• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
NC Council of Churches

NC Council of Churches

Strength in Unity, Peace through Justice

Get Involved Donate
  • About
    • Overview
    • Staff
    • Members
    • Covenant Partners
    • Statements
    • Board
    • Careers
  • Voices
  • Our Priorities
    • Partners in Health & Wholeness
      • The PHW Collaborative
      • Focus Areas
    • Eco-Justice Connection
      • Faith
      • Advocacy
      • Energy
      • Environmental Justice
      • Food
      • Global
      • Health
      • Resiliency and Restoration
    • Racial Justice
      • Confederate Monument Removal
      • Reparations to Restoration
    • Criminal Justice Reform
      • Cash Bail Reform
      • Death Penalty Abolition
    • Gun Violence Prevention
    • Workers’ Rights
      • Paid Sick Leave / Paid Family Leave
      • Raising Wages
    • Overdose Response
    • Legislative Advocacy
    • Healthcare Justice
    • Farmworkers
    • Public Education
  • In the News
    • NCCC in the News
    • Press Releases
  • Events
  • Resources

Search NC Council of Churches

Stand with Elizabeth City

June 2, 2021 by The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director

The following remarks were delivered by the Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director, at the Elizabeth City Solidarity Rally in Raleigh on June 1st, 2021. To watch the full video of the rally, click here.

When mobs were roaming the streets of Rome ruling through violence, the philosopher Cicero said, “Laws are silent amidst the clash of arms.” But we have just the opposite in N.C. It is our laws that help maintain the silence.

We have a law that says law enforcement body camera footage cannot be released unless a judge says so. Instead of seeing what really happened in Elizabeth City the day Andrew Brown, Jr., was killed, the law allows the judge to keep us from seeing the truth. Why wouldn’t you want to show what happened, unless what happened is, in fact, against the law?

We have another law that says there can be no outside investigation in a case unless the District Attorney requests it, even a case that involves law enforcement killing someone. Instead of finding out what really happened, the law allows the district attorney to tell the story. That’s a lot of power for someone who generally works on the same team as law enforcement.  It takes a brave district attorney to ask someone else to look into the situation and see if everybody on the team is abiding by the law. 

The laws, in fact, are working exactly as intended by those who wrote them. The laws are keeping the truth silent. But that’s why we’re here. To make some noise and bring the truth to light. To say to the judge, show the video, the whole video, so that we can see the truth. To say to the district attorney, let someone else investigate this case, so they can tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

There’s a great line from Shakespeare where Hamlet says: “Foul deeds will rise, Though all the earth o’erwhelm them, to men’s eyes.” It may take us making a lot of noise before the foul deeds in Elizabeth City rise to our eyes. But we will keep making noise. 

Now that I’ve quoted philosophers and playwrights, let me leave you with a quote from the Bible. Proverbs says: “A truthful witness saves lives, . . .” We’re going to keep making noise, friends, until we get a truthful witness. We’re going to keep making noise as long as these laws keep silent. Let’s make some noise.

Filed Under: Blog, Homepage Featured Tagged With: Racial Justice

Avatar photo

About The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director

Jennifer is a native of South Carolina and an ordained minister in The United Methodist Church. She loves South Carolina, but has managed to spend all but ten years of her adult life in North Carolina. Those ten years were spent pastoring United Methodist churches across the Upstate. She attended Duke University several times and in the process earned a BA, double majoring in English and Religion, a Master of Divinity, a PhD in religion, and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies. Prior to coming to the Council, she spent 16 years as the United Methodist Chaplain at Duke University, where she also taught undergraduate and divinity school classes, served on committees and task forces, and attended lots of basketball games. She writes frequently for various publications when time permits and preaches regularly in congregations across North Carolina. Jennifer has two adult children, Nathan, who is a software developer in Durham, and Hannah, who is a digital marketing analyst in Charlotte. Jennifer is the overjoyed grandparent of Benjamin and Theodore.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sydnor Thompson, III says

    June 21, 2021 at 4:49 pm

    Well said, Jennifer! I understand that the circumstances surrounding the death of Andrew Brown are being investigated by the DOJ. Do you know if that is true and if such an investigation is indeed ongoing?

    Reply
    • Avatar photoThe Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director says

      June 21, 2021 at 5:20 pm

      Can’t say that I know the details on that one, but the request was certainly made to the U.S. Dept of Justice.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Footer

Contact

NC Council of Churches
27 Horne St.
Raleigh, NC 27607
(919) 828-6501
info@ncchurches.org

Subscribe

Click here to subscribe to newsletters and blog updates.
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2023 NC Council of Churches · All Rights Reserved · Website by Tomatillo Design · Hosted by WP Engine