Rev. Mark Whitlock, executive director of the USC Cecil Murray Center for Community Engagement, published an op-ed in the Los Angeles Sentinel on the George Zimmerman trial verdict. “How do people living in America continue to devalue the lives of people of color?” he inquired.
Rev. Whitlock’s congregation, Christ Our Redeemer AME Church in Irvine, California, also hosted a community meeting to discuss the verdict and the state of race relations. Over 200 people from diverse backgrounds and faith traditions attended the town hall.
The Orange County Register covered the event.
“We can’t do anything about what’s already happened,” said Donald Craig, president of Orange County’s NAACP branch. “But we need to look ahead to some of the laws in this country.”
Following short speeches by a panel of ministers, political leaders and members of the county’s legal community, those in the audience were encouraged to share their opinions and thoughts.
Of the more than one dozen people who spoke, some shared personal experiences of being racially profiled and some offered solutions.
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