Respond Peacefully, Unite in Healing

By Aisha Russell*

Local churches in Oakland, Calif. are urging the community to participate in peaceful responses to the verdict in the case of Johannes Mehserle, a 28-year-old white, ex-transit police officer charged with murder in the shooting of Oscar Grant III, an unarmed 22-year-old black man at a BART station platform last year.

On July 18, 2010, jurors found Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors had sought a conviction of second degree murder. Violence and vandalism erupted near storefronts in downtown Oakland soon after the verdict was reached. The L.A. Times reports that 78 men and women who threw bottles and rocks at officers in riot gear, broke store windows and set fires were arrested on Thursday night, most of them non-Oakland residents. The response in Los Angeles was relatively peaceful, according to the paper.

Given such a racially-charged case, United Methodists are called to provide pathways to healing and forums for discussing this highly emotional case.

Rev. Mary Elyn Bahlert at Lake Merritt UMC said that she and the congregation are “searching for a response that will speak to our faith and also hopefully be helpful to the larger community.” She added, “We really are a downtown congregation,” citing how racially and ethnically diverse her church is. Bahlert hopes Lake Merritt’s diverse makeup will lead to diverse opinions on what to do next.

Similarly, Rev. Lorraine McNeal and her congregation at Downs Memorial UMC are discussing ways of “providing a forum for people to express what they’re feeling” within church doors. She hopes providing this safe space is one way to help “dial down some of the anger.”

While keeping in mind the violence that erupted around this case, we should also remember to keep peace a constant part of the conversation to work toward a just world. As Rev. John D. Current of Lake Park UMC stated, “how do we respond when God’s community has been numbed by all this violence?” During these struggling economic times that can help perpetuate violence, “We are still trying to bring Jesus Christ in the midst of this,” said Current. This is a difficult task given “the reality of living in Oakland,” a city with a violent past and yet also one of the most diverse cities in the country.

The General Commission on Religion and Race invites you to share what your church or local community is doing as a response to last week’s verdict. If you are planning any forums, please send us an email at news@gcorr.org.

*Aisha Russell is a contract writer for the Commission on Religion and Race, and has written for Young D.C., an independent teen newspaper and George Washington University’s The Daily Colonial.