On Tuesday, September 20, Officer Brentley Vinson of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte, North Carolina. This was the latest in a series of police shootings of black men—days before, Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby fatally shot Terence Crutcher, who was unarmed.
As conflicting reports about Scott’s death spread over social media, activists took to the streets of Charlotte, demanding the release of official video of the incident. The first two nights of protests turned violent, and on Wednesday night, 26-year-old Justin Carr was shot and killed by another citizen. Since the release of some of the video, protests have turned peaceful, but activists continue asking officials to turn over the full videos to the public.
For over 25 years, Bishop Claude Alexander has served as senior pastor of The Park Church in Charlotte. CTPastors.com’s Kevin Miller and Kyle Rohane spoke with him about how he has ministered to his grieving congregation and to his conflicted city.
Where were you when the news broke about the shooting? What went through your mind?
On Tuesday night I was home watching television, and a friend sent me a text: “What are we going to do about what’s going on tonight?” I texted him back, “What are you talking about?” She told me about the shooting and the rioting. I was caught off guard. I was still absorbing what had happened in Tulsa, so it was overload hearing about something like this in my own city.
I immediately turned off the television and called someone from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, and she gave me their version of what happened. Then I reached out to other clergy to plan what we would do the next day.
We decided to go to Marshall Park for a vigil. The vigil was not structured, so people were gathered in different pockets seeking to be heard, but no one was listening. Someone said, “If they won’t listen to us here, let’s go to the Epicenter,” which is a downtown shopping area. That became ground zero for what happened on Wednesday night. It was surreal. You see that happening in other cities, but you never think it could happen in your city.
What was your congregation’s reaction?
Disbelief. Surprise that our elected officials did not handle it better.
It seemed like the Tulsa officials released evidence much faster.
Yes. On the one hand, our police department desired to be more complete in its investigation before releasing the video. On the other hand, they misunderstood how a national narrative shapes the expectations of a local event. Because of how quickly Tulsa’s and Minneapolis’s videos were released, expectations were set for how rapid Charlotte’s video should be released. The slower pace would have been all right if this were merely a local story, but it is a national story, and national expectations came to bear.
Describe the atmosphere right now in Charlotte.
Right now there’s a lull. There’s still a desire for all of the video to be released. [Shortly after this interview, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department announced they would release the full video once Scott’s family has had a chance to review it.] There have been a few side protests here and there. The next flash point will be whenever the funeral is held or when the Attorney General announces his decision whether to seek to indict the officer.
It’s a tragedy on so many levels, and our community is beginning to absorb it all. We’re trying to understand how this has affected the Charlotte image. In 2000 Robert Putman did a social-capital survey titled Bowling Alone. Charlotte scored very high in terms of volunteerism, charitable giving, and faith-based activities, but it scored 39 out of 40 in terms of interracial trust. It also scored low in protest politics. In 2015 Putman did another study surveying economic mobility and opportunity. Charlotte scored next to last on those items. Our community prided itself on peacefully integrating and not having a lot of civil unrest, and then this happens. Boom. It took everyone aback.
That’s why, in press conferences, the mayor is saying, “This is not the Charlotte way.” But she’s talking about the Charlotte of 20 years ago. The Charlotte of today has been affected by a national narrative: African Americans being shot by police officers. Three years ago we experienced a shooting and the officer was charged, but the jury was hung, and it resulted in a mistrial. Then you have a summer of shootings in Baton Rouge, Minneapolis, and Tulsa, and that creates a different Charlotte.
What have you been saying to the people of The Park Church?
My aim is to say, “There is a legitimate way to critique and protest,” while at the same time seeking to be a peacemaker and reconciler.
First, I’m trying to help people understand that implicit bias is not based upon the race of the person who holds the bias. It’s based upon the race of the person against whom the bias is held. Some people were quick to downplay the racial element of this shooting because the victim and the police officer were both black. But a black police officer can have the same bias as a white officer.
Second, I want to help people realize their anger is legitimate. It may have been expressed in illegitimate ways, but the anger and the pain are legitimate. When you have expressed your anger legitimately, but you feel nothing has changed, or you do not have access to a legitimate way of expressing it, then you do whatever you can to be heard.
What can churches do to provide appropriate outlets for legitimate anger?
They can provide safe spaces for dialogue, for conversation. But that’s for those who want that space. The problem is, many people want to express themselves in an area that will get the most attention. That’s seldom a church. This requires work ahead of time, developing relationships with young people so they know the church is available.
Church leaders should also go where people are voicing their anger to engage in a conversation with them. Again, dialogue is important to some, but others just want to get stuff off their chests. They don’t want to hear what you have to say. So church leaders must decide whether they have the temperament to let them unload. Not everybody has that temperament, so it’s important to recognize your temperament and place yourself in a position where you can best help.
How do you help people express their anger in ways that “submit to the governing authorities,” when the authority may be the problem?
The historical experience of African Americans has been that, often, the governing authority has not had African American wellbeing in mind. So the African American hermeneutic is to critique the governing authority. We have a healthy hermeneutic of suspicion based upon past and recent history. The wonder of the African American experience is that we haven’t had more riots in our history. My aim is to say, “There is a legitimate way to critique and protest,” while at the same time seeking to be a peacemaker and reconciler.
You have relationships in both black and white church communities. How have their reactions to this shooting differed?
For the most part, their surprise has been the same. Everybody was surprised. The level of anger is different. In the black community, there is a fatigue around all of these shootings—a pendulum is swinging between outright anger and fatigue. When you’ve been angry for so long, you become tired of being angry, and then something else happens and you’re angry all over again.
Many white pastors wanted to do something, but they didn’t know what to do. Most have been supportive. They are looking for African American pastors to provide leadership. Several used this as an opportunity to address matters of systemic and structural racism from the pulpit. We’re all looking at ways in which we can convene the community for a time of healing.
What advice would you give to pastors in other cities who may one day experience a tragedy like this one?
Absorbency and collaboration trump immediacy, especially if you seek to have a long-term effect.
Build cross-cultural relationships of integrity and trust before something happens. No community is immune, unfortunately. If you’re a white pastor, develop relationships with pastors of color and begin this dialogue ahead of time, so that, should anything like this happen in your city, you will have the relational capital to engage your community in authentic ways together.
You also need to build relationships of integrity and trust with law enforcement. At the memorial service for the officers who were shot in Dallas, when one of the wounded officers or a family member of one of the slain officers entered the auditorium, people clapped. I thought, These officers probably don’t receive applause very often. Why would it take something like this for officers to be applauded?
So in August we had a first responders Sunday, and we celebrated them. Because of that service, members of our congregation were more willing to give the chief and the officers the benefit of the doubt after this recent shooting.
You’ve had to lead during several times of crisis in your community. What has that taught you?
First, resist the temptation to speak before you’re ready. There will always be those who want to speak first, but it’s important to absorb what happened before saying something.
Second, seek to speak collaboratively. On Thursday, after the mayor and chief’s daily press conference, a journalist asked me, “Charlotte is known for collaboration; where was all this collaboration on Tuesday?” I had to remind her that collaboration takes time. You can fire off a tweet instantly, but it takes longer for collaboration to happen. Social media has created an expectation for immediacy. Absorbency and collaboration trump immediacy, especially if you seek to have a long-term effect.
Third, this is a time when the fragility of our society is being demonstrated. We need a muscular body of Christ. We cannot avoid or ignore harsh realities rooted in history. Find the courage to look at those realities for what they are and allow the strength of the God of justice, mercy, grace, love, and peace to equip us to come together.
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