A multi-ethnic and multi-racial group of about 200 people gathered in Bethlehem’s Payrow Plaza June 6 to hear speeches by officers of local NAACP chapters and some religious leaders. All spoke in support of continued action in support of justice in the nation’s judicial system, especially at the hands of police. The need for accountability of police for their actions was a central theme.

The rally focused on George Floyd, an African-American who died May 25 in Minneapolis when a police officer applied continuous pressure to his prone body for over eight minutes pinning him against the wheel of a police car and the pavement.

The local rally was but one of many held across the United States and in other countries in protest of Floyd’s death and in support of justice.

Esther Lee, president of the Bethlehem Chapter of the NAACP, led the ceremony and introduced the speakers.

“The harsh reality is,” said Bethlehem Mayor Robert Donchez, “racism has torn us apart. Our country has had a long and difficult time with racism. ‘

“I stand here representing 25 pastors, imans, and rabbis in our community on organization called the Bethlehem Inter-Faith Group,” said Rabbi Michael Singer of Congregation Brith Shalom. “I stand here convinced this a moral emergency. This is where we need to be.”

“The killing of George Floyd in the custody of Minnesota police officers has become a tipping point for grief, outrage, and protest across our nation. Floyd’s death is the most recent in long line of suspicious and wrongful deaths at the hand of those sworn to protect has galvanized the American social conscious.

“For over 400 years we have wrestled with the scourge of white supremacy in North America,” Singer continued, “which has enslaved, colonized, dehumanized, marginalize, abused and murdered people of color and minorities solely due the color of their skin.”

Rabbi and Northampton Community College history professor Sol Levy recounted how Dr. Martin Luther King had evolved his thinking to the point where he believed in what Levy called “non-violent direct action.”

“He didn’t like the term ‘pacifist.’ What he didn’t like about that word is, it sounded passive-like you weren’t doing anything,” Levy explained. “This strategy can work.”