The Revs. Irene Monroe and Emmett G. Price III joined Boston Public Radio Monday for another edition of "All Revved Up." Monroe and Price talked about protests over the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, and what lessons we can learn from their untimely deaths.
A new Bloomberg Politics Poll found 53 percent of Americans thought race relations were worse since President Obama's inauguration. Rev. Emmett G. Price III wasn't surprised. "No, not at all. How many other presidencies have you had general lay-people calling the President an 'ape?'" Price asked. "Things are just really bad."
Rev. Irene Monroe said Pres. Obama's obligation to speak about race sometimes runs counter to his personal wish to move past it. "He's speaking up on this issue as a President that didn't want to get enmeshed in these politics around race. Here he is," Monroe said. Recent events like Garner's death have "exposed this cancer. It has metastasized."
Rev. Price thought the video of Eric Garner's death shouldn't be played on television. "It's so disrespectful of individuals' rights, and to his family. His children now have to see him on television," Price said. "I don't like it. I think a photograph of the event would've been fine for me."
Monroe thought the video was valuable. "You can't disregard the rating aspect. (...) [But] it can work in highlighting the inequities in this society," Monroe said. "I think people need to see it."
Monroe said looting and rioting in the wake of the Garner grand jury decision was inappropriate. "What we're seeing in Oakland really disturbs me." Monroe said it "dishonors" those who died.
Price wasn't sure whether protests would last, but said they played an important role. "These incidents will continue to happen, so unfortunately, the staying power will be the 12 people who were down at the White House today."
Boston Public Radio host Jim Braude said the current protests over police-involved deaths risked fizzling out the same way the Occupy Wall Street movement did. "We need leaders," Braude said. "The reason it felt apart in my estimation is because there was no concrete agenda at the end of the rainbow." Braude's cohost, Margery Eagan, disagreed. "I think there's a huge change in awareness. We didn't talk about one percent versus 99 percent until [Occupy] came along."
Braude wondered whether certain leaders like the Rev. Al Sharpton hindered the cause of justice. "White people whose minds were cracked open by that [Garner] video, (...) I think they have them shut down by somebody who is, frankly, reviled in most circles."
Price said Sharpton shouldn't be the focus. "Al's going to do what Al's going to do." Price noted the request of the family of Akai Gurley — Gurley was killed in Brooklyn by a police officer — to not have Rev. Sharpton involved.
Rev. Monroe attended school with Sharpton, and agreed there were problems with his constant involvement. "He is my homeboy, and I like Al, I really do," Monroe said. "Al Sharpton is not a leader or key figure in this. (...) He is a deterrent for not only an older generation of folks, but also a younger generation of folks."
>> Click the audio above to hear the entire conversation with Rev. Emmett G. Price III and Rev. Irene Monroe. Price is a professor of music at Northeastern University, and the author of The Black Church and Hip Hop Culture. Monroe is a syndicated religion columnist who writes for Huffington Post and Bay Windows.
