A Connecticut clergy member is calling for action to combat racism in the wake of a targeted attack on a Buffalo supermarket that killed 10 people and injured three others.
Dr. Boise Kimber, a senior pastor at First Calvary Baptist Church in New Haven, visited the Buffalo community devastated by a shooting in which authorities say 11 of the victims were Black.
“We renew our resolve to double down our efforts to fight for good and fairness for people,” Kimber said. “I also said that all good people need to stand up against evil, no matter where it occurs.”
Kimber said the racist attack represents an outgrowth of white supremacy in America and beyond. He’s asking that in response to the event, white people, and white evangelical leaders in particular, don’t provide an “out” for white supremacy by blaming the attack on the shooter’s mental health.
“When whites kill Blacks, when the cops kill Blacks, it’s always, ‘Oh, they got a mental problem.’ We’ve got to deal with their mental capacity. [The shooter] had the proper armor on,” Kimber said. “He scouted out this grocery store more than once. He saw a white person there in the store, pointed at the white person, told the white person not to worry and still shot up Black people. He went there to kill Black people.”
While he was in Buffalo, Kimber says he helped organize a service and a news conference. He hopes these events will prompt government officials to act in a manner that will lift Black people out of poverty in the area where the shooting occurred.
