Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
SW Fresno Pastor Reflects on George Floyd Killing, Says Jerry Dyer Needs to 'Switch Hats'
TLBBHMAP3-U010ALB5ANM-348f959abae2-512-300x300-1
By Jim Jakobs, Digital Producer
Published 5 years ago on
June 2, 2020

Share

Pastor Paul Lawrence Binion II delivers a unique, calming, and reassuring gospel when he speaks.

“My agenda is to ensure that justice is served.”Pastor Paul Lawrence Binion II, Westside Church of God

“God has a sense of humor,” Binion said during a Tuesday morning interview via Zoom. “He brings me to Fresno and then he puts in my life all these white people who really love me.”

Binion, who is the pastor of Westside Church of God in southwest Fresno, offers up Tom Sommers, and H. Spees as examples.

“God used them to change my heart,” the 71-year-old Binion says. He now sees his church as a means to reach out across both denominational and racial lines.

“My agenda is to ensure that justice is served,” Binion says.

How the George Floyd Case Is Different

Binion says the George Floyd case brings attention to racial issues he’s worked to solve his entire life.

“People get excited, and we see these kinds of things take place, but then it dies down and it goes away,” says Binion.

But he says there is something different about Floyd’s death under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer.

“It seems to me, there are a group of young people now who don’t want to grow up and have the kind of lives and put up with the kinds of things that we have,” says Binion. “I think this group of young people who just don’t want justice to be talked about, but they want justice to be a reality. They want equity to be a reality. They want fairness to be a reality.”

Binion says many Americans today have the kind of courage he hasn’t seen in his lifetime.

“This morning I saw the police chief of St. Louis weeping. When have you seen a police chief weep?”Pastor Paul Lawrence Binion II

The pastor has been impressed by seeing police officers join kneeling protesters and then marching lockstep together.

“This morning I saw the police chief of St. Louis weeping,” Binion says, pausing to collect himself. “When have you seen a police chief weep?”

Binion sees progress, but still says it’s not at the level it should be: “The momentum, of course, is going to die down because of people. People get amnesia, they get excited for the moment.”

Looters Are Criminals

“Those people that are looting, they’re criminals,” Binion says. “Don’t tell me you’re concerned about equity when you’re breaking into stores and stealing jewelry.

“I don’t approve of destroying property. I don’t approve of lawlessness.”

A man looks on as a bank burns after a protest over the death of George Floyd, Sunday, May 31, 2020, in La Mesa, Calif. Protests were held in U.S. cities over the death of Floyd, a black man who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Political Leadership

Binion says he’s in regular touch with local politicians like Rep. Jim Costa, city councilmember Miguel Arias, school board members, and police officials in his community.

“Jerry Dyer has to switch hats. He has to realize he’s no longer the police chief, and become a visionary and a leader for our city.”Pastor Paul Lawrence Binion II

And, he acknowledges the past friction between the African American community and incoming Mayor Jerry Dyer. But that icy relationship is thawing, Binion says.

Dyer has “already reached out,” says Binion. “We’re convening meetings with African Americans and also other social justice groups in town.”

Binion says he’s going to work with Dyer to facilitate communication: “I trust he’ll not only hear us out but take our concerns seriously and bring equity to the city of Fresno.”

What does Binion see as one of the mayor-elect’s biggest challenges?

“Jerry Dyer has to switch hats. He has to realize he’s no longer the police chief and become a visionary and a leader for our city. I’ll be one of those in his ear reminding him, OK, what’s going to change?”

Photo of Jerry Dyer
Pastor Paul Binion of the Westside Church of God says that “Jerry Dyer has to switch hats. He has to realize he’s no longer the police chief and become a visionary and a leader for our city. I’ll be one of those in his ear reminding him, OK, what’s going to change?” (GV Wire/Jahz Tello)

Fresno Unified Is Failing Black Students

“We’re still dealing with a school system that’s not serving African American children to the level it should,” Binion says of Fresno Unified School District. “Things are getting better, but they’re not at a level where they should be.”

He cited district statistics showing that African American children continue to lag well behind their peers.

“To have schools on the north part of town that have equipment and facilities and technology, and the schools on the south part of town to be lacking, that has to stop,” Binion says.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

World’s Largest Almond Processor Will Shutter Sacramento Plant. 600 Workers Impacted

DON'T MISS

Trump Eyes Major Funding Cuts for California, Including All Public Universities

DON'T MISS

Farming Regulation Costs Rise 1,300% Since 2006: Cal Poly

DON'T MISS

Southern California Air Regulators Weigh a Plan to Phase Out Gas Furnaces and Water Heaters

DON'T MISS

US Supreme Court Allows DOGE Broad Access to Social Security Data

DON'T MISS

Doctors Were Preparing to Remove Their Organs. Then They Woke Up.

DON'T MISS

Abrego Garcia Is Returned to US From El Salvador

DON'T MISS

Proud Boys Convicted in Jan. 6 Attack Sue Government on Claims of ‘Political Persecution’

DON'T MISS

FDA’s AI Assistant ‘Elsa’ Fails Its First Day on the Job

DON'T MISS

Documentary Series Goes Inside Trump’s Bubble

UP NEXT

FDA’s AI Assistant ‘Elsa’ Fails Its First Day on the Job

UP NEXT

Tulare County Gang Member Convicted of Trying to a Murder Police Officer

UP NEXT

Feds Indict SoCal Hospice CEO for Medicare Fraud in Fresno and Kern Counties

UP NEXT

Fresno Downtown Parking Costs Taxpayers an Extra $4 Million

UP NEXT

8 Ways Musk and Trump Could Inflict Pain on Each Other

UP NEXT

Sunday’s Life Jacket Giveaway Promotes Safety on Fresno Area Waters

UP NEXT

D-Day Veterans Return to Normandy to Mark 81st Anniversary of Landings

UP NEXT

Lambda Legal, a Nonprofit Supporting LGBTQ+ Rights, Exceeded Fundraising Goal by $105M

UP NEXT

This Pop-Up Nightclub Is a Place of ‘Pure Happiness’ for Merced’s Disabled Adults

UP NEXT

Fresno State’s Ag College Is Growing. A New Corporate Sponsor Will Help Them

Southern California Air Regulators Weigh a Plan to Phase Out Gas Furnaces and Water Heaters

14 hours ago

US Supreme Court Allows DOGE Broad Access to Social Security Data

14 hours ago

Doctors Were Preparing to Remove Their Organs. Then They Woke Up.

15 hours ago

Abrego Garcia Is Returned to US From El Salvador

15 hours ago

Proud Boys Convicted in Jan. 6 Attack Sue Government on Claims of ‘Political Persecution’

15 hours ago

FDA’s AI Assistant ‘Elsa’ Fails Its First Day on the Job

15 hours ago

Documentary Series Goes Inside Trump’s Bubble

15 hours ago

Tulare County Gang Member Convicted of Trying to a Murder Police Officer

16 hours ago

Newsom Promises Funding to Jump-Start ‘Science of Reading’

16 hours ago

Feds Indict SoCal Hospice CEO for Medicare Fraud in Fresno and Kern Counties

17 hours ago

World’s Largest Almond Processor Will Shutter Sacramento Plant. 600 Workers Impacted

The world’s largest almond processor, Blue Diamond Growers, says it will close its Sacramento processing plant this year The almond co...

13 hours ago

13 hours ago

World’s Largest Almond Processor Will Shutter Sacramento Plant. 600 Workers Impacted

14 hours ago

Trump Eyes Major Funding Cuts for California, Including All Public Universities

14 hours ago

Farming Regulation Costs Rise 1,300% Since 2006: Cal Poly

15 hours ago

Southern California Air Regulators Weigh a Plan to Phase Out Gas Furnaces and Water Heaters

15 hours ago

US Supreme Court Allows DOGE Broad Access to Social Security Data

16 hours ago

Doctors Were Preparing to Remove Their Organs. Then They Woke Up.

16 hours ago

Abrego Garcia Is Returned to US From El Salvador

16 hours ago

Proud Boys Convicted in Jan. 6 Attack Sue Government on Claims of ‘Political Persecution’

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend