The verdict was a huge relief. Joy would be the wrong word but reading that the jury convicted police officer Derek Chauvin on all three counts (2nd and 3rd degree murder as well as manslaughter) was deeply satisfying.

When it comes to issues of race, things in this country never change fast enough. What would have happened if some passing teenager hadn’t had her cell phone on? The Police Department’s original version of the events was completely different from what the video showed. People cannot be counted on to be conveniently located for a proper filming of every police encounter with people of color.

The verdict is important, though, as police officers have historically not been held accountable for killing anyone. In this case, Chauvin’s own Police Chief testified for the prosecution.

Change is never fast enough, never deep or wide enough. But things are changing.

I watch television shows with many people of color in the casts but in the last few months, specific and topical issues of race are being opening and overtly addressed. Whether it is Grey’s Anatomy or New Amsterdam, 9-1-1 or Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, mainstream television is showing scenes I never dreamed of seeing, even a couple of years ago.

Here are some of the plot lines:
Being stopped by the police for being a person of color, and the ensuing terror of that encounter; facial recognition software not working for black or other non-white faces, and a black man being asked to lead the press conference and lie about the issues. He refuses and because it is television, he speaks directly to the Board of Directors about why people of color need to be on the Board. The medical director of the NYC hospital conducts a series of interviews with hospital employees of color simply to hear what their day to day lives are like, racially.

These tv shows are on during prime time. These are not subscription channels like HBO or Showtime, both of which are more likely to push the cultural envelope. These shows are on ABC, Fox and NBC.

There is more to report:
The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee voted HR 40-(Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act) out of committee. It is not the first time that reparations were proposed in the House. That was in 1989. But for the first time, it was voted out of committee, the first hurdle to becoming a law. The vote was 25 to 17, along party lines, and it will likely never make it to the Senate, but it is still worthy of note and celebration. While attending Union Theological Seminary, I had the privilege of taking several classes with James Cone, referred to as the father of Black Liberation Theology. He talked about reparations in the early 1990s and the myriad ways money could be invested in communities of color.

I am sorry Professor Cone is no longer alive to experience this verdict and the reality that reparations will soon be discussed in the hallowed (and very white) chambers of Congress. Today is a day I can believe in progress, even if it moves at a glacial pace. Even if Derek Chauvin was so clearly the face of evil, anyone could see it. Even if it’s only one cop. Even if it’s only one trial.

Let’s keep moving in the direction of equity, and accountability.  And maybe, just maybe, we  are picking up the pace.

xo
Rev Susan