[from the service the day after the District Attorney’s announcement that she would not file charges against two Sacramento Police Officers for the shooting death of Stephon Clark, 22, an unarmed black man]

Before the pastoral prayer and time of silence, I have some reflections I want to share with you.

Our opening hymn, “Gather the Spirit,” has been much loved by many of us since it was composed nearly 20 years ago and put in our 1993 UUA hymnal.  Yet a few days after I selected it, one line has become troubling for me.  One line or phrase reflects how whiteness too often has been centered in our faith tradition and the experiences of marginalized groups have been minimized.   The line I am thinking about says: “Our trials in this light appear all the same.”   If by “our trials” we mean all people, then our trials are not all the same.   Consider the trials, tribulations, fears and pain of communities of color in this nation.  As we hear from leadership in communities of color, the basic right of safety is not shared equally.

Nearly a year ago, Stephon Clark, a 22 year old black man, was killed in his grandmother’s back yard, shot 8 times by two city police officers.  He was unarmed, as were so many black and brown men and youth whose families have grieved their deaths at the hands of law enforcement or by vigilantes who were not punished by the law, as was the case after Trayvon Martin was killed.

On Saturday the District Attorney of this county announced that she will not prosecute the officers involved.  In her press conference, she disclosed intimate personal information about Stephon’s life and state of mind in his final days, but not any about the state of mind of the officers who shot him.  The grief, pain, frustration and outrage of his family and community at this development is understandable.  We extend our condolences to his family and friends. Yet condolences are not sufficient. Neighbors in families of color have persistent fears for their children’s future, and this outcome has exacerbated their fears as well as caused anguish and outrage.

I am a white male person with privileges unearned by me but granted to me by social systems. As such, I don’t have many answers. I’m not even aware of all the questions.

Hence, I am going to refrain from talking more than listening to the perspectives of the people most closely affected and most painfully affected by these events. Among other things, what I have heard is that, rather than explaining away the killing of one more unarmed man of color and making it seem inevitable, we must work toward laws, training and protocols that will prevent the next one.  Not one more.

In the past several months, at UUSS we have been honored to provide space and resources to groups keeping attention on public officials about this killing and the systems in which killings like it have gone on. This includes Black Lives Matter Sacramento and Showing Up for Racial Justice.  In addition, UUSS is a member of Sacramento Area Congregations Together (Sac ACT). You and I can find out how to be involved or provide support on all those groups’ Facebook pages, as well as in our newsletter and the Racial Justice updates on our UUSS website.  In the coming days, let us learn from these community leaders, show up alongside them when we can, and support them.  Let us show not only compassion but humility, now and in the times to come.