Church burnings
Church burnings refer to the intentional destruction of places of worship, particularly those associated with African American and multiracial communities. A significant wave of these incidents occurred in the southeastern United States from 1995 to 1997, drawing comparisons to historical hate crimes against churches during the Civil Rights Movement. The surge in church arsons prompted strong reactions from community leaders and national organizations, leading to calls for thorough investigations by federal authorities. In response to public outcry, President Bill Clinton established the National Church Arson Task Force, which oversaw investigations that resulted in the arrests of nearly two hundred individuals, predominantly White, for their involvement in the destruction of over seventy churches.
The federal government also enacted legislation to enhance the prosecution of church arson cases, extending the statute of limitations and increasing penalties. Notably, many of those convicted faced charges related to civil rights violations, highlighting the racially motivated nature of the crimes. In addition to legal actions, a collective effort emerged to support the rebuilding of the targeted churches, involving various organizations and significant donations from foundations and philanthropists. Despite historical instances of church burnings, incidents have persisted into the 21st century, with notable spikes in arson against Black churches in recent years, reflecting ongoing challenges related to race and hate crimes in the United States.
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Church burnings
During the mid-1990s, specifically between January 1, 1995, and June 1, 1997, the southeastern United States experienced a rash of arsons, fire bombings, and attempted fire bombings of African American and multiracial houses of worship. Leaders in the African American communities targeted by the arsonists were quick to compare the activity to similar events during the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. Churches, they noted, had historically been the targets of hate crimes because they were so closely associated with the Black unity of the civil rights struggle. Several organizations, most notably the National Council of Churches, held press conferences calling on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), a section of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and law enforcement agencies to be more aggressive in investigating the suspicious fires. President Bill Clinton formed the National Church Arson Task Force (NCATF) in response to the public outcry with a call for federal oversight of the arson investigations.
The U.S. Congress unanimously passed legislation that expanded the circumstances under which the federal government could prosecute for damage to religious property. The measure extended the statute of limitations for prosecution of church arson cases from five to seven years and increased penalties for church arson from ten to twenty years. Despite criticism from many African American leaders that the U.S. Department of Justice and the ATF were not moving quickly enough in their investigations, a special church arson task force arrested nearly two hundred suspects by mid-1997. More than one hundred of those arrested were eventually convicted in federal and state courts on charges related to the destruction of more than seventy churches. Those arrested were overwhelmingly White and nearly half were juveniles. Most of those found guilty of federal offenses were convicted of civil rights violations as a result of evidence that the crimes were racially motivated. Federal officials could find no evidence that the arson activity was coordinated or directed by a group of individuals or an organization.
The national response in support of the victims of the church burnings was equally impressive. A joint effort by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the National Council of Churches, Habitat for Humanity, and many other groups rebuilt most of the churches. The Congress of National Black Churches also established a fund to prevent future arsons and to rebuild churches that had been burned. The Eli Lilly Foundation contributed six million dollars to efforts to rebuild and repair the churches that had been destroyed. Even the sometimes controversial hotelier and philanthropist Leona Helmsley donated one million dollars to assist in the rebuilding effort.
In 2008, in Springfield, Massachusetts, after the election of the United States' first African American president, a predominately African-American church being built was burned to the ground. Three White men were charged with the crime; two pleaded guilty with the third being convicted and sentenced to thirteen years. In 2015, a spike in arson was recorded against Black churches. On June 23, God's Power Church of Christ in Georgia was set on fire. Investigators ruled the fire arson. That same night, a Black church in Charlotte, North Carolina, was intentionally set on fire in what investigators deemed a hate crime. Within the span of just two weeks, five Black churches in the southeast were set on fire, beginning just a week after a deadly shooting at a Black South Carolina church that authorities deemed a hate crime. In 2019, authorities once again investigated three suspicious fires in the South that targeted Black churches.
Bibliography
Barry, Dan. "Up From the Ashes, a Symbol That Hate Does Not Win." New York Times, 25 Sept. 2011, www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/us/church-rebuilds-after-2008-election-night-arson.html. Accessed 11 Nov. 2024.
Blackstock, Terri. Trial by Fire. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000.
Green, Emma. “Black Church Are Burning Again in America.” The Atlantic, 25 June 2015, www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2015/06/arson-churches-north-carolina-georgia/396881/. Accessed 11 Nov. 2024.
Johnson, Sandra. Standing on Holy Ground: A Triumph Over Hate Crime in the Deep South. Columbia: U of South Carolina P, 2005. Print.
Sanchez, Ray, and Deanna Hackney. “Suspicious Fires Consume 3 Black Churches in 10 Days in a Louisiana Parish.” CNN, 7 Apr. 2019, www.cnn.com/2019/04/06/us/louisiana-black-church-fires/index.html. Accessed 11 Nov. 2024.
“Violent History: Attack on Black Churches.” The New York Times, 18 June 2015, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/06/18/us/19blackchurch.html#:~:text=Springfield%2C%20Mass.,-Macedonia%20Church%20of&text=The%20predominantly%20black%20church%2C%20which,to%2013%20years%20in%20prison. Accessed 11 Nov. 2024.