“ Not everything faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” --- James Baldwin

18 Year old Payton Gendron has not only taken the lives of others but has

ruined his own over a belief in a myth. On Saturday afternoon at a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, N.Y., he shot thirteen people. Ten of them were people of color and all ten of them were killed. He surrendered to police

inside the store and is currently on suicide watch. Eleven of those shot were African American. In a so called “manifesto”, he is alleged to have posted that he denounced immigrants and African Americans as “replacers” of white

people. This perspective and belief has recently moved from the fringe of

far-right politics into the mainstream of Republican Party politics; a pathetic and obviously dangerous state of affairs.
 

And yet, for all of Mr. Gendron’s complaints about immigrants replacing white people, his “manifesto” was filled with crudely racist memes about African Americans. He searched by zip code for the largest African American
population close to where he resided in order to kill as many African Americans as possible. One cannot help but think of Mr. Dylan Roof, killing nine African American parishioners while they were praying at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal church in June of 2015. In his “manifesto” Gendron wrote, “Blacks are the most privileged race in the U.S. and many western countries". But yet, they say they are the most oppressed. What other race is given trillions of dollars of White taxpayer money to succeed, but yet fails and asks for more? What other race actively destroys their

communities like they do?”

 

Sound familiar?

 

The conservative (not all conservatives mind you) hysteria that seeks not to be offended, banning books, to keep American History in a category of

innocence and well-meaning is a dangerous notion. By refusing to

acknowledge the roots of historical racial inequality we will never come to grips and face our past, thereby crippling our future possibilities as a nation, individually and collectively. It is morally wrong, and it is a clear and present danger. This is what happens when we continue to run and hide from our

history. This is hard work. Yet it is necessary for our survival. This is why we need the 8th principle as Unitarian Universalist, and as Americans.

 

Listed below are the ten people who were killed and the 3 injured.

Finally, there is the shooter, Payton Gendron, while still living, is now a

member of the walking dead and whose life is ruined for a belief in a myth that never happened.

The UUCSV Board is inviting all congregational members to attend our

annual meeting on May 22, 2022, at 12:30 p.m. We will be electing a new slate of board members and approving the 2022-2023 fiscal year budget. In order to comply with the church's bylaws we must have a quorum of current members in attendance in order to enact the church's business. To help

facilitate attendance, the meeting will be hybrid with the option for members to attend live immediately after the May 22, 2022, service in the sanctuary or to stream on Zoom.  

 

Thanks in advance for your help in moving the church forward!  We look

forward to seeing you there. 

 

The sermon theme on June 5, with guest minister Rev. Claudia Jimenez from the UU Congregation of Asheville, is “the promise of UUism.” Rev. Claudia would like to incorporate haikus that our congregation submits into her

sermon. So, fellow UUCSV members and friends, “What comes to mind when you think of the promise and possibilities that UUism has to offer?”

 

If you will submit your haiku(s) to Andy Reed at Reedroid53@gmail.com no later than May 31,2022, I’ll forward them to Rev. Claudia, who will choose some to use that Sunday.

 

Thank you for participating in THIS participatory service!
Andy Reed  (828) 667-1733