A Challenge to Well-Intentioned White Liberals

The letter below was  recently send to local newspapers in Lexington, MA by Rev. Steve Craft who serves as Camp Constitution’s chaplain, and an instructor.  Lexington is a typical liberal Massachusetts town with a black population of a little over 1%.  Meant for the people of Lexington, we think that this open letter should be printed in every liberal town in the United States.

Open Letter to Citizens of Lexington, MA

 Dear Neighbors of Lexington, MA:

My wife and I moved to Lexington in May of 2020 from New Jersey, and we love living in the town where the “Shot Heard Around the World” was fired.  In the short time we have been here, we have acquired many good friends and have an excellent relationship with the Lexington Police Department.  We are even on a first- name basis with our letter carrier. Recently, a young lady who was behind me in a local supermarket offered to pay for my items.  I was quite impressed.

We are concerned, however, with the number of “Black Lives Matter” signs that we see in front of some of our neighbors’ lawns.  As a Black man who has experienced racism over my 77 years, I appreciate your sentiment.   But the organization behind Black Lives Matter is a militant organization with members that have been engaged in massive violence.  Its founders brag about their Marxist ideology.  They advocate the end of the Western concept of the family and defunding the police.  These are positions that are rejected by the overwhelmingly majority of Black Americans.   Black Lives Matter leaders are silent on Black-on-Black crime which claims over 90 percent of the murders in the Black community.   In addition, Black Lives Matter supports abortion.  In New York City alone, there are more Black babies being aborted than are being born every day.

 An answer to Black Lives Matter and my challenge:

I recently became aware of an organization called Every Black Life Matters:   https://everyblm.com/

Their Mission Statement is one in which I believe all Americans of goodwill can support:

“Our mission is to protect black life from conception to death by confronting injustice and deconstructing

barriers  inside and outside the black community through a national platform of training, networked resources,

community  organizing and faith building.”

My challenge to my well-intentioned neighbors here in Lexington is to post a sign which reads:  Every Black Life Matters!

Sincerely,

Reverend Steven Louis Craft, M.Div