Hopkinsville residents attended a vigil Sunday to promote unity following recent events across the country regarding race and policing.
Last week, five Dallas police officers were killed in apparent retaliation to officer-involved shootings of black men in Minnesota and Louisiana.
The city's Human Relations Commission hosted ‘Expression of Unity’ vigil at the Christian County Senior Center and featured speakers including Mayor Carter Hendricks and other community and faith leaders.
Reverend Buddy Slaughter of the Challenge House says Hopkinsville has made great strides towards bridging gaps within the community, but there is still more to be done.
“Each individual citizen has to be intentional about how they build relationships across racial barriers," said Slaughter. "And then not to tolerate racism in any form, not just towards African Americans, and then just trying to make a decision about how to improve the quality of life for all people in our community.”
Later this month, an ‘All Lives Matter’ forum will be held in Good Shepherd Church.
Slaughter says he's not directly involved in that event, but he believes the organizers mean well despite using the phrase that has been a contradiction to the ‘Black Lives Matter’ slogan. He says he hopes that’s an issue that will be addressed at the forum.
“We believe that every human life is valuable and important, so to me, all lives matters," said Slaughter. "But from an African American standpoint, to say that 'black lives matter' is just a statement to reflect that African Americans are being killed at a disproportionate rate than our counterparts, and that’s not to minimize the value of any other life.”
Organizers for the All Lives Matter event were not immediately available for comment.
