MERIDIAN, Miss. (Queen City Newsfeed) – The Reconciliation Week Celebration continued Friday morning with the Mayor’s Prayer Breakfast in Meridian hosted by Mission Mississippi and the Reconciliation Committee.
Local ministries came together for prayer, worship, and a panel discussion on current events and race relations.
Reconciliation Committee Chair, Stacey Miller, said this discussion is important as it’s related directly to the events of the Lockheed Martin tragedy in Meridian 21 years ago.
“Of course, in 2003 the shooter was white and five of the six victims were black, and at that time, it brought up a lot of ill feelings in our community. People wanting to riot and to protest. For us, Christ has been the center of our lives, with my dad as a pastor and my mother also as a minister, so we had to find the way of Christ— the way of love, because, if we went the other route, how would that solve anything? You know, hate on top of hate equals more hate, you know. But, if you add love to hate, that’s the only way to quail it. So my mother led the family and the community to find things, instead of being divisive, to bring people together, and what better way than through reconciliation,” said Miller.
Panelists agree that today’s meeting went well, but that doesn’t mean it was an easy one to have.
“So, it’s difficult, it’s uncomfortable, but I think we need to continue to have more conversations like this all across community spectrums and things of that nature,” said State Senator Rod Hickman.
Sometimes the national narrative on race, doesn’t line up with the local narrative.
“Here in Mississippi, because of our diverse population, we are a lot more diverse than some of the northern states. We have had plenty of opportunities to relate to each other, and with that comes challenges, but I think it causes us to be more realistic about one another and the problems,” said Miller.
Panelists said real change, starts on a more personal level.
“Declaring racism bad in public is very much expected and is very much the norm, but what we need to do is do it on a very micro-level. We need to do it in white spaces. We need to speak up against racism. We need to make sure that we address if we hear something at that level, within our own community, we do not need to let people get comfortable in their racist comments just because they are around other white people. We need to take a stand among people that look like me,” said Stephanie Davidson of the Mississippi Center for Justice.
“I think we have to begin to interact with having conversations like this with our co-workers, or having conversations like this member of our neighborhood or community, or the neighborhood across the street from us, or the community across the street from us. I think that’s where you get the real result,” said Hickman.
While there’s been some progress, panelists agree we have a long way to go.
“This is a very nuanced situation as far as racial healing and reconciliation. These are actions. These are processes. This is not a one stop solution,” said Davidson.
“I loved, there was a quote that was mentioned, it was ‘learn it, unlearn it, and relearn it’ that I really loved, and I think that’s something that our community can really take from because that’s kind of what the process looks like when it comes to reconciliation. It’s just like, what can I, how can I self examine myself to see the areas in my life that may be faulty and improve upon it so that I can see other in the way that God sees. You know, we always have to have that self assessment,” said Tyler Smith, College Pastor at Northcrest Baptist Church.
