AMERICA WAS NEVER GREAT - COPS KILLING BLACK KIDS

EMANUEL WILLIAMS 

  I saw Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell’s recent comments encouraging his congregants to “stop blaming white cops for killing Black kids” and instead teach our children to “be obedient to authority,” (referencing Romans 13). As a fellow believer, I want to speak to this with charity, grace, clarity because this kind of framing is not just Problematic, it’s Dangerous.

Romans 13 has been used historically to justify everything from slavery to segregation. To invoke it now as a blanket command for Black youth to submit to all authority without acknowledging the racialized violence, injustice, and systemic corruption embedded in many forms of “authority” is a deeply irresponsible reading of Scripture.

What’s especially ironic is his follow-up statement: “The reason people get mad at what I said is because they don’t read.” But that’s just not true. Many of us do read…not only the Bible, but history, theology, and the lived reality of Black life in America. And we still don’t come to the conclusion that obedience is the answer to state violence. In fact, we read the same Bible and see a Lord and Savior who confronted corrupt power, flipped tables, and stood with the oppressed.

Yes, teaching our children wisdom, respect, and discernment is vital. 

But obedience doesn’t guarantee safety in a society that already criminalizes their existence. Tamir Rice was 12. Philando Castile was compliant. Elijah McClain was apologetic. George Floyd was restrained. Breonna Taylor was asleep.

The issue is not a lack of obedience, it is a lack of justice.

What we need is a prophetic church, not one that pacifies or polices Black grief and righteous anger. We need shepherds who know how to weep with their people, call out injustice with boldness, and resist the urge to make our survival about how well we behave.

Why are we blaming our Black children and people for being murdered?

We will continue to teach them they are made in the image of God, worthy of respect, dignity and protection and we will continuously hold systems accountable that consistently deny them that.