The Friend

The events in Charlottesville, Virginia were tragic as a domestic terrorist group sought to incite violence and instill fear into the hearts of all non-whites on August 12th, 2017. If 2017 has taught us anything, it is that many members of the white majority have displayed a learning deficiency in regards to the actual black experience, the actual historical degradation and the actual suppressive ideology of white supremacy (beyond the factions of 'white supremacists' who appear on our television screens). The reason I have labeled white ignorance as a 'learning deficiency' is because I have found that many whites are simply unable to empathize with the black experience and much of this is ignorance is because their realm of existence is so distinctively different than that of black Americans. When someone is diagnosed as having a learning deficiency it is sometimes due the inability of the brain to receive or process information. Many blacks have found that when exp...

In other news, we have an issue.  Shaun King says, "More than 660 people have been killed by American police so far in 2017. This year is on pace to be the deadliest on record for people killed by American police since national databases began keeping track in 2013. No other developed nation in the world has 10% of that number." In a country that is continually set against itself we see another example of heinous police brutality.  Justine Damond, was shot and killed by those sworn to protect and serve after alerting the Minnesota Police Department of a possible disturbance behind her home.  I grieve for her, her fiancé, her family and the community of people who knew her.  I am sorry for the loss of of this woman who deserves to have the opportunity to decide what she wanted to do with her day today. I am grieved to know that there are those in her native country of Australia who are, perhaps for the first time, experiencing firsthand America's violent histori...

Lifetime Likelihood of Imprisonment: White Men 1 in 17 (5.8% of all White Men) There are a total of 197,870,516 (as of 2014) million non-Hispanic White people in America.  This is roughly 63% of the total U.S. Population. Lifetime Likelihood of Imprisonment: Black Men 1 in 3 (33% of all Black Men) There are a total of 42,020,743 (as of 2014) million Black people in America.  This is roughly 13% of the total U.S. population. There are more than 2,400,000 people incarcerated in the United States. 40% of the U.S. Prison population are Black Americans (2,306 per 100,000 people). 39% of the U.S. Prison population are White Americans (450 per 100,000). "Black cities have similar crime statistics for blacks as do cities where majority of population is white." Bureau of Justice Report What is interesting about these numbers is that there is a clear lack of delineation when we hear people talk about the fairness of our justice system is giving fair and equal treatment ...

Please encourage. Plead to those in our seminary to speak on our behalf. On my behalf. Read the words that I have wirrten if need be. Silence is the same as opposition. The white moderates have always been the ones who have caused the most frustration in our plight. Always. Dr. King framed parts of the letter from the Birmingham jail based upon the response he had received from moderate white Christians.. You have to speak. If you choose not to it only further proves that our plight in inconsequential to whites and white clergy members. How can someone be my brother but not stand for me? Let me not be insincere and be brash with you because it will cost you. Standing with me with cost you frienships. It will cost you security. Yet that is the gospel. Here in America blacks are like the Israelites in the land of the babylonians and assyrians. Yet in the academy our professors can teach about the 1st century church but not show adequate care and compassion for the people that are under t...

"Why do you want to kill me?"   Does a gold grill justify a black man's death? Does a darker and sweaty complexion in Oklahoma summer heat warrant a black man's execution? Does a muscular physique require lethal force to be used against a black man? What is it about me that makes you want to kill me? Does the bass of my voice make you feel inferior? What is it about me that warrants death? Is it my athletic figure? Does this make you want to kill me? Is it the pain of my eyes? Is the burden too heavy to bear? It is the brokenness of my soul? Does it bring you shame? It is my strength? Does it make you want to conquer me? Is it my disposition? Does it make you feel threatened? Is it my displeasure with the way I've been treated? Should I stay in my place like a 'good boy'? What is it about me that makes you say, "he looks like a bad guy?" Is it the way I walk? Please help me to understand. What is it about me that m...

Cameron Friend M.Div George W. Truett Seminary Baylor University July 1st 2016 94 of the 96 Offenders of Domestic Violence in the NFL since 2000 are Black Men On July 14, 2015, sports writer Stephen A. Smith hosted the ESPN television show “First Take” alongside of Skip Bayless.  On this particular day the two men were responding to the allegations of domestic abuse made against Greg Hardy, who was soon to be employed as a defensive end for the Dallas Cowboys. Hardy’s ex-girlfriend, Nicole Holder, said that Hardy assaulted and threw her onto a couch covered in automatic weapons and ammunition.  Smith noted that the allegations against Hardy were expunged because the plaintiff (Holder) never showed up to her court date for unspecified reasons.  The defendant (Hardy) may have avoided facing any jail time but the rest of the NFL powers-at-be thought Hardy to be guilty. Even though Hardy played in the 2015 season, he has since been ostracized from the NFL. It was not...

Colin Kaepernick has chosen not to honor the American flag because he thinks that Black people and other minorities have been systemically degraded by institutions that promote structural racism and increase the reach of a class known as 'white privilege'. He is a Black man who has experienced deep hurt over the course of his life and he has watched as many other Black people have been killed, raped, tortured and systematically prejudiced against while the justice system has offered no restitution. He has elected not to honor the flag that represents (in full or in part) hundreds of years of injustice and persecution against Blacks in America. While we may disagree with his methods (it is clearly obvious that many do) can we at least acknowledge the racist comments that have erupted in light of his decision? This First Amendment right, the same one that many cling to for justification of their racial tirades, guarantees that Kaepernick is allowed to express his deep hurt in a m...