We stand in quiet vigil to publicly witness our opposition to the racism and hate that is still so entrenched in our region and across our nation. We stand in hope that continued work, from each of us, can help heal us all from this disease of racism. 

Most of our communities, in different forms and to different degrees, sustain systems of inequality that demonstrate Black lives do not matter: unequal education; limited access to health care; declining public health rankings; housing laws that concentrate poverty; low-wage employment and widening economic inequality; inadequate public transportation, and our public refusal to adequately fund the services for these sectors in order to eliminate structural racism in our society. These systems of inequality quietly protect white people, including most of us at Eliot Unitarian Chapel, and shelter us from understanding that this oppression hurts our neighbors of color and, ultimately, diminishes our own humanity. 

Can any caring white person find this acceptable?

We strive for a just society ordered by law, not chaos, and law enforcement has a vital and difficult role serving this goal. However, as people of faith who profess that every person has inherent worth and dignity, we stand in opposition to the historic oppression of Black people, including the role of law enforcement in this oppression. Decreasing racial profiling of entire communities and of individuals, de-escalating the use of deadly force, and implementing the use of implicit bias training would be three immediate steps law enforcement could take to rebuild trust and save lives, including the lives of police officers often harmed by escalating violence. De-escalating violence by all would help us build more loving communities.

Those of us who are white have largely ignored our role perpetuating racism. In America, our status as the dominant culture declares to all that our white lives matter. We need no signage. And no one else who is NOT in the dominant culture, who is NOT white, ever forgets that our white lives matter. How loudly, how publicly, and how personally will each of US proclaim that THEIR Black, Brown, Asian American and Native American lives matter?

In his summons to Selma fifty-nine years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., called out to us: “We have witnessed an eruption of the disease of racism which seeks to destroy all America. It is fitting that all Americans help to bear the burden.” This disease of racism still infects us today.

 So we still stand in quiet vigil. We proclaim Black Lives Matter. We stand with all the people of Greater Ferguson, the St. Louis Region & beyond. Together we strive to build a just and loving community for all.  Come.  Stand by our side. Stand on the side of love. 

Vigil for Hope and Healing each Tuesday, 4:00 – 5:00 pm

Social Justice in Action Team

Eliot Unitarian Chapel

Kirkwood, Missouri   

Recommended reading online: 

forwardtroughferguson.org