Coverage continues of protests and other events linked to the life and death of George Floyd.
It’s impossible, of course, to read all of this material. But while reading what I can, I have continued to look for facts and images linked to what I think is one of the most interesting elements of this story — an angle readers might expect to be seeing, in light of the history of civil rights work of this kind.
The big question: Where are the African-American clergy in these news stories? I doubt they are sitting on the sidelines during this historic moment. This question is, of course, central to discussions of press coverage of religion in these events.
Did you see this material in Julia Duin’s fascinating first-person visit into CHAZ territory? See this post: “Seattle’s de-policed CHAZ district is a religion-free zone, even in mainstream press.”
As my friends and I were arriving at CHAZ, there was a meeting of black pastors south of us who were trying to support the local police — who’ve taken a beating in all this. The police were forced to vacate CHAZ, even though the chief, a black female, told the media she has not wanted to leave. Mayor Jenny Durkan, who calls CHAZ a place with “a block party atmosphere,” overruled her. …
These black clergy clearly resent how the white Social Justice Warriors are taking over the debate. Wish a reporter could explore that angle more.
Once again, here is the question: Are black clergy attempting to play a leadership role in some of these discussions and (a) being shunned by other leaders? Or are the clergy there, as usual, but (b) not receiving any coverage? What’s going on?
In a way, this is a hard-news angle linked to questions that I raised the other day in this post: “Dramatic funeral service for George Floyd: Was there Gospel in it, or only politics?”
It is interesting that some reporters — in religious publications — took the time to dig into the live-streamed video of this funeral and note the Christian themes and content, especially in the music and biblical images.
Here is a must-read on that, care of Kate Shellnutt at Christianity Today: “The Songs and Scriptures of George Floyd’s Houston Funeral.” Here is a crucial passage from this feature:
Fellow African American pastors from Houston spoke at the service, including Bill Lawson of Wheeler Avenue Baptist, Ralph Douglas West of The Church Without Walls, and Gusta Booker of Greater St. Matthews Baptist.
Their messages too were filled with biblical calls for justice as well as familiar lyrics from more hymns and gospel songs. Remus Wright referenced “in times like these we need a Savior.” West quoted a full stanza of “We’ll Understand It Better By and By”:
Trials dark on every hand,
And we cannot understand
All the ways of God would lead us
To that blessed promised land;
But he guides us with his eye,
And we’ll follow till we die,
For we’ll understand it better by and byQuoting familiar songs evokes a generational connection to the black church tradition.
By the way, have there been other stories that noted this funeral took place in, as Shellnutt noted, “one of the largest Southern Baptist churches in the state”? She linked to this interesting online list of giant SBC congregations. Note No. 8. I’ll admit that I assumed this was a big Pentecostal church.
With that in mind, it isn’t surprising that the SBC’s own Baptist Press offered a story on this same topic: “Pastors comfort mourners, exhort churches at George Floyd funeral.” Here is the opening of that story:
Speaking comfort to mourners at the June 9 funeral of George Floyd, Houston pastor Ralph Douglas West posed the question: “Where was God in all of this?”
Where was God when Floyd repeatedly begged for breath in the last 8 minutes and 46 seconds of his life? Where was God when Floyd was declared dead after his neck was pinned under police officer Derek Chauvin’s knee?
“God was and is where God has always been,” said West, senior pastor of the Church Without Walls, who went on to paraphrase Romans 8:28. “God didn’t cause it, but God can certainly use it. Unfortunately, we’ve almost turned it into cliché, but it’s Christian bedrock belief that all things work together for the good of them who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.”
Wells, whose church is a member of the Union Baptist Association (UBA) of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, said Floyd belonged in history books as someone whose death sparked an international outcry against injustice, racism and police brutality.
I realize that many journalists may wonder if theological and scriptural content is important, when covering national and even international news events of this kind.
But look at it this way: Are black churches still churches or have journalists decided that they are something they may deem more important — political and cultural centers?
In terms of history, it is clear that it’s impossible to separate the Civil Rights Movement from its biblical themes and contents. And what about this story that is, validly so, back in the news?
The USA Today headline: “5 years after Charleston was rocked by the Mother Emanuel church shooting, the pain lingers.” Here is the overture:
Five years ago at 8:16 p.m. in Charleston, South Carolina, a self-proclaimed white supremacist entered Emanuel AME Church, a storied African American house of worship.
The 21-year-old came in through a side door and walked out the epitome of evil. Shouting racial epithets, he killed nine people assembled for Bible study before being apprehended by authorities the next day.
The world was shocked. But as many pause Wednesday to remember the Emanuel 9 – who ranged from 41-year-old pastor Clementa Pinckney to 87-year-old choir member Susie Jackson – Black Americans say the anniversary merely spotlights their weariness with the nation’s 401-year-old legacy of slavery that has claimed too many lives to count.
“When I speak with the members of Mother Emanuel, we call it a season of extended lament,” says the Rev. Eric S.C. Manning, who since 2016 has led the city’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, an institution whose origins date to 1787.
Read the whole story. It’s clear that political themes dominate this piece. I get that, but I still wonder: Do the grieving people at Mother Emanuel discuss these issues in language that is almost completely free of biblical imagery and content?
Just asking. Again.
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