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06/15/2016

'Bridging race divide: 1 year after Emanuel 9'

The following editorial appears on Cincinnati.com website and will run on Thursday, June 16, 2016 in The Cincinnati Enquirer.


 

Louise Lawarre is with Greater Anderson Promotes Peace; Henry Zorn is pastor of the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection.

Nearly a year ago, on June 17, in an act of heinous racism, a young white man walked into a Bible study at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and took the lives of nine faithful people. Our nation was stunned by yet another violent event – this one against African-Americans. In Anderson Township, a group of concerned individuals in our interfaith community, along with members of GAPP (Greater Anderson Promotes Peace) felt compelled to respond to this madness by providing opportunities to educate our community about the troubling challenge of racism and to raise awareness of the gift that God gives us in the diversity of all peoples (“Anderson Township tackling racism” Sept. 24, 2015) Out of an act in which the perpetrator was attempting to create further racial unrest in our nation, Anderson Churches for Racial Unity (ACRU) was born.

Over the past year ACRU and GAPP have offered several programs to our community: screening of the films "Slavery by Another Name" and "The Color of Fear"; a workshop, “Awakening Our Awareness of Whiteness”; and talks by the Revs. Sherman and Sadell Bradley of New Life Covenant Church, and Officer Louis Arnold, Sr., faith-based liaison for the Cincinnati Police Department.

While these events have contributed to raising awareness of the complicated dynamics of racism, we felt that we needed to go further. In his encouraging testimony of the joys and benefits of crossing the racial divide, "Hope Sings, So Beautiful," Xavier University associate professor of theology Christopher Pramuk says, “A range of factors, some toxic and others more benign, may explain (not to say justify) the paucity of relationships across racial lines in many communities. In addition to apathy and fear, cultural ignorance and outright racism, we should not underestimate the lack of invitation as a serious factor. The members of a family long divided have to make conciliatory gestures if they are serious about healing.”

Consistent with Pramuk’s counsel, we have invited the AME community in Cincinnati to come together to commemorate the lives of the Emanuel Nine, and they have graciously accepted. On Thursday at 7 p.m., the Rev. Alphonse Allen, pastor of Allen Temple AME, the Allen Temple choir and members of local AME congregations will join us at Lutheran Church of the Resurrection in Anderson Township to commemorate the first anniversary of the Emanuel Nine. In a reciprocal offer, the Cincinnati District of the AME Church has invited residents of Anderson Township to join their members at Allen Temple AME for a second commemoration service Friday at 7 p.m. It is our vision that this will only be the beginning of reconciliation for “a family long divided.” It is our hope that worshiping together will lead to fellowship, fellowship will lead to storytelling, and storytelling will lead to solidarity.

We do not expect to single-handedly build the bridge that will heal the racial divide in our nation, yet every effort that we and others make is progress toward its completion. We believe this effort is worthwhile and God glorifying. Perhaps our efforts will serve as a witness to inspire other communities in Cincinnati and beyond to engage across racial lines. We certainly don’t want to limit or underestimate what the Spirit may be up to.

On June 17 of last year our nation witnessed an act of rebellion against God and humanity. It seems the best way we can honor the lives of the Emanuel Nine on June 17 of this year is to participate in an act of reconciliation and a celebration of God’s gift of racial diversity.

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