police killings of black Americans is nearly the same as
the rate of lynchings in the early decades of the 20th century.
About twice a week, or every three or four days, an African American has been
killed by a white police officer in the seven years ending in 2012, according to
studies of the latest data compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. That
number is incomplete and likely an undercount, as only a fraction of local police
jurisdictions even report such deaths and those reported are the ones
deemed somehow justifiable. That means that despite the attention given the
deaths of teenagers Trayvon Martin (killed by neighborhood watchman George
Zimmerman) and Jordan Davis(killed by a white man for playing his music too
loud), their cases would not have been included in that already grim statistic
not only because they were not killed by police but because the state of Florida,
for example, is not included in the limited data compiled by the FBI.
Even though white Americans outnumber black Americans fivefold, black people
are three times more likely than white people to be killed when they encounter
the police in the U.S., and black teenagers are far likelier to be killed by police
than white teenagers.
The haunting symmetry of a death every three or four days links us to an uglier
time that many would prefer not to think about, but which reminds us that the
devaluation of black life in America is as old as the nation itself and has yet to
be confronted. Beyond the numbers, it is the banality of injustice, the now
predictable playing out of 21st Century convention the swift killing, the
shaming of the victim rather than inquiry into the shooter, the kitchen-table
protest signs, twitter handles and spontaneous symbols of grievance, whether
hoodies or Skittles or hands in the air, the spectacle of death by skin color. All
of it connects the numbing evil of a public hanging in 1918 to the numbing evil of
a sidewalk killing uploaded on YouTube in the summer of 2014.
Lynchings were, of course, distinct from todays police killings. They were
ritualistic displays of public violence before sometimes thousands of people,
including children. They were intended to reinforce the arbitrary rules of a
race-based caste system, primarily in the American south. One white father in
Texas took his toddler to a lynching in Waco in 1916 for that express purpose.

He propped the boy up on his shoulders, as 18-year-old Jesse Washington was

burned alive. My son cant learn too young, the man said.
You are aware of these things. You who are Sons and Daughters of Jacob have
been through this phenomenon and you will never forget that it happened and
can happen again. We in the African American community use your language to
express our current emotion. We are lamenting like the Prophet Habakkuk,
crying out how long Lord? Our Rachels are wailing and cannot be comforted.We
ask that allies join us in the avocation of the cry for justice. Soon, if it has not
already commenced, the talking heads of the corporate news media will
commence to blame the victims. The deaths were the fault of the deceased.
Nevertheless, we invite, request, and beg your participation.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said:
Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to
speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.
Consequently, what can White American, progressives, who understand Ferguson
and the street executions of Black Male do? You can explain to your
constituencies and congregations the following:

First, understand, promote and join us in the awareness that no other

struggle supersedes the struggle for justice. Join us in demanding the
cessation of street executions of Black and Brown women and men by
Rogue White Male police officers.

Second, understand, promote and join us in believing and supporting people

of color when they make complaints against abusive and Rogue Officers.
Of course, each officer that is subject of a complaint must have due
process. However, I am speaking of eradicating the psychological pretext
that seems to be imbedded in the White community that people of color
are always lying onan innocent officer and that every officer is always
innocent in their actions.

Third, understand, promote and join us in the awareness that we make a

distinction between righteous, constitutionally responsible officers, which
the vast majority is, and the Rogue Officers and their supporters, who
commit street execution under the rubric of doing their job and specious
explanations of being afraid for their lives. The 2 to 3 percent are the
Rogue Officers must be eliminated from the responsibility of policing
America. They are the ones, who create the injustices across America.
We must learn to make the distinction and insist that police and municipal

governments discipline these Rogue Officers, up to and including

termination and prosecution.

Fourth, understand, promote and join us in demanding that all United

States Police agencies must mandatory report to the Department of
Justice all Officer Involved Shooting (OIS) incident data (this would
include when an officer is injured and when a suspect or another person
injured). The data must be analyzed and agencies needing reform must be
engaged in the consent decree process.

Fifth, you can explain to your constituencies and congregations what the
purpose of a grand jury. According to Justice Antonin Scalia, who
explained the function of the grand jury in United States v. Williams is as
follows: It is the grand jurys function not to enquire . . . upon what
foundation [the charge may be] denied, or otherwise to try the suspects
defenses, but only to examine upon what foundation [the charge] is made
by the prosecutor. As a consequence, neither in this country nor in
England has the suspect under investigation by the grand jury ever been
thought to have a right to testify or to have exculpatory evidence
presented. Therefore, the grand jury has been recently used in the
Michael Brown case, Eric Garner case and others is a recent phenomenon.
It is a strategy to thwart justice for Black, Brown and the poor. We ask
that you expose this misuse and advocate for DAs that propose using this
strategy, to be removed politically at the ballot box.

Sixth, you can join us in the demand that the United States Attorney
General have jurisdiction over OIS, where a death has occurred and an
Officer is responsible. District Attorneys are incapable of meeting out
justice because of the institutional bias that exists due to the inherent
collegiality and political bias that exist due to District Attorneys and
police associations, using the political electoral process.

Seventh, you can join us in the demand for the hiring of people of color on
police agencies and especially on police agencies that have jurisdiction
over predominate communities of color. This must include the overhaul of
the hiring process that in many cases is bias and rejects people of color
base on institutional racism issues like bad credit. Additionally, officers
should receive instruction from academics, which are people of color.
Processes should be established in every police agency to discover
officers with racial animus and attempt to ameliorate their behavior, prior

to incidences that are motivated by institutional racism, racial animus or

bias.

Eighth, you can join us in the advocacy for the non-proliferation of

machine guns that shoot multiple rounds, and high volume magazines that
hold more than seven rounds. This demand does not affect anyone seeking
to own a shotgun or other hunting rifle (as long as it does not use a multi
round clip or barrel cartridge holder containing more than seven rounds).
Additionally join us in the advocacy for the non-proliferation of toy
replica guns that are sold to our children and may be confused as a real
weapon creating the pretext to gun down children like Tamir Rice, in
Cleveland, Ohio.

Ninth, you can join us in advocating that when a police agency and
municipality submits to a negotiated settlement agreement (after a court
decision of their violation of the civil rights of their constituents) and the
agency and/or municipality invokes a strategy of stalling the
implementation of the objectives, federal fund must be withheld from
that agency, until affirmative progress is made towards compliance.

Tenth, understand, promote and join us in creating space for dialogs on all
levels around race and justice. Lastly, Cease the failed assumption that
the United States of America is in a post-racial era.