Rhetoric Race and Religion
On Wednesday evening, June 17, Dylan Roof attended a Bible Study service at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. After studying with members of the congregation for about an hour, he promptly got up and started shooting. Before he left, nine people, including the pastor, South Carolina State Senator, Clementa Pickney were dead. Here at R3, we thought we would collect some of the raw emotions from people who are grieving this act of terrorism.
I may offend someone, but I think you’ll be okay. If your church merely tells people how to get trinkets and stuff, if you don’t empower your community, if you merely pray for individual prosperity and you have no mindset for the community or, as the Gospels state, the kingdom of God (heaven), and if you’re not concerned about the uplift and empowerment of Black people…then don’t worry about what happened in Charleston, South Carolina happening in your church. The people that do these things don’t see you as a threat, and they aren’t looking for you. You aren’t on their radar. Somebody will catch this on the way home.-
We aren’t safe at swimming pools or baptismal pools, street corners,or sanctuaries…. And be VERY clear… I’m watching to see what my conservative Christian brothers & sisters who talk a non-racialized theology are going to say/do in response to the #Charleston#ChurchShooting at #EmaunelAME Church where a white gunman has shot and killed multiple people in this predominantly black church founded by Denmark Vesey!!! AND THE SHOOTER IS STILL AT LARGE…#BlackLivesMatter #BlackTheologyMatters #AlbertCleageJrWasRight
To friends who pastor White Christians: Already this morning I’ve heard from several women of color who are struggling with having to work in predominantly White Christian organizations in the midst of their grief over the racial terrorism at Emmanuel AME Church. The struggle comes from the fact that their White colleagues are going on as if nothing is happening. If you are shepherding White Christians and are not teaching them that their baptism means that their heart should break along with their brothers and sisters of other races, then you are doing it wrong. The sad thing is that I know that many more hearts will be broken all over again on Sunday, when people of color who attend predominantly White churches will sit in pews waiting for an outlet for their grief. And their pastors will say nothing about it. Or they will reduce it to the lone act of an emotionally unstable person that has nothing to do with race or racism.
Ida Septima Ella Baker-Chisholm
Pure evil. He walked into that church, where people welcomed him with open arms. They smiled at him. Spoke to him. He saw their humanity and slaughtered them. If this was a white church attacked by a Black man, the POTUS, AG, FBI, Military, and ALL of media would declare a complete shutdown of everything until he was found. Instead, media is business as usual with the periodic reports about South Carolina as if this is just another Thursday in America!
#StayWoke #BlackLivesMatter #WhiteDomesticTerrorists#AMEChurchShooting
To white “allies”:
Don’t be quiet TODAY! ! Talk! About Charleston. About black lives, about white fragility and ability to remain incredulous in the face of persistent racist terrorism. Talk about how quickly we “humanize” white criminals, how we pretend “isolated incident” so we don’t have to discuss the cultural production of evil. This moment isn’t a black moment. It’s an American moment. Talk!
Excerpt from my dissertation: “Between Pulpit and Pew: Race, Religion, and Radicalism at Detroit’s Bethel AME Church 1919-1944.
“Fearing that the church would be targeted, Gomez and some of his trustees slipped through the back door, free from the view of the armed whites outside of the church. They stayed in the church throughout the night, and in spite of numerous calls to the police, they didn’t show up until the next morning. The police made no arrests. Several people were wounded, and property was damaged in the neighborhood. There were only first-hand accounts of the incident, with no mention of the event in the newspapers. Gomez wasn’t surprised at the inaction of the police, for he knew that the all-white police force had its share of Klan sympathizers, if not active members. With this in mind, he resolved to continue to protect the church, and on the following Sunday, Gomez instructed his trustees to stand armed with rifles, inside, around the church, and on top of the roof while Gomez conducted service. This act sent a signal to members at Bethel AME Church, that not only faith in God would carry them through, but personal agency and self-defense would be employed if the local police department were unable or unwilling to protect the citizens of Black Bottom, and in particular, those who were members of Bethel.”
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