Texas Governor Pardons a Racist Murderer
Texas Governor Pardons a Racist Murderer
Plus, Cracks in the MAGA Movement
Hey everyone,
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Our highlights this week include:
- Greg Abbott pardons a racist murderer
- Fractures in the MAGA movement over whether democracy still exists
- The attack on Black history in schools
- Praying for students facing violence for protesting
- And Sy keeps us grounded with a much-needed Christian conference on Palestine
Sy’s Recommendations
Greg Abbott pardons a Racist Murderer
(content warning, racist violence) In 2020, Daniel Perry, a man with a long history of angry and racist social media posts, ran a red light and drove into a crowd of Black Lives Matter protestors. One of the protestors, Garrett Foster, carrying a legal gun, walked up to the car and motioned for Perry to role his window down. Perry then killed Foster with a handgun. Last year, a jury convicted Perry of murder. The next day, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he wanted the state’s Board of Pardons to recommend clemency so he could grant it. Last week, Perry walked free with his rights to own firearms restored. Governor Abbott said that he would not let a jury or a progressive prosecutor “nullify” Texas’ “Stand Your Ground” law. But as Foster’s mother said eloquently in an interview (video in the linked article), the jury saw a trial’s worth of evidence and decided that the Stand your Ground law didn’t apply here. Moreover, she noted, there is no way Abbott would have pardoned the killer if the protest had been a Trump rally. I don’t have specific ways to take political action here (feel free to comment or email if you do), but this is undoubtedly a time for us to mourn with Foster’s family and those who will fear that they too could be killed with impunity if they express political views opposed to Republican orthodoxy. It’s hard to fathom how morally corrupted you have to be to issue a shamelessly political murder pardon to a racist man who killed a racial justice advocate. But it’s consistent with Governor Abbott’s past behavior, the MAGA movement’s hatred of opponents, and the history of the South. There is just so much to mourn and resist tied up in this one story.
- Read about the pardon and watch the interview
Fractures in the MAGA Movement over Democracy
Years ago, when Trump first started questioning election results, I understood his thinking, but wasn’t sure how good of a long-term strategy it was. Now, untold millions of voters fervently believe Democrats are steeling elections. And, understandably (from their point of view), this requires drastic action. Some recent ProPublica reporting documents how the Michigan GOP is in perpetual crisis because their voters want representatives who take the threat of Democratic authoritarianism seriously. And they are souring on Trump & Co. who seem content to complain about the system but ultimately leave it alone as long as they’re elected. I don’t think Trump has thought through the danger here. You can’t beat people who steel elections by voting. You have to steel the elections back, and if that doesn’t work, you have to resort to violence. Getting Trump elected doesn’t neutralize the threat. Trump will have to take action even if he doesn’t really want to because it won’t benefit him directly. Essentially, the ProPublica article documents the poisonous result of Trump’s lies, which makes me wish more people would meditate on the words of James: “Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.”
Jonathan’s Recommendations
What’s behind the Attacks on Black History in Schools?
A recent podcast featured a discussion between Jelani Cobb, the Dean of Columbia’s School of Journalism, and Nikole Hannah-Jones , Howard University journalism professor and founder of the 1619 Project. The interview is about the context and the movement behind the legislation limiting what public schools can teach about race in many states. Cobb and Hannah-Jones deliver a thorough overview of Black erasure by powerful individuals and institutions throughout US History until today. The efforts to hide the realities of enslavement, Jim Crow, and racial terror, as well as the contributions of Black people to this country, are systematic, wide-ranging, and wrong. Followers of Jesus who desire to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly after God must learn to consistently seek and tell truth. We must also resist those who desire to lie and spread what is false. And if you want to hear more thoughts on this, Sy and I liked this podcast so much that it’s the subject of our brand new segment on tomorrow’s episode of Shake the Dust where we dive a little deeper on one of the highlights from this newsletter.
Pray for Students Facing Violence for Protesting
(Content warning, violence from police and others) A CNN investigation has identified many of the men who brutally attacked the peaceful pro-Palestine encampment on UCLA’s campus three weeks ago. The police did not interrupt the melee for hours, and when they did, they arrested protesters, not the assailants. Similarly, after the April 30 arrests of protesters inside Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall, the New York City Police Department claimed its officers did not injure anyone. But they did in fact injure about one in five of the Hamilton arrestees, causing concussions, a fractured eye socket, ankle sprains, and more as they threw students to the ground, kicked them in the bodies and heads, and knelt on their backs. One of the many officers who stormed Hamilton with his gun drawn accidentally fired a bullet, which thankfully didn’t hit anyone. With all this brutality and more, I long for followers of Jesus who are committed to peacemaking and intercession to pray for students on campuses who are trying to confront their institutions’ complicity in the injustices in Gaza. May God bring light to dark places, comfort to those who mourn, and vindication for the oppressed.
- Read about what happened at UCLA and Columbia
Staying Grounded with Sy
I’ve written before in this newsletter about the grounding power of spending time among like-minded people when so much of the world is bent on taking a decidedly evil view of a given subject. There are two days left of the Christ at the Checkpoint conference, and you can livestream it for free. We’ve discussed this conference before with its founder, Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac. But it’s run by Bethlehem Bible College, an evangelical school in Palestine. It’s committed to the idea that “discipleship requires a prophetic voice” when it comes to the complex injustices of Israel’s occupation. There are so many enriching and interesting talks and discussions to watch over the next two days. I hope you spend some time with it and can find some rest and hope in people fighting for what is right.
Shake the Dust Preview
Tomorrow, we kick off season four with the great Dr. Randy Woodley. He talks to us about the central problem with a Western worldview when it comes to following Jesus, the benefits of indigenous spirituality, the centrality of love in discipleship, his new books,, and more! Also hear Jonathan and Sy’s thoughts about the interview afterward, and our new segment called “Which Tab is Still Open,” where we dive deeper into one of the highlights from this newsletter! tomorrow, it will be the podcast on the attack against Black history in public schools that Jonathan mentioned above. It’s a great episode, and we can’t wait for you to hear it!
Thanks for reading, and see you next week!
Jonathan and Sy