Antwon Rose...

A couple of weeks ago, another African American teenager was shot by a white cop. We can examine dozens of reasons as to "why" this happened, but the number of such tragic encounters certainly seems to be on the increase. What is going on?

White fathers and mothers don't have to have "the talk" with their teenagers about the specifics of what to do if you are pulled over by the police to assure that you don't get beaten or killed. This is a fact--both that we DON'T have to tell our kids this (other than the typical "respect the police"), and that African American parents DO have to have this talk, which includes specifics like where to put your hands, what to say and what NOT to say, etc. Without "the talk," a black teenager may respond to a law officer the way a typical white teenager might, and that could provoke a bad outcome. I know that some of you reading this won't believe it is true, but please don't deny it until you have personally had a few conversations with African American moms and dads.

A well-known local African American activist was speaking to a group at St. Paul's UMC last year and during his talk about this subject, he asked how many in the audience had ever been pulled over by a cop for a "safety check." No one in the white, suburban group had, and several had no idea what one even was. The activist revealed that it is a regular occurrence for him, especially when he drives out into a white suburb to give a talk. And when he IS stopped for a "safety check," he is often asked to exit his vehicle and put his hands on the roof of the car. Has that ever happened to you during a "safety check?" Have YOU ever been stopped for one? Can you imagine an African American police officer pulling a white professional over in Homewood or the Hill District for a "safety check?" And can you imagine the ruckus such a thing would cause in the white community?

I share this just to point out that the playing field is NOT level, regardless what we white people think. So, Antwon Rose II is in a car pulled over by a single cop, newly sworn in as part of the East Pittsburgh police force. The car is suspected to have been involved in a drive-by shooting in Braddock, PA, and when Officer Michael Rosfeld signaled for the car to pull over, the driver obliged. We know what happened. As the officer was securing the driver, two men bolted from the car and ran. Officer Rosfeld took out his service weapon and shot Antwon Rose II three times, once in the face, once in the arm, and once in the back, and he died. The other suspect was later apprehended.

Officer Rosfeld waffled on why he shot at Rose. At first, he said he thought maybe he had a gun, but during his interview, he said he really didn't see anything in Rose's hand. Rosfeld has been charged with criminal homicide. Why was he so quick to shoot at a fleeing suspect? Typically, one cop would secure the scene and another might pursue the others on foot or begin radioing their direction of travel to other units. Herein lies the first problem.

Rosfeld works for a very small police squad. He was alone in his patrol car. It would make sense that when the suspect's vehicle responded to his lights and siren and pulled over, willingly, Rosfeld would wait in his squad car until a backup officer arrived. Why didn't he? Allegheny County District Attorney Steven Zappala flagged the lack of standards for police training, calling on State legislators to write a bill that provides minimum requirements for ANY candidate to carry a badge, even for a tiny, eight-person police force like East Pittsburgh. I would suggest that such a bill might include reference checks, which would have turned up the fact that the 30-year-old Rosfeld had problems in his previous law enforcement positions, including at least one case where he may have demonstrated that he had racial issues. When it comes to the kind of life and death circumstances that ANY police officer may face, channeling "Barney Fife" is no laughing matter. Also, Zappala flagged East Pittsburgh for having no written policies regarding its police force. This fact could open them to civil action in the Rose case that could immediately bankrupt the borough. Maybe all towns and boroughs that field police should have these?

Of course, such training and written policies would not have stopped this shooting if it was racially motivated. One has to wonder if Rosfeld would have begun shooting at the two fleeing men if they looked like his brother? Legally, there is no way to prove that race played a part in this tragedy, but that is PRECISELY the problem! Racism is insidious. A white woman clutching her purse tightly to her side just because a black man is walking down the street past her isn't a crime, but neither is a black man walking down the street past you a crime. But if that black man is walking past you down the street in Ingomar, Allison Park, or Franklin Park, does this not cause some to question? That is racism. I have spoken to suburban police officers who have confided in me that they have been called by residents to report "a black man driving a car on my street" or a "black teenager hanging out in our neighborhood." This is racism. Might racism--in this case, fear of the other, or ignorance of the other--have played a role in Michael Rosfeld pulling out his gun and shooting Antwon Rose II for the "crime" of running from a cop (see paragraph two above)?

I'm amazed how there are still people in our highly educated, "professional" congregation in the North Hills who bristle and write letters of complaint if one of our pastors cites "white privilege" in a sermon. White privilege is a sociological and psychological fact. Case in point: we don't have to have "the talk" with our kids when they reach driving age, do we? Statistics show that their chances of being beaten or shot by police is very, very low. Not so much among black teenagers, including ones who were excellent students like Antwon Rose II, who it appears was in the wrong place at the wrong time. When I bought my house, I found zero resistance to the process of choosing a neighborhood, arranging for financing, purchasing the house and moving in. Talk to a few African Americans and see what their experience has been in this regard. (Or, for that matter, talk to a Muslim co-worker who may have a Ph.D. but is dark-skinned or speaks with an accent.) White privilege IS a "thing," pure and simple, and it may even "infect" the field of law enforcement, from time to time.

Regardless of the outcome of the Antwon Rose II case, we, as an enlightened society, must work to embrace diversity and human understanding. I don't know if white people can ever get over our racism, as it is so ingrained in us. I do know that as one who desires to overcome it in myself, it is a constant battle. And any white person who says they have overcome it, doesn't understand it at all, nor does that one understand the societal and institutional roots it has that run very, very deep. One of the most racist statement I hear from white people goes something like this: "Personally, I don't see color--I don't care if people are black, white, purple or green..." What that statement says is, "I don't understand racial and ethnic differences, and I don't care to," or "I have very few relationships with people who don't look like me, other than at a very superficial level." This statement is also very self-centered. Even IF a person really believes they "don't see color," are they not refusing to acknowledge the difficulties persons of color experience while trying to do the "normal" things that we all do like renting or buying homes, buying a car, shopping, or driving through a white neighborhood without arousing suspicion?

As a Christian pastor who struggles to actually "be" Christian, and to love others according to the teachings of Jesus, it is discouraging to see how far I and my congregation have to go, even after 2,000 years of Christian influence and almost 70 years of civil rights "progress" in the U.S. And then I think about some of my colleagues out in the rural parishes where a sermon on white privilege would most likely provoke letters to the Bishop and Superintendent. However, we are people of hope, and people of prayer.

Tonight (July 2) we're having a forum at St. Paul's on the issues of family separations in immigration, and the upheaval in our community over the Antwon Rose II shooting. I'm pitching the idea that responsible people of faith should be all about IPA (beer people will like this) in these justice issues: Inform, Pray, and Act. Standing by and waiting for someone else to do it may just get us ALL killed.