Who Is Burning Black Churches?
On Wednesday morning, the authorities investigated a fire at a black church in Greeleyville, South Carolina, a racially diverse town of barely 400 people about a 90-minute drive to the north of Charleston. The incident, at Mt. Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, is the seventh mysterious fire at a black church in recent days. It comes less than two weeks after nine people were fatally shot during a prayer service at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the oldest black churches in America.
The Los Angeles Times’ Matt Pearce delivers key details on the situation:
Officials have said two black churches were targeted by arsonists last week in Knoxville, Tenn., where a van was destroyed, and Charlotte, N.C., where a church building was destroyed. No arrests have been made or suspects identified in those cases. Nor has a possible motive been given.
Investigators were also looking into what caused the fires that destroyed black churches in Macon, Ga., and Warrenville, S.C., though officials said they have not found a cause or any evidence of criminal intent in those blazes.
America has a deep tradition of black churches being assaulted. Historically, the churches have been a refuge and a source of strength for black people. President Obama powerfully explored the idea during last Friday’s eulogy for the Reverend Clementa Pinckney, one of the people fatally shot at the Charleston church, which is known as Mother Emanuel. Here’s an excerpt:
The church is and always has been the center of African American life—a place to call our own in a too often hostile world, a sanctuary from so many hardships. Over the course of centuries, black churches served as “hush harbors” where slaves could worship in safety; praise houses where their free descendants could gather and shout hallelujah; rest stops for the weary along the Underground Railroad; bunkers for the foot soldiers of the civil rights movement. They have been, and continue to be, community centers where we organize for jobs and justice; places of scholarship and network; places where children are loved and fed and kept out of harm’s way, and told that they are beautiful and smart—and taught that they matter….
That’s what the black church means. Our beating heart. The place where our dignity as a people is inviolate. When there’s no better example of this tradition than Mother Emanuel—a church built by blacks seeking liberty, burned to the ground because its founder sought to end slavery, only to rise up again, a phoenix from these ashes.
When there were laws banning all-black church gatherings, services happened here anyway, in defiance of unjust laws. When there was a righteous movement to dismantle Jim Crow, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached from its pulpit, and marches began from its steps. A sacred place, this church. Not just for blacks, not just for Christians, but for every American who cares about the steady expansion of human rights and human dignity in this country; a foundation stone for liberty and justice for all. That’s what the church meant.
So far, the authorities have yet to declare the fires hate crimes or the result of arson. It's unclear if the fires are linked. But it's hard not to view the situation outside the historical context of hate, especially given that two decades ago, Mt. Zion was burned to the ground by the Ku Klux Klan. On Tuesday, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People warned black churches to take “necessary precautions.” And for good reason. We are right to be concerned—and to talk honestly about the persistence of racism.
Related stories on TakePart:
• The Charleston Church Shooting: Another Astonishing Assault on Black Lives
• Dylann Roof and the Death Penalty: Does What the Charleston Victims’ Families Want Matter?
• Could Nikki Haley's Call to Remove the Confederate Flag Be a Game Changer?
Original article from TakePart
