“When America saw the death of George Floyd with their own eyes on a video played millions of times, it changed something,’ said Ronnie Floyd. ‘I really believe it will be a watershed moment for this country.’ But Floyd, who pastored a church for 35 years, said many local pastors are simply overwhelmed and often don’t know enough to address difficult topics like racism.” –Why Black Christians are bracing for a ‘whitelash’ by Daniel Burke, CNN Religion Editor, July 21 2020[1]
In 2020, pastors in Northwest Arkansas – overwhelmed as they are – were pushed by the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 to address racism – some for the first time and others in new ways. One example is NWA United – a statement of unity and ten commitments made publicly by pastors in October 2020 and witnessed on the website nwaunited.org. Commitment number seven is action:
“Love is action! We will leverage our influence and voices in our communities to help dismantle systems of oppression and work to build systems of justice and equity. This commitment also includes the commitment to be visible among our people and in the communities as advocates against racism and for restorative justice.”[2]
In 2020, I was a member of a church whose pastor committed to NWA United. I remember watching George Floyd die, reading Ronnie Floyd’s words – quoted above – and asking, “What has changed in our churches?” More than two years later, less has changed than I had hoped. Today, it is time to ask pastors to practice what they have preached – to advocate against racism and for restorative justice. While there are many important ways to do so, one urgent way is to advocate against the planned Washington County jail expansion and for alternatives to expansion. While the Washington County quorum court’s plan to expand the Washington County jail with $18 million of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) monies may not seem racist, jail expansion is a symptom of mass incarceration – a racial injustice infecting our country, state, and county, as evidenced by the following facts:
- The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world and black people are five times as likely as white people to be incarcerated in our country.[3]
- Arkansas has the fifth highest incarceration rate in the country and black people are four times as likely as white people to be incarcerated in our state.[4]
- Washington County has one of the highest incarceration rates in the state and black people are four times as likely as white people to be incarcerated in our county.[5]
Today, I ask pastors who committed to NWA United to practice what they have preached – to advocate against racism and for restorative justice – by joining Arkansas Justice Reform Coalition (AJRC), whose staff and volunteers are working to collect 8,000 signatures by February 21 for a petition to send jail expansion to a special election (see arjusticereform.org for more information). I ask pastors to sign the petition and bring AJRC staff or volunteers (such as myself) to their churches to collect signatures from their members. If we only stand for justice at moments like the murder of George Floyd, then nothing has changed.
Lowell Taylor
479-287-5216
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/10/us/white-black-christians-racism-burke/index.html
[2] https://www.nwaunited.org/commitments
[3] https://www.prisonpolicy.org/global/2021.html and https://www.prisonpolicy.org/global/2021.html
[4] https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/rates.html and https://www.prisonpolicy.org/profiles/AR.html
[5] https://www.prisonpolicy.org/racialgeography/counties.html
Reparations NOW NWA 