Heartland Unitarian Universalist Ministers’ Statement on Trayvon Martin Case

Heartland Unitarian Universalist Ministers’ Statement on Trayvon Martin Case

March 29, 2012

Unitarian Universalist ministers from the Heartland District (covering parts of Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky) gathered in Lansing, Michigan today and, joining with our Florida colleagues, issued the following statement regarding last month’s tragic killing of Trayvon Martin in Central Florida.

Whereas serious questions remain about the events of February 26 and the investigation into those events; and

Whereas the public outrage surrounding this case is reflective of deeper issues in our society and the lived experience of many of its people of color; and

Whereas these individual incidents are not isolated occurrences but rather are fueled by consistent messages of fear and division in our national and political discourse; and

Whereas all people deserve the full blessings of justice, equity, and compassion in our society and in our justice system;

We therefore call for a thorough investigation into the death of Trayvon Martin.

We, as Unitarian Universalist clergy, commit ourselves, personally and professionally, to continue the hard work of transforming ourselves and our congregation, as well as our society and its institutions, by:

Moving beyond tolerance to deeper understanding and appreciation of our differences; and

Fostering an atmosphere of compassion, understanding, and hope rather than one of hate, judgment, and fear; and

Fostering healthy relationships between and among diverse communities; and

Fostering connection rather than division; and

Finally, we, the undersigned, commit to face these challenges by standing together on the side of love.

The Rev. Dr. Cynthia L. Landrum, Universalist Unitarian Church of East Liberty, Clarklake, MI

The Rev. Dr. Gretchen L. Woods, All Souls Unitarian Church, Indianapolis, IN

The Rev. Kathryn A. Bert, UU Greater Lansing, MI

The Rev. Joan Kahn-Schneider, Northern Hills, Cincinnati, Ohio

The Rev. Lynda Smith, All Souls Community Church of W. Michigan, Grand Rapids, MI

The Rev. Yvonne Schumacher Strejcek, Community UUs in Brighton (CUUB), Brighton, MI

The Rev. Dawn Cooley, First Unitarian Church Louisville, KY

The Rev. Daniel Charles Davis, Unitarian Universalist Church, West Lafayette, IN

The Rev. Shelley Page, Grosse Pointe Unitarian Church, MI

The Rev. Leonetta Bugleisi, Paint Creek UU Congregation, Rochester, MI

The Rev. Cathy Harrington, People’s Church, Ludington, MI

The Rev. Amy Russell, Miami Valley UU Fellowship, OH

The Rev. Elwood R. Sturtevant, Thomas Jefferson Unitarian Church, Louisville, KY

The Rev. Mark Evens, Associate Minister, First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ann Arbor, MI

The Rev. Dr. Claudene F. Oliva, Unitarian Universalist Church of Flint, MI

The Rev. Barbara Child

The Rev. Gail R. Geisenhainer, Senior Minister, First Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Ann Arbor, MI

The Rev. Cynthia Cain, Unitarian Universalist Church of Lexington, KY
The Rev. Dr. Nana' Kratochvil, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Michigan, Mt. Pleasant, MI
The Rev. Andrew L. Weber, YRUU Advisor, First Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Ann Arbor, MI
The Rev. Kimi Riegel, Northwest Unitarian Universalist Church, Southfield, MI
The Rev. Bruce Russell-Jayne
The Rev. Mary Ann Macklin, Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington, IN

For more information,

About Unitarian Universalism, see www.uua.org

About Unitarian Universalism in Florida, see www.floridadistrict.org

About Unitarian Universalism in the Heartland, see www.heartlanduu.org

About the Standing on the Side of Love Campaign, see www.standingonthesideoflove.org

Who Do We Mourn?

         I was deeply disturbed when Caylee Anthony went missing and mourned her death.  I know why, too.  She was of a similar age to my own daughter, and at least one person told me that Caylee reminded this person of my own daughter.  Caylee's big brown eyes, in particular, do have a resemblance.
         I cried when I read about Christina Taylor Green, who was 9 years old when she died in the shootings in Tucson.  She, too, reminded me of my daughter, a precocious, politically-involved, brown-haired, brown-eyed girl. 
         I know why I mourned these little girls who, for a moment, caught our nation's attention.  They were innocent, beautiful, and gone too soon.  And they were in the media spotlight -- beautiful little girls -- white little girls.  Their deaths were horrible, outrageous, and made us sad and also furious.
         Too often the children whose deaths we mourn as a society are like Caylee and Christina Taylor -- the white little girls.  Too seldom do we, as a society or as individuals unconnected to the family mourn young black children killed.
         This point about who captures our national attention and who we mourn and how there really is racism involved in this was brought home to me this week from an unlikely source -- a fictional one.  Like many others, I've read The Hunger Games and went to see the movie last week.  The character of Rue had a particularly tragic death in the book.  It's particularly tragic because she becomes a person who is important to the heroine, Katniss, and who Katniss particularly mourns, because she reminds her of her own little sister, Primrose.  Suzanne Collins, the author, describes Rue saying, "She has dark brown skin and eyes, but other than that's she's very like Prim in size and demeanor."  I know why I mourned Rue.  I had little sisters, too.  Rue was beautiful, innocent, and young.  Her character as portrayed in the movie also reminded me of my sisters and daughter. 
          But for some, the fact that they identified with Rue and mourned her death means that she can't be black -- even though the text says she is and the author has directly stated that she is African-American, too.  There are a number of twitter users who have posted about The Hunger Games following the movie saying thing such as, "why does rue have to be black not gonna lie kinda ruined the movie" (prompting, thankfully, spoofs such as "why does Frederick Douglass have to be black not gonna lie kinda ruined abolition"), "call me racist but when I found out rue was black her death wasn't as sad" (Yes, you're a racist), and "Rue looks nothing like I imagined her.  Isn't she supposed to be a pale redhead (or was that just in MY head?)?  Why is she black?" (Yes, it was just in YOUR head.)  For more, see what I think is the original Jezebel story here, more Jezebel commentary here, and a bunch of racist tweets here.
         Yes, too often the children whose deaths we mourn as a society are the white little girls, and too seldom do we mourn young black children killed.  That's why these people struggle with Rue being black--they mourned her, not realizing her race, and assumed her, therefore, to be white, despite textual evidence.  If you care, if she's important, she must be white.  We're used to not caring in our society about young black children who are killed.  And even more so those who are boys, boys killed too soon like Trayvon Martin.  Trayvon was innocent, beautiful, precocious, and gone too soon, too. His death was wrong, horrible, outrageous.  And remarkably, it, too, caught media attention and made us sad and furious.
         The fact that we are, really, conditioned through our media and our culture to be more sympathetically inclined towards dead white children and to find their deaths sadder and more outrageously wrong makes it even more clear how very, very wrong Trayvon's death was.  The fact that we are paying attention to it not because of his race but despite of his race shows how very, very horrible and wrong it was.  If you've listened to the 911 calls and heard him crying for help and heard the level of distress of the callers calling 911 you know it was brutal.  A beautiful, promising young man carrying iced tea, Skittles, and a cell phone, gunned down for the crime of walking while black and wearing a hoodie -- of course we are, and should be, outraged, sad, angry, furious, and tearful.  And there can be no doubt that if this was a young white boy, a high school football player, walking home from a store who was shot by a black man who happened to think he was up to no good for walking home that night, that the shooter would be behind bars awaiting trial, a trial at which he would not be treated kindly by the justice system.
         President Obama has said that the nation needs "soul-searching" in response to Trayvon's death.  In response, people are saying things such as "If Trayvon’s mother were white, would Obama give her a call?" implying that it is the president, not the shooter, who is the racist.  Of course, for Christina Taylor Green, Obama did speak at her funeral.  But facts never get in the way of racist attacks on the president.
         We do need a national soul-searching in response to Trayvon.  And especially if his death doesn't prompt sadness and outrage, we do need soul-searching.