April 30, 2021

Responding to Chauvin verdict, local Black Catholic says church can help end racism

REGIONAL
By Rebecca Drake

Michael Jones poses in the Cloister Gallery at St.Michael’s Cathedral. (iObserve photo/Rebecca Drake)

SPRINGFIELD — Nearly a year after the death of George Floyd, a Black man, while in police custody in Minneapolis, the police officer who was filmed kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds was convicted of murder.

On April 20, a jury found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all three counts April 20 for the death of George Floyd, after deliberating for about 10 hours over two days. Chauvin, 45, was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

While the case was the subject of both outrage and controversy throughout the nation, for one Black Catholic in the Springfield Diocese, the conviction of Chauvin was just the beginning of a long road to justice and healing.

Michael Jones is a member of St. Michael’s Cathedral Parish in Springfield and the grand knight of the diocese’s Knights and Ladies of St. Peter Claver. “My initial reaction to the verdict of Derek Chauvin was that justice has been granted. I have to admit I was worried that the jury would have found him not guilty,” he said. “With all of the evidence, along with a video recording of George Floyd’s execution and testimony by witnesses, it was hard to conceive any other verdict could be rendered.

“But I remember almost 30 years ago with the Rodney King case,” Jones said. “Four Los Angeles police officers were accused of beating Rodney King with their batons and kicking him. All of this was also recorded on video. Yet these police officers were acquitted.”  

“Of course, the guilty verdict of Derek Chauvin does not mean that justice for all has been achieved,” Jones continued, “no more than the end of racism was achieved with the election of Barack Obama to the presidency. During Chauvin’s trial, Daunte Wright was shot and killed by a Brooklyn City, Minnesota, police officer. Right after the verdict of Derek Chauvin, there were six more shootings by police against African Americans. This country has a long way to go to achieve racial justice.”

Michael Jones (left) poses with other members of the Springfield Diocese’s Knights and Ladies of St. Peter Claver. (Catholic Communications file photo/Mary Jeanne Tash)

Asked what the role of the Catholic Church should be in addressing racism, Jones said, “The Catholic Church has an urgent need for racial healing and reconciliation. Racial injustice still exists in the United States. The church needs to commit itself to change the hearts and minds of all Catholics that ‘Black Lives Matter.’

“This is only the beginning of healing,” Jones said. “There is a long way to go. This is the perfect opportunity for the Catholic Church to be a leader in the eradication of racism in this country.”

Jones was recently interviewed by Catholic Communications for a series of profiles of Black Catholics in the Springfield Diocese, to be broadcast on the weekly “Real to Reel” newsmagazine program, which airs on Saturday evenings at 7 on WWLP-22NEWS. The segment can be viewed on the program’s YouTube channel at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hAO8h-KZNA.