Rev. Eric S.C. Manning says that his community, and others traumatized by racist violence, need more from political leaders than displays of “false grief.”
, state Sens. Brian Adams and Larry Grooms, represent the district in which Mother Emanuel is located. Adams did not respond to a request for comment; Grooms could not be immediately reached.
They sat in the sanctuary of the 206-year-old church building, sunlight streaming through stained glass windows. There, a photo collage of the nine church members who were killed covers most of a wall; next to it sits a newly-installed security system, with large monitors. The downstairs “The laws haven’t changed since then,” said Clifford Jones, 62, a retired Army staff sergeant and Veterans Affairs worker. “No hate crime bills have been passed. You have to do more than show up. If you’re a politician, you’re supposed to support the people.”
Members of Mother Emmanuel noted another similarity between Buffalo and the shooting at their church: Law enforcement authorities took both Gendron and Roof into custody without physically harming them. That night at 3 a.m., Manning said, he pondered that treatment. He noted reports that Gendron emerged from the grocery store holding a gun to his neck. He couldn’t imagine that a Black man could emerge from an active shooting scene, still armed, and not be shot dead by police.
For some, last weekend’s shooting has reignited the fear of being targeted again by a White racist armed with a gun. They are more aware of their surroundings, identifying the exits wherever they go. One member said he lives with a constant feeling of “heightened alert.”“Even now, I come to church, one Sunday a young white man sat behind me. I was so uneasy. I couldn’t focus on Rev. Manning’s sermon.
Manning encouraged his members to study Psalm 37: “Fret not yourself because of evil doers, be not envious of wrongdoers, for they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good.”
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