Nearly every morning since he moved to Milton, Mass., in 1990, the Rev. Henderson L. Brome walked the same three-mile route, usually carrying a piece of wood to ward off aggressive dogs. On July 29, the rector of St. Cyprian’s Church, Roxbury, was detained and handcuffed near his home after a police officer mistook him for a suspect who was seen trying to break into a nearby car.

“I tried to tell him I’m an Episcopalian priest. I never resisted. I never did anything,” Fr. Brome told The Boston Globe. “He didn’t ask me who I was. I tried to tell him I lived on the street. He wasn’t interested… All he saw was a black man.”

Fr. Brome said the officer pulled up in a car, shouted at him to drop the piece of wood he was carrying and ordered him to put his hands behind his back at which time he was handcuffed. He was released a short time later when the resident arrived in another squad car and told police Fr. Brome was not the suspect.

Milton police chief Kevin J. Mearn told the Globe a neighborhood resident called police about 5:30 a.m. two days earlier and reported seeing someone trying to break into her car. Police were given a description of a tall, thin, black male. When informed of his identity by the Globe, Chief Mearn called Fr. Brome to apologize for the incident, but the priest is still shaken. “This is a larger issue than just my individual pain,” he said. “This has to do with the way people perceive black men… I am fearful now.”

To find more news, feature articles, and commentary about the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion not available online, we invite you to subscribe to The Living Church magazine. To learn more, click here.