“He was despised, and we held him of no account…he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities…by his bruises we are healed.” Isaiah 53: 3c, 5.
It was nine minutes and thirty seconds, not the eight minutes and forty-six seconds that has come to adorn T-shirts and protest signs. That was how long a Minneapolis police officer knelt on the neck of George Floyd—nine minutes and thirty seconds. Mr. Floyd died on May 20, 2020, as a result of that encounter. His death sparked protests against racism and abusive policing around the globe.
The killing of George Floyd did not happen in a vacuum. It happened in the context of the death of Breonna Taylor, who just three months earlier had died in a hail of bullets while she slept. It happened in the context of the hunting down and killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old jogger who was gunned down by three white men on February 23, 2020.
Floyd’s death happened in the context of all of these deaths. And, the trial, of the officer who is accused of killing him, is happening in the context of more death—in this case, the recent murder of eight people near Atlanta, six of them Asian women.
Such violence is happening and has been happening because of systemic racism. Because of racism, people of color are not accounted as children of God, but are despised and held of little account. Certainly, George Floyd was held of little account on May 20. His inability to breathe--his pleading--his struggle for air--his life--did not seem to matter.
The lectionary passage for Holy Thursday, from Isaiah 53, speaks of a suffering servant who would redeem God’s people from oppression. We understand this servant to be Christ, who identifies with the marginalized and takes on the suffering of the oppressed. It is Christ who, through his suffering, death and resurrection, has the power to redeem death.
That redemption is not just a mystical theory. It happens through us, in very practical ways, when we search our souls and lament over the trauma of racism. It happens when we open our hearts, with compassion, to those who are its victims. It happens when we speak out against racial hatred and oppression and demand justice. And it happens when we pray.
My prayer this Holy Week is for the people Minneapolis, especially the bystanders (some of them children) who witnessed the murder of Mr. Floyd. My prayer is for the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and others who have lost loved ones because of hate. My prayer is for Asian communities around the world who are mourning and living in fear. My prayer is for the families of Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Yong Ae Yue, Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Elcias Hernandez-Ortiz and others who have fallen to racialized violence. My prayer is that by Christ’s bruises we all might be healed of the sin of racism and indifference to its pain.
Anderson-Torrez, Devin. George Floyd Mural Vandalized on Lansing’s ARTpath, over $2,700 Raised to Restore It. The State News. July 8, 2020.