AS I SEE IT
by DAN HALL
One Christian wrestles with Black Lives Matter
A
s we recognize and celebrate Black History Month, I want to
wade into the very controversial discussion of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and its ubiquity in our nation. Yep, I’m going there. But before I do, let me lay a little groundwork. I have been working proactively in race relations since 1986. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to stalwarts like Dolphus Weary and Ed King. But my perspectives are not formed from cable news or retweets — rather, I’ve wrestled through the quagmire of race
8 FEBRUARY 2021 ❘ Mississippi Christian Living
relations not only here in Jackson, but Louisville, Kentucky and Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Florida. My children collectively have nearly as many black friends as white … the kind of friends that hang out at our house and vice versa. To better understand the complexity of BLM and its cultural impact, it’s important to delineate what it means through three different lenses: First, there is the SENTIMENT that “black lives matter.” There is no doubt we’ve made
tremendous strides, though with great resistance and consternation at times, since the Civil Rights Act of 1964. But 57 years is not very long to undo 250 years of slavery and another 100 years of institutional marginalization and suppression. So while we celebrate our advancements (and we must!), we have to recognize there are long strides left to make (and we must!). As a rabid pro-lifer, I understand the sentiment when my pro-life friends say, “All lives matter.” As founder of the Jackson Police
