The killing of nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina is just the latest in a long list of attacks targeting Black Churches in the United States.
—
After the American Civil War, African-Americans, mostly former slaves, abandoned the White controlled churches in which they had been forced to worship. They began to pray, sing, and – for the first time – legally learn to read the Bible, gathering in any makeshift structure they could find. These post Emancipation churches became the first social institutions in America completely controlled by African Americans.
And Whites, also identifying themselves as “Christians,” were not happy. Their attacks on Black churches killed hundreds of people and burned small churches throughout the South. In 1870, nearly every Black church in Tuskegee, Alabama was burned to the ground by Whites attempting to subjugate the newly freed Black population.
93 years later the bombs continued to explode at a well known Black church in Birmingham, Alabama which had become an established meeting place for the Civil Rights movement. Four young Black girls were killed.
Heidi Beirich, of the Southern Poverty Law Center, explains the significance of continued violence against Black churches in many American communities. “If you want to harm Black folks, it’s an obvious easy target,” she said.
The evidence is clear. Throughout the 1960’s, over 300 bombings occurred at Black churches, according to a 1999 study in The Journal of Ethnic and Racial Studies. The study also uncovered 200 similar church bombings between 1989 – 1996. Deval Patrick, who was an Assistant Attorney General for the US Department of Justice in 1997, stated, “We are facing an epidemic of terror.”
The nine murders in Charleston are the latest symptom in this epidemic. “This is an example of how terrorism works,” said Barbara D. Savage, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of “Your Spirits Walk Beside Us: The Politics of Black Religion.” She went on to explain how this week’s attack has spread justifiable fear in the Black Christian community, “In churches all over the country people are asking, ‘Do we need someone at the door, someone who is a little bit more questioning?’ ”
This is where White pastors and churches could truly help, but from a look at their history, they won’t.
Every Wednesday night (for Bible Study) and every Sunday morning (for Worship), African Americans will gather in churches all over the United States – and they will gather in fear. While these should be the safest and most sacred times of their week, it has become another reminder that they are set apart as targets.
And the response of White pastors and churches? Mostly postings on social media pertaining to how liberals will use this incident for gun control legislation. “Gun control advocates never give their true position – the elimination of all private gun ownership – their arguments never make common sense,” was the Facebook and Twitter
That anyone – let alone a White Christian Pastor – would be worried about protecting his guns just one day after nine people were murdered in a Black church is deplorable.
What should White churches and pastors be worried about as Sunday approaches? The answer is simple: Black churches.
Right now, Black congregations are scared of going to church. Yet, are any White pastors or church leaders reaching out to them in any way? Are they offering help? Are they asking what they can do to stand by their Christian brothers and sisters – often at a church just across the street – to help alleviate their fears? Are they just picking up the phone and checking in to discover if there is anything at all they can do after the killings in Charleston?
No. No they are not.
Making that one, powerful phone call would take a special kind of faith and courage from White pastors and churches. As we have witnessed in the past few days, active faith and courage are not characteristics they often demonstrate. Instead, they have chosen to simply ignore the ongoing history of violence against the Black members of their fellowship.
In the days to come, White pastors and church members will casually walk into weekly worship services, concerned only with their rights as gun owners.
While a short distance away, African Americans will go to church wondering if they will come out alive.
—
Photo: Tom Hacksaw [church] Nicolas Raymond [target]/ flickr / creative commons license
More than enough fear to go around: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/25/us/charleston-attack-security-churches.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share&_r=1&referrer
The White Supremacist machine needs its daily pound of flesh. It is highly efficient as well – the pound of flesh need not be real to be satisfying. We need a revival of the moderates. The lunatic fringes are driving me batty!
Just do a google search on “churches reach out to Emanuel AME”- it seems like you did nothing but spew your preconceived notions about white people and Christians.
Yeah, that was my thought on this – unless the author is there on the ground and knows something we don’t, what proof has he that white pastors aren’t helping in Charleston?
I just ran that search and found this on the first page alone:
http://patch.com/california/lamesa/community-prayer-vigil-people-emanuel-ame-church-charleston-sc-our-nation-table-united-church-christ
http://ktla.com/2015/06/18/first-a-m-e-in-los-angeles-to-host-all-faith-prayer-vigil-in-wake-of-south-carolina-shootings/
http://www.umc.org/news-and-media/united-methodist-bishops-reach-out-after-charleston-shooting
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/06/18/walsh-baker-reach-out-to-boston-churches-following-deadly-charleston-shooting/
In the days to come, White pastors and church members will casually walk into weekly worship services, concerned only with their rights as gun owners. While a short distance away, African Americans will go to church wondering if they will come out alive.
Meanwhile there are white Christians as far as way as Boston and LA are taking the time to offer prayers support and condolences.
Off the top of my head- I know the Catholic Bishops of SC and NC have both issued statements of sympathy and solidarity with their brothers and sisters in Christ at Emanuel AME. They’ve also called on their congregations to pray a novena specifically for the victims and families.
How could you miss 2 extremely prominent Christian figures yet find one pastor of an obscure church in CT and assume they are representative? Hard to believe that was by chance. Bigotry will never fix racism.
I was thinking something similar.
Contrary to what some would have you believe there are actual white Christians who practice what they preach and are trying to make a connection through this event.
But since we’re talking about the Carolinas its easier (and gets more clicks) to just blindly accused them of not helping or supporting.
So really, your article is dedicated to the one white Christian Pastor, Pastor Will Marotti, that is worried about gun control more then racism. Isn’t it actually a prejudice onto itself though to criticize all “white Christian Pastors” because of one man you read on social media yourself? Because you know what every church in America has done in response to this event? Because you know what’s happening in every church across America of this event? And why are only White Christians Pastors and the churches they guide being described as primarily obligated to fix issues within racism? Because this… Read more »
People go to church for aid? If you look at the Great Depression of 1929 and the Great Recession of 2008, the various religious organizations were unable to handle the amount of aid that people needed to get back on their feet. In addition, many churches had to close their doors since they were unable to pay their bills since their parishioners had lost their jobs and could not give money to the church at Sunday Mass. Furthermore, you had religious leaders like Pat Robertson aligning themselves with the corporate elites against the working class.
1. I never said “people go to church for aid”. You don’t have to go to church to get help from a church. Even monetary help. My own church helps a lot of people in our community who don’t attend church themselves. 2. We are not talking about the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a very specific time in history where a lot of people experience harship. We are talking about the current climate of churches now. 3. I never made any comments that said that being a religious leader left you immune to corruption. There are religious leaders… Read more »