Reflecting On An Incident

Back in the spring, or maybe just before the arrival of spring, a group of racists gathered in a neighboring town.

This group — a group that explicitly promotes violence and racism — marched in front of a historically Black institution. This “demonstration” was terrible and disheartening.

There were two things that immediately made me upset:

1. This institution, a church, is one of the rare churches in our area that closely follows the “hands and feet” example. They set up warming centers, they feed people of all background and all ages, they have a community garden, and they do all sorts of things for the benefit of the entire community. To have a hateful parade right in front of their church is so cruel and disrespectful.
2. The day before this happened, my mom and I were driving around that town. We paused outside of the A.M.E. Church, and we commented on how beautiful their stained glass windows are, and then we drove away. We aren’t members of either of these churches — they’re two different churches in two different neighborhoods — but we appreciated how obviously cared for both of these churches are. To see someone else’s devotion and to belittle it — to show hate and disregard instead of respect — made me mad.

In the months since this incident, I haven’t heard of the hate group coming back to town — but I have heard that the church has continued to provide all kinds of support for all sorts of folks in the community.

Just as they always have, just as they’ll continue to do — they’re still there, still standing strong.

And since they’ve stood strong for the benefit of the whole community, we should continue to stand up for them.