ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 21, 1997 TAG: 9701210089
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
A group of about 15 Roanoke Valley pastors on Monday joined hands with the president of the Roanoke NAACP in what both parties described as a "renewed commitment" to each other.
Many churches "are moving to the exit of the 20th century adjusted to the status quo," said the Rev. Samuel Robinson, associate pastor at High Street Baptist Church. For too long, he said, those churches have been acting as "the tailgate rather than the headlight" in the area of civil rights.
Now, he said, it is time "to forge ahead to... justice.''
Robinson also is president of the Baptist Ministers' Conference of the Roanoke Regional Area, an association of black pastors that had several members at Monday's news conference at Sweet Union Baptist Church on Madison Avenue Northwest.
The official holiday recognizing the birth of Martin Luther King was appropriate for such an event, said Martin Jeffrey, president of the Roanoke Branch of the NAACP.
"There is no other institution in our community that enjoys the level of support, participation and credibility as does the African-American church," Jeffrey said.
There are several areas in which the churches and the NAACP share goals, Jeffrey said, including "strengthening families, fighting teen pregnancy, strengthening community, economic development, and strengthening educational opportunities."
A couple of the pastors also promised to seek changes in the criminal justice system, which they described as being too quick to arrest and convict young black men.
The Rev. Carl Tinsley, pastor of First Baptist in Buena Vista, accused Gov. George Allen of being willing to spend millions "for new jails, with no plan to rehabilitate or help" those who are incarcerated.
He accused police and prosecutors of going after blacks involved with drugs while ignoring whites, said that public defenders are too quick to deal black clients into jail terms, and contended that juries made up of "elderly white people" tend to give harsh sentences to young black men they see as a threat.
Tinsley said he was not advocating criminal activity or suggesting that the police should stop arresting criminals, but contended that systematic prejudice continues to affect the arrest and sentences of poor blacks and whites.
Other pastors also said they have observed what they consider to be similar injustices.
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