Smith: Consider excessive force through lens of mandate to love one another

“South Carolina?” they exclaimed. It was not without trepidation that my family begrudgingly accepted my decision to relocate to South Carolina to accept an awesome job. Their concerns centered around the racial climate in this state. Would we encounter hostility or, worse, harm? Would my California-born black child meet with hostility in the schools here?

On my 74th night in Charleston, South Carolinians and the nation witnessed yet another atrocity with racial undertones in the Palmetto State: the inexcusable treatment of a child at Spring Valley High School by an armed male police officer who at some point likely accepted the charge to “serve and protect” his citizenry. My eyes saw neither service nor protection in the video clip.

In light of this incident, I’d like you to consider the African concept of “Ubuntu,” which embraces the notion that we are all interconnected and interdependent. It says that we all rise and fall together. Ubuntu posits that fellow human beings help each other, serve each other and protect each other because to help the “other” is to help one’s self.

I read in my Bible that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:39). Part of love is service (helping) and protection (keeping others from harm). Most of the world’s religions and faith traditions concur: We should love others and treat them with dignity.

Many suggest that the Hebrew word translated “sin” means to miss the mark. If examined through the lens of Ubuntu or Christianity, this and other incidents of excessive force by some of our men and women in blue can be seen as missing the mark regarding a basic tenet of humanity.

We have got to aim higher. We need to remember what we have been charged to do during our time on earth: to love each other. Not just those whom we like. Not just Christians. Not just officers of the law. Not just teachers. But all. While all of us in positions of authority have to make hard decisions and mete out discipline, we must do so with a heart of love and a spirit embracing the humanity of our fellow man.

One definition of integrity is living such that one’s espoused values are highly correlated with one’s enacted values. Put more simply, integrity is walking the talk. It is time for the Bible Belt to do better. It is time to remind ourselves daily to love our neighbors as ourselves.

This story was originally published November 2, 2015 at 12:04 PM.