Feeling tired and heartbroken again in the wake of another spate of shootings, the latest on Wednesday in Dallas at a Korean salon and on Saturday at a grocery store in a predominantly Black Buffalo neighborhood, which were racially motivated, and at a Taiwanese church in Orange County yesterday.
When I moved to the US in 2006, I was struck by our nation’s strange addiction to guns and toxic relationship with racism (a pervasive white supremacy culture, though I would not have the words to call it such for a few more years). I’ve lived in places where people regularly go to school and church and the hair salon and the grocery store without fear of being shot. And while prejudices always exist and must be overcome (which is hard enough), the white supremacy that permeates American systems and structures, that is perpetuated by those in power thinking that talking about racism is more dangerous than racism itself or news channels that give platform to deadly nonsense like the “great replacement theory” (espoused by the Buffalo shooter)—that must be rooted out.
Lord, give comfort to the grieving, restrain the impulses of those who would cause harm, and give us the strength to do what needs to be done to see your justice and peace here on earth. Amen.