Silent Tears
By Amanda Smith
shh…listen don’t you hear
I’m crying but they are silent tears
I’m crying on the inside so you can’t see
All the pain running through me
I cry for you I cry for me
I cry for the times I can’t
so if you listen you may hear my silent tears.
In a Charleston church almost 200 years old, destroyed often in years of hatred, where nine African-Americans at a prayer meeting, secure in their faith and in refuge, died in a violent act of racism by a young white man so full of hatred and bias for those who actually welcomed him that evening to join with them… right now, today, I can only react with grief for all of us. Tomorrow, what then?
Jane P. White is the Director of the Michigan Human Trafficking Task Force. She served as a member of a team of law enforcement trainers in developing and working with police agencies in “Recognizing and Investigating Hate Crimes” with racism listed as the largest number of reported cases. These numbers still continue.