This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Vinnetta Golphin-Wilkerson said tears of anger and righteous indignation came to her eyes when she heard that a Missouri grand jury would not indict now-former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the death of Michael Brown.
While last week's news hurt the pastor of West Valley City's Granger Christian Church, she said the toughest part of her initial reaction was a sense of despair and resignation that it wasn't the first or last time "similar circumstances would have justice denied."
"But also, it's not the first time or the last time a police officer will pick up their badge, their Kevlar vest and walk out to serve and protect their community that includes persons who hold that officer in low esteem with a thick layer of fear and distrust," she said. "It's not the first time and last time men and women of color will walk in their neighborhoods and communities, believing that the governmental structures of law enforcement hold them in low esteem with a thick layer of fear and distrust."
On Sunday evening, Golphin-Wilkerson joined Salt Lake County faith leaders and the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office to call for civil dialogue in the wake of the news out of Missouri. Standing in front of the Sheriff's Office, with pastors and officers behind him, the Rev. Jerrod Lowry of Sandy's Community of Grace Presbyterian Church described how he hoped this would start a conversation "where we can listen sincerely to what people say, no matter where they are on any particular issue."
Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder echoed Lowry's words with a reminder that when people are yelling, they're not listening. His wife and children were there, reminding him of how he endangers his relationship with them if he isn't willing to listen.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we're married. We made a decision to be in this country. We made a decision to be part of the family of man," Winder said. "And the minute we start yelling and not listening to each other, that relationship ceases."
Golphin-Wilkerson called for people to "face the reality" that incidents like the one in Ferguson can happen anywhere, even Salt Lake City, unless we do something about it.
"My response to the events of Ferguson as a black woman, as a mother, as a pastor, is one of hope," she said. "I believe that we can and we must do better. I have hope that we can change the stagnant environment of fear and distrust."
Golphin-Wilkerson called for the community to give a voice to people who "have been left out or feel left out," a process that she cautioned will be "hard, difficult, uncomfortable, messy and inefficient work. We will make some missteps along the way, and we will need to apologize, forgive, keep moving or start over."
But in the three years she has lived in the Salt Lake Valley, she said has seen countless examples of people "with diverse interests and understandings reach beyond the familiar to accomplish the incredible."
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