Thugs and Terrorists Have Attacked Black Churches for Generations

[malaise]

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/06/thugs-and-terrorists-have-plagued-black-churches-for-generations/396212/

<snip>
Late Wednesday, after a gunman murdered 9 churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, many felt shock and anger that stoked memories of other mass shootings. Our violent nation has grieved for slain innocents at an elementary school in Newtown; a Tucson political rally; a movie theater in Aurora; a Virginia college campus; and other sites of mass killings, which are more common than many suppose. The possibility of falling victim to such attacks is a burden all Americans share.

Black churches suffered at the hands of thugs and terrorists throughout the Civil Rights era, as they had for a century before, but such attacks aren’t a matter of remote history. As recently as the 1990s, a wave of fire-bombings hit black churches.
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Congressional hearings were held in 1996 at the end of a two-year period when such arson spiked across the southeast. In South Carolina alone, black churches that suffered probable arson attacks included Mt. Zion AME Church in Williamsburg, Macedonia Baptist Church in Manning, Saint Paul Baptist Church in Lexington, Rosemary Baptist Church in Barnwell, St. John Baptist Church in Dixiana, Effington Baptist Church, Mount Olivet Baptist Church, and Allen’s Chapel. One member of Congress likened fire-bombings in those years to “the return of a biblical plague.” The most recent burning of a black church to make national headlines occurred in Massachusetts the day Barack Obama was inaugurated as the first black president. A white man was later convicted in what prosecutors called a racially motivated arson attack.

Any one of us might die in a mass murder. But today, as the nation mourns the victims of Charleston and awaits details about the perpetrator of the attack, black Americans will be most awake to the reality that there are bigots who want to see them dead. What they’re owed by their fellow Americans is vocal solidarity, so that they’re as awake to the depth and breadth of the belief that black lives matter.

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And sorry America- this is not merely a crime (as you're screaming on social media) it is a hate crime - it is terrorism.
You will not get a pass on this one.

[bigtree]

1. this is domestic terrorism

...and yes, a hate crime.

solange knowles ‏@solangeknowles 5h5 hours ago
Was already weary. Was already heavy hearted. Was already tired.
Where can we be safe? Where can we be free? Where can we be black?

[malaise]

7. What did we do to be so hated

I guess the answer is breathe

[MohRokTah]

2. It was domestic terrorism in the 60s.

It's domestic terrorism now.

And the news media pushing the "deranged gunman" crap need to STOP right now. The motherfucker sat in on the Bible study for an hour before he murdered everybody.

This is a cold, calculating terrorist. He is not mentally ill no matter what anybody says.

[malaise]

8. But why are we so gullible - so accepting of people who hate us

No one picked up a sign that they were all in danger - I don't get that.

[Gothmog]

3. The shooter attended services for over an hour before shooting

This was a planned attack

[kentuck]

4. We were naive to think it was over...

..with the election of the first black President. If anything, it has gotten worse. At the very least, it has brought the hate and racism back to the surface.

[malaise]

9. and then some

I am so tired

[Ligyron]

5. Oh, it absolutely WAS a hate crime

I was a child when the bombings killed those little girls in the early 60,s but I remember.

I feel it's been quite a while since we've seen a single attack against AA's produce this kind of carnage. Be real interesting to hear what this idiot, mass murderer puts forth as a reason.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. Or better - thugs, terrorists, animals

although they refuse to equate themselves with what they accuse others of being.

[Hiraeth]

10. I thought the black race had claimed the word :thug: for their own use.

[malaise]

11. Compared with Bush, Cheney and ReTHUGs, the black race is

an amateur team - enjoy your stay.

[Hiraeth]

12. I don't find this funny at all. I am serious. You are the disgusting one. I have quit using the word

out of respect. I will go find the links on this website where that word has been discussed at length, if you insist.
You are not cute at all.

[Hiraeth]

13. Personally, I think you should edit your Subjectline and delete your post to me.

[mcar]

14. Domestic terrorism

The news media will never label it thus but terrorism it is.