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Tut: P ori I. and O bserver • O ctober 2, 1996
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Civil Rights Journal: Churches Still Burning
B) B ehnke P owell J a < kso *
I guess I shouldn t have been sur­
prised when event the '‘liberal” press
began to start q u e stio n in g the
burnings o f black churches. I guess
once again my desperate desire that
this nation begin to talk about and
deal with the racism which is a part of
life in America had outweighed mv
own cumulative life experience. Far
too many Americans still are willing
to deny what they see on videotapes,
what they live in their own communi­
ties and what they know in their own
hearts to be the case — racism is still
alive and well in America.
Black churches are still burning in
this nation, although it is no longer
on the front pages (or back pages, for
that matter) o f our newspapers or on
the nightly television news. But in
late J u ly and early August seven more
churches burned: two in Arkansas,
two in Alabama and one each in
Mississippi, SouthCarolinaandTex
as. According to USA Today, which
has done the most in depth and on­
going coverage o f the burnings,
“ Black churches in the South contin­
ue to bum at the same rapid rate that
pushed the arsons to the top o f the
national agenda one month ago The
pace of the arsons - more than one a
week - guarantees that 1996 will be
the worst year for Black church ar­
sons in this decade.”
Nevertheless, the Wall Street Jour­
nal and Atlantic Monthly have im­
pelled in recent articles that the burnings
have been used by the National Coun­
cil o f Churches to raise dollars for
itself and that there is no real conspir­
acy o f white supremacist groups and
that therefore we should not be overly
concerned about what is going on.
Both ofthese assumptions are dan­
gerous and both o f them are wrong.
As the scope o f the church fires
began to be known in early 1996, the
National Council o f Churches, an
ecumenical organization composed
o f 32 Protestant and Orthodox de­
nominations, focused its efforts in
reaching out to those churches which
had been burned It was only natural
that these denominations work to­
gether rather than individually on
this issue and they were joined by
Catholics, Jews and Muslims.
The NCC also worked together
with the Center for Democratic Re­
newal and the Center for Constitu­
tional Rights to investigate the fires.
They have found that there have been
75 arson attacks on black churches
from January 1, 1995 through July
31,1996, more than double the num­
ber (28) counted during the previous
five years combined. While there
have been a similar number o f white
churches burned during that time
period, since African Americans are
Thriftway zone change
without street closure
by
L ee P erlman
The United Grocers cooperative
won a battle, but may have lost the
war, in the efforts to build a new
Thriftw ay M arket on Northeast
33rd A venue at K illingsw orth
Street.
Last W ednesday City Council
unanimously approved a Compre­
hensive Plan map change for the
property, including a change from
residential to commercial use for a
satellite parking lot south ofN orth-
east Emerson Street. The designa­
tio n w as for a C S z o n e , as
recomended by a city hearings of­
ficer last month, rather than the
CN2 zone the coop had sought.
Among other things, the change
means that the new store could not
have a 137-space parking lot as
planned. However, United Grocers
consultant Lans Stout said "We
think we can make it work” with the
CS zone.
A more serious issue is the coop’s
proposed vacation o f Northeast
Emerson Street to connect the two
parcels o f land and expand the site
to accommodate a 40,000 square
foot store. The issue was not before
the Council Wednesday, but com­
m issio n e rs C h a rlie H ales and
Gretchen Kafoury both indicated they
would oppose it if it ever is present­
ed. “ I can’t stop you from trying, but
creating a footprint for a suburban
store is going nowhere with me,”
Hales said.
Hales cited the Irvington Market
in northeast Portland, the Nature’s
and Zupan’s stores in southeast, and
Strohecker’s in southwest as exam­
ples o f new markets that were able to
develop within a standard street grid.
Mayor Vera Katz cited an older
Thriftway market in northwest.
Stout said the project “probably
w on’t necessarily die without the
street vacation.”
United Grocers Real Estate De­
velopment Manager Roger Staver
was less optimistic. “We have a de­
sign for a store with a street vacation
and an operator lined up to manage
it, and we have no design and no
operator for one without it,” he said
after the vote. “This site may become
a Pay Less.”
J.C. KizakoftheConcordiaNeigh-
borhood Association testified to her
group’s strong support for a new
Thriftway on the site. Sue Chase and
Steve McKenster, both residents o f
Northeast 34th Avenue, testified
against it. McKenster said he and
his neighbors realized the property
will someday be redeveloped and
said, “ W e’re not opposed to a store
there, just to this store.” Chase said
that the effect o f the store on traffic
on nearby streets hadn’t been prop­
erly assessed, and that the zone
change should not be granted until
it was Planner Susan McKinney
said such concerns could be ad­
dressed when the city reviews actu­
al development plans.
McKinney argued that the plan
designation changes should be made
whether a Thriftway is built on the
site or not. The current zoning “vir­
tually assures that there will be no
new development there,” she told
Council. Leaving it vacant, in turn,
would be “a barrier to the redevel­
opment o f the area,” she said.
Hales praised United G rocers’
willingness to replace a former
Thriftway store on the site that was
closed in 1993, and its willingness
to work with the community. “There
are a number o f good things going
on here," he said. “T here’s a neigh­
borhood that’s gett ing health ier, and
there's a retailer who realizes that."
only 12 percent o f the population,
proportionately four times as many
black churches are burning.
In addition, they have document­
ed case after case where there was
spray-painting o f racist graffiti, use
o f molotov cocktails and other in­
cendiary devices, vandalism and tar­
geting o f churches with a history o f
strong advocacy for African Ameri­
can rights, including death treats and
racist insults by phone at night and by
mall. At least 13 o f the fires since
January 1990 have taken place around
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday
They have found evidence o f racist
motivation in the majority o f cases,
with several clearly connected to
white supremacist groups.
While no national conspiracy of
white supremacist groups has yet to
be found, if these are the acts o f
individual or small groups o f racists
is that less dangerous for race rela­
tions? Does that mean the rest o f us
can relax, take a breath and go on
with business as usual?
Finally, the NCC has indicated
Policy Analyst/
Legislative Liaison
that about 85 percent o f the funds
they are receiving are being used for
the restoration o f the burned church­
es. The balance o f the contributions
are being used for programs to ad­
dress racism and for administration
o f the funds. But, if the donors indi­
cate they want their contribution only
used for rebuilding, the NCC is hon­
oring the request Some $2 million
has already been approved by its
Grants Committee, on which I sit
Churches are being rebuilt, hymnals
and Bibles are being replaced, pews
and altars are being built
But the NCC has also taken the
position that it would be futile to re­
build the churches and do nothing
about combating the underlying caus­
es. “ We must take such a hollsitc
approach lest we rebuild churches
only to have them burn down again,"
said Dr Joan Brown Campbell, G en­
eral Secretary o f the NCC.
Black churches are still burning
and we still have work to do. We
must re-build the churches and we
must build a racism-free nation.
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Send a letter of interest, a de­
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October 18,1996 to: WTECB,
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Box 43105, Olympia, WA
98504-3105. 360-753-5660.
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