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Blog archive

March 2025

February 2025

Commemorating Black History Month 2025
02/28/2025

Transportation at the Pasadena Village
02/28/2025

A Look at Proposition 19
02/27/2025

Behind the Scenes: Understanding the Pasadena Village Board and Its Role
02/27/2025

Beyond and Within the Village: The Power of One
02/27/2025

Celebrating Black Voices
02/27/2025

Creatively Supporting Our Village Community
02/27/2025

Decluttering: More Than The Name Implies
02/27/2025

Hidden Gems of Forest Lawn Museum
02/27/2025

LA River Walk
02/27/2025

Message from the President
02/27/2025

Phoenix Rising
02/27/2025

1619 Conversations with West African Art
02/25/2025

The Party Line
02/24/2025

Status - Feb 20, 2025
02/20/2025

Bluebird by Charles Bukowski
02/17/2025

Dreams by Langston Hughes
02/17/2025

Haiku - Four by Fritzie
02/17/2025

Haikus - Nine by Virginia
02/17/2025

Wind and Fire
02/17/2025

Partnerships Amplify Relief Efforts
02/07/2025

Another Community Giving Back
02/05/2025

Diary of Disaster Response
02/05/2025

Eaton Fire: A Community United in Loss and Recovery
02/05/2025

Healing Powers of Creative Energy
02/05/2025

Living the Mission
02/05/2025

Message from the President: Honoring Black History Month
02/05/2025

Surviving and Thriving: Elder Health Considerations After the Fires
02/05/2025

Treasure Hunting in The Ashes
02/05/2025

Villager's Stories
02/05/2025

A Beginning of Healing
02/03/2025

Hectic Evacuation From Eaton Canyon Fire
02/02/2025

Hurricanes and Fires are Different Monsters
02/02/2025

January 2025

PRIVILEGE AND FORGIVENESS

By Richard Myers
Posted: 12/17/2020
Tags:
PRIVILEGE AND FORGIVENESS
Bob Snodgrass, Chair
 Inclusivity Committee
 
I was very moved by the 2015 Charleston massacre. White supremacist Dylann Roof intruded into Bible Study at an AME church and killed nine people, including the pastor. Close relatives of the victims soon announced that they had forgiven Roof. At Roof’s trial, months later, his prison journal was introduced, including, "I would like to make it crystal clear; I do not regret what I did. I am not sorry. I have not shed a tear for the innocent people I killed.”

How wonderful that black people could forgive a white man for something so awful! Only later, when I heard of black people forgiving and hugging a white Dallas policewoman who had mistakenly entered a black man’s apartment and shot him, did I begin to wonder, why always black people forgiving white attackers? This issue has been masterfully discussed by Isabel Wilkerson in her book, Caste (chapter 22). She does not condemn those who forgave white oppressors; forgiveness helps those who forgive.  Yes, it’s nuanced, but something is wrong here.

Pope John Paul II is an exception. A Turkish criminal shot him in 1981, causing severe abdominal injuries requiring multiple operations and a long hospitalization. The shooter was sentenced to life in prison. The Pope visited him in prison in 1983, talked and prayed with him. Afterwards, the Pope stayed in contact with his family and in 2000 requested that he be released from prison, which he was.  The Pope ignored caste boundaries; he didn’t need revenge.

As a privileged white man, I have no attacks to forgive. I insist that all races be treated fairly by our police and courts. This doesn’t happen today. Elijah McClain of Aurora, CO was walking home, was grabbed and choked by three policemen and given an excessive dose of a sedative by paramedics.  He never woke up. Why was he grabbed? He was unarmed, but “he looked suspicious”. Daniel Prude’s family called 911 for help with his agitation. Rochester, NY police put a hood over his head and forced his face into the pavement.  He died of asphyxiation, but his family didn’t know the facts until they got records from a public records request. The LAPD shot and killed Dijon Kizzee after stopping him for an unspecified bicycle violation this September.

We whites must change the system. Police brutality is too common. I know that white privilege is real; I believe that most people, including me, have a racist side- I’ve heard racist ideas from white, black and brown friends.
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