St. Lydia’s Condemns State-Sanctioned Violence
One hundred years ago, activist and journalist Ida B. Wells collected facts about lynching cases all over the country to demonstrate that Black people were being falsely accused and murdered. She demonstrated that lynching was law in the South. The governing institutions themselves were not only neglecting to protect accused Black persons, but were actively criminalizing and killing Black people to uphold a social system built on white supremacy.
Today, Black Americans continue to suffer state-sanctioned violence and killing. We have seen it with the killings of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Daunte Wright, and more. Too often, white people (including white Christians) lend support to this horror by assuming the worst of the victim and the best of the killer.
As a predominately white Christian church, St. Lydia’s is compelled to make a statement condemning the many examples of state-sanctioned violence continuing to unfold across the country. We call for accountability and justice from the U.S. government, and we encourage all churches to stand up for Black lives, to support and stand with movements and organizations led by Black, Indigenous, and people of color in fighting such systemic evil.
The following statement was written and affirmed by congregants at St. Lydia’s in 2021, which you can read by clicking below: