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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAfter Charleston, Black Churches Targeted By Arsonists Across The South
Since nine people were gunned down in the Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina allegedly by a 21-year-old white man tied to white supremacist groups, there have been a string of arson attacks on other black churches in the South.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, at least six predominantly black churches in four Southern states have been damaged or destroyed by fire in the past week. While some may have been accidental, at least three have been determined to be the result of arson.
The first arson fire was on Monday at the College Hills Seventh Day Adventist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Knoxville fire department has said that the arsonist set multiple fires on the churchs property and the churchs van was also burned. On Tuesday, a fire in the sanctuary of Gods Power Church of Christ in Macon, Georgia was also blamed on arson, although the investigation is ongoing. And on Wednesday, a fire at the Briar Creek Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina was determined to be caused by arson, destroying an education wing that was meant to house a summer program for children, impacting its sanctuary and gymnasium, and causing an estimated $250,000 in damage.
The cause of a fire that destroyed the Glover Grover Baptist Church in Warrenville, South Carolina on Friday is unknown, while lightning is suspected in a fire that destroyed the Fruitland Presbyterian Church in Gibson County, Tennessee on Wednesday and a tree limb that fell on electrical lines is suspected in a fire at the Greater Miracle Apostolic Holiness Church in Tallahassee, Florida on Friday that destroyed the church and caused an estimated $700,000 in damage.
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/06/28/3674915/charleston-church-fires/
marym625
(17,997 posts)Why aren't local police protecting the churches in black neighborhoods?
This makes me ill.
Freddie gray get the "rough ride" while dylan roof gets burger king on the way to jail
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)randys1
(16,286 posts)brer cat
(24,625 posts)so I googled yesterday to see the coverage on these fires, and it was very scant. I guess distracting us with escaped prisoners and flags works to cover up the actual violence against these black communities. Disgusting.