I was watching Anderson Cooper and the program was interrupted with news of a shooting at a church in Charleston, SC. Shortly afterwards, it was revealed that nine lives, including the life of the Pastor and State Legislator, Clementa C. Pinckney, had been tragically cut short by an act of terrorism. The place of this massacre was "Mother" Emanuel AME Church, founded in 1816 and is the oldest black church in the American South. During Wendesday night bible study, allegeded gunman Dylan Roof, entered a place of worship, a place of peace, a place of serenity offering solace among the beauty of stained glass windows and shot nine congregants in the House of the Lord. Emanuel AME survived slave revolts, banning of all black congregations and fire only to fall prey to modern day terrorism. But those of us familiar with history know that black churches have always been the target of thugs and terrorists.
In September of 1963, four little girls, Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Diane Wesley, were murdered when their church was bombed on a Sunday morning shortly after Sunday school was dismissed. Much like the nine killed in Charlotte, the girls were at a place of worship, learning more about the One tbat so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son. In the midst of worshipping God, a seed of hate manifested itself. Amazingly, the eulogy delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King at the funeral of tne little girls in Birmingham are still poignant today.
"And yet they died nobly. They are the martyred heroines of a holy crusade for freedom and human dignity. And so this afternoon in a real sense they have something to say to each of us in their death. They have something to say to every minister of the gospel who has remained silent behind the safe security of stained-glass windows. They have something to say to every politician who has fed his constituents with the stale bread of hatred and the spoiled meat of racism. They have something to say to a federal government that has compromised with the undemocratic practices of southern Dixiecrats and the blatant hypocrisy of right-wing northern Republicans. They have something to say to every Negro who has passively accepted the evil system of segregation and who has stood on the sidelines in a mighty struggle for justice. They say to each of us, black and white alike, that we must substitute courage for caution. They say to us that we must be concerned not merely about who murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderers. Their death says to us that we must work passionately and unrelentingly for the realization of the American dream."
Dylan Roof has been taken into police custody and I can help but wonder when will they start his defense based on mental illness or being deranged. Unlike the many black men who's blood was spilled in the streets for allegedly stealing cigars, selling cigarettes, owing child support, carrying a knife or playing with a toy gun in the park, Roof will sit in a jail cell, have the opportunity to present a case before a judge and jury; an opportunity Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Freddy Gray, Walter Scott, Tamir Rice and countless others didn't get. This country allows seeds of hate to be planted every time a black person is killed, every time the current president speak or whenever the police are called out for their abuse of power. Time and time again, people like Roof are being taught at home, in school, by the police that black lives don't matter and this act of terrorism is the product of what he learned. This country is focused on Isis but ignore the terrorists that are growing up in their homes. What happened today is nothing more than an act of terrorism but Roof will never be categorized as a thug. News outlets won't bring in guest that will delve into the semantics of white crime. Instead, it will be swept under the rug, and calls to take back our country will serve as a battle hymn because any attacks on Roof will be turned into a pseudo they want to take our guns movement. Wake up America, your true colors are showing.
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