Black church leaders demand apology for Trump ad

Leaders of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the pastor of an AME congregation in Wilmington, Delaware, are condemning a Trump-Pence campaign ad that uses footage of Joe Biden kneeling in the sanctuary of a Black church, describing it as racist and demanding an apology. The Rev. Silvester S. Beaman, pastor of Bethel AME church that is featured in the digital spot released Wednesday (Sept. 9), said it encourages viewers to see Black church leaders and their flocks as “thuggish rule breakers.”

“The ad is overtly racist and offensive on numerous levels,” Beaman told Religion News Service on Saturday (Sept. 13). “It is a racist attack on the African American church, and because it was an attack on the Christian church, it should be offensive to every Christian and person of faith. This ad subtly incites white terrorism against people of color and attacks the Black Church and Black people for refusing to bow down to the idol called white supremacy," read a draft of the statement provided to RNS.

The advertisement mostly featured scenes from protests against police killings that roiled several American cities this Spring and summer, emphasizing violent clashes between demonstrators and riot police. But as the advertisement ended, it cut to slow-motion footage of former Vice President Biden kneeling at Bethel in front of a group of Black leaders, including Beaman. It was followed by a slide that read “Stop Joe Biden and his rioters” before an audio clip of Vice President Mike Pence said “you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America” accompanied the sound of cackling.

The footage was taken from Biden’s visit to Bethel back in June, when he met and prayed with a group of Black clergy and community leaders in the aftermath of demonstrations decrying the death of George Floyd at the hands of a policeman in Minneapolis.

Beaman said the ad signals that “white folk in general and Trump’s base should fear the Black church,” and “that Black church leaders and thus members of the Black church are “thuggish rule breakers. That is an erroneous depiction and it is offensive,” he said. The AME statement is signed by Bishop Michael L. Mitchell, president of the AME council of bishops; Bishop Adam J. Richardson; Bishop Wilfred Jacobus Messiah, president of the general board; Bishop Frank Madison Reid, III, chair of the AME commission on social action; and Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker, director and consultant for the commission.

https://religionnews.com/2020/09/13/ame-church-leaders-demand-apology-for-trump-ad/