The Community Affairs Committee of REV Birmingham, deplores the racist terrorism at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. We send our deepest sympathy to the families of the nine victims. We stand in awe of the families’ loving response to the accused murderer. We applaud political and community leaders in Charleston and South Carolina who have taken steps to heal the grievous hurt in their home state, a hurt shared in great measure by people of conscience across America. We note with satisfaction the announced intent to remove the Confederate flag from the South Carolina Capitol grounds. And we take special pride in that our own Governor Robert Bentley has stripped the flag from Alabama’s Capitol grounds. While our Governor’s bold action does not erase the ill will that many have used the flag to transmit, it helps make clear to the world that as a state, Alabama no longer stands allied with the forces of hate and division.
At the same time, we note with dismay recent news reports of KKK pamphleteering in parts of Jefferson and Tuscaloosa counties. These, plus reports of African American church burnings in recent days across the South, remind us that racism remains more than flag deep in the old Confederacy. Without doubt, we are a better state and region than we were only a few decades ago. Yet our work is far from done.
We call on good people of all ethnicities, creeds, and communities to voice fearless disdain for the stupidity and hatred of yesteryear. Let us reach out to build better mutual understanding, empathy, and acceptance. May the sacrifice in Charleston unite and guide us all toward a more loving and wholesome future.
