I was sent to the home shortly after the death to comfort a family I had never met. The case sheet read: young, male, black, single, Baptist, terminal cancer.
The GPS guided me deep into the heart of Chicago’s South Side. My destination was Englewood, a poverty-stricken area that often makes the headlines due to gun violence.
Although the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina are now quiet following protests in response to the September 20 shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott by police, area Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) pastors say the historic and deep-seated sentiment that fostered unrest after this killing remains.
The recent shootings in Baton Rouge, Falcon Heights and Dallas have prompted the Interfaith Coalition to appeal to U.S. lawmakers to “mend divisions” between communities and law enforcement. In a letter to congressional leaders, the coalition, including the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), says the shootings are another reminder of the “great harm caused by unaddressed racial injustices and divisions in America.”