THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 13, 1996 TAG: 9606130013
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 49 lines
After 18 months in which suspicious fires have destroyed or damaged about 30 Southern black churches, the fires are getting the attention they deserve.
Everyone, from Bill Clinton to the Christian Coalition to NationsBank to Southern attorneys general, is weighing in with advice or action:
The federal Church Arson Task Force, combining Justice and Treasury departments' personnel, has assigned some 200 agents to explore the burnings.
NationsBank, which operates throughout the Southeast, has posted a $500,000 reward. The Christian Coalition, in keeping with its more-modest revenues, has offered $25,000.
Legislation is moving through Congress that lowers from $10,000 to $5,000 the threshold at which church property demage becomes a federal crime.
Spurred by Virginia Attorney General Jim Gilmore, the Southern attorneys general have agreed to work together on the problem.
The burnings have spanned the Deep South and extended into border states such as Tennessee and Virginia. The most recent came last week in Charlotte, N.C., and Monday in Greenville, Texas.
Virginia's entry is Richmond's Glorious Church of God and Christ which burned on Feb. 21. The fire, which gutted the interior of the church, began at a landing outside the front door and was spread rapidly by an accelerant.
The prospect that some or all of these fires are racist-inspired is a disheartening comment on life 30 years after the civil-rights movement. Most of the fires seemingly are not products of a coordinated effort. However, as not-very-distant history teaches, racial hatred has a way of informally linking those in its grip in evil fraternity. Another possibility is that, as news of the bombings has intensified, some thrill-seekers have also become arsonists.
One bright spot is the range of outraged response. From major financial institutions to Republican-affiliated political groups to a Democratic president, powerful organizations and individuals are committed to stopping the destruction.
Black ministers have complained that the investigation is not proceding quickly enough and that too much energy is being devoted to questioning church members. Alleged federal foot-dragging apparently is being corrected, however. And no stone, even examination of church members, should be unturned in the effort to root out villains.
Some observers note that the presidential election year was necessary to boost the issue to the fore. That, unfortunately, is true. But it should be some consolation, however slight, that in 1996 protecting the civil rights and religious freedom of African Americans is good politics. by CNB