Eric Gates (MDiv’12)

I HOPE POLICING HAS CHANGED. I was an Austin police officer who served its citizens for nine years as a patrol officer, working in predominantly minority communities, and as an undercover officer infiltrating white supremacist gangs such as the Aryan Brotherhood and Aryan Circle. I will tell you that the criminal justice system has not been fair or equal to brown and black people. They are sent to prison more often than whites found guilty of similar crimes. They get higher bail from judges. Their communities have been overpoliced. Use of force is disproportionately higher when compared to encounters with whites.

The disparities came to a head this summer with George Floyd’s death. Floyd was the breaking point sparking outrage that fueled the Black Lives Matter movement. We saw a video of a white police officer pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes as other officers stood around not intervening, even as he cried out for his mother. Let that sink in for a moment. He cried out for his mother in the last moments of his life. Floyd slowly died right in front of our eyes. What was his crime? He purportedly passed a fake $20 bill at a convenience store. Even so, he was supposed to be considered innocent upon arrest. Innocent until proven guilty. Remember that? If one disagreed, then they didn’t understand how the law worked and contributed to modern systemic problems.

As an ordained minister, this sickened me. Many white leaders, in church and government, continued to send “thoughts and prayers,” yet stood on the sidelines as justice was served disproportionately between white and people of color communities. The inequality was not only in policing, but also lending and financing, unequal funding of schools, lack of public transportation in minority neighborhoods, voter suppression, predatory lending practices focused on people of color, food deserts, and federal policies negatively impacting access to low cost and affordable health care for people of color.

I have been asked whether we should “defund the police.” My answer is: No. Every nation in the world, except Somalia, has some form of organized police helping maintain peace. Yet, there cannot be peace when minorities continue to be treated unequally within the judicial, religious, educational, banking, employment, and government systems. It’s easy to focus anger on the police because they wear a uniform and are easily identified. But are you willing to focus anger toward those not wearing a police uniform who work in businesses or agencies that contribute to inequality? Would you focus your anger toward your spouse, friend, colleague, pastor, or neighbor who chose to not speak up in workplaces that discriminate or benefit from unequal treatment of people of color and instead maintain the status quo for fear of not rocking the boat? I hope that as you read this, you decide to take action working to create equality. Because whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being oppressed, you failed to do it for Jesus.

– Rev. Eric Gates (MDiv’12) Founder / Owner of Devil Dog Coffee Company