When I write these weekly notes for the "bulletin" (now for eNEWS), I enjoy the fact that I have a certain liberty to engage in topics that I find to be of interest, without having to be necessarily accountable to Church doctrine or to scripture, as I do when preaching at Mass. What you read here is my opinion and the reasons for it, and I'm sure that not all will agree with it all the time. That's fine. The hope is that it elicits some thought among you, and perhaps some fodder for discussion among families and friends. Sometimes I hear back from readers with affirming or contrary viewpoints.  That's fine, too (as long as the exchange is respectful).

In the past week I've been hearing from some that Pax Christi ought to have issued a public statement about the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. To be honest, I have never been part of a parish community in which that would be an expectation, so what may seem like deliberate silence is really my own naivete. But that traumatic event has been so dominant in our experience of life here in the moment that I'll be very eager to use this space as a chance to offer a reaction. As always, it is my own, and I don't presume to use this venue to speak for the parish or church as a whole.

About 15 years ago our then-archbishop Harry Flynn issued a pastoral letter on racism. He had come to Minnesota having previously been the bishop of Lake Charles, LA. He noted in that letter that, unlike his experience in the south where systemic racism was obvious, people in Minnesota tended to believe that discrimination and unjust treatment of persons of color was a thing of the past. He stated then that this was/is false, and that some version of "Minnesota Nice" was a convenient cover for racist attitudes that are every bit as alive here as elsewhere, just not quite as much on evident display.

It seems to me that the people who are most competent to render an opinion about racist social and institutional behaviors are the people who believe themselves to be victims of them. That would not be me. But it is surely clear right now from the outpouring of anger and grief of non-white people in this country that there remains an enormous problem here, and that it is wrong. It is evil and sinful. I agree, and so does our Church's teaching. If we think it to be a small or non-existent matter, we need to investigate why that is and what we are willing to do to change that.

What happened to George Floyd is indefensible, and a symptom of something much bigger. We have a lot of work to do in creating racial justice and healing. That's about as concisely as I know how to say it.