NEWS STORY: Cleveland churches rally together to oppose KKK

c. 1999 Religion News Service CLEVELAND _ Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall inherit the scarred political landscape left behind by Mayor Michael R. White and NAACP Cleveland chapter head George Forbes. At least that is the hope of a politically powerful coalition of clergy who are planning a series of alternative events to […]

c. 1999 Religion News Service

CLEVELAND _ Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall inherit the scarred political landscape left behind by Mayor Michael R. White and NAACP Cleveland chapter head George Forbes.

At least that is the hope of a politically powerful coalition of clergy who are planning a series of alternative events to reclaim the moral high ground in Cleveland’s effort to respond to the Ku Klux Klan’s planned Aug. 21 rally downtown.


The centerpiece of the effort backed by some of the city’s most prominent black religious leaders, including the Rev. Otis Moss Jr., the Rev. Marvin McMickle, the Rev. Larry Macon and the Rev. C. Jay Matthews, is an interfaith rally Aug. 18 at Mt. Sinai Baptist Church.

But that is only one in a series of events planned for the week leading up to the Klan rally under the heading “Transforming Hate Into Love.” C.T. Vivian, one of the early leaders of the civil rights movement and chairman of the Center for Democratic Renewal in Atlanta, will speak at both the interfaith gathering and before community leaders.

Think of the KKK, and the images of the four little girls blown up in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist church in Birmingham or the face of a fallen Medgar Evers and the tears streaming down his wife’s face come rushing back, said Moss, pastor of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church.

“All of that memory is before us,” Moss said. “However, we know that through nonviolent direct action and moral authority we can overcome that.”

Unlike the NAACP, the direct action planned by the city’s religious establishment, including the 1 million-member Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, is designed to encourage people to stay away from the KKK on Aug. 21.

That day, houses of worship across the region will be open for prayer, a Walk Against Hate Parade will be held and a Teach-In sponsored by the church-based United We Can will take place.

“The greatest disappointment the Klan can have is that nobody shows. And that’s exactly our intention _ to keep people away from the rally,” said Sue Lacy, executive director of United We Can.


How to handle a Klan hungry for attention without giving it the publicity it craves or ignoring the message of hate it represents was the ethical dilemma religious leaders said they confronted in developing a response to the KKK.

What they were not counting on was the highly publicized feud between White and Forbes _ two of the city’s most visible black leaders _ over the city’s plans for the Klan.

“While this small but despicable group of KKK are too small in number to warrant any attention, they have already found their way into our living rooms, bedrooms, dens and family rooms by way of media coverage to date,” Moss and the Rev. Neal Wilde of Brooklyn Memorial United Methodist Church said in a letter to area clergy.

In recent days, Forbes has characterized the mayor as a Klan coddler for proposing to allow KKK members to use a police garage to change into their robes. The mayor said it would reduce the chances for hostilities, but Forbes said the mayor should get his “paddy wagon ready” for counter-demonstrators.

The feud “has heightened a need for reconciliation,” said Macon, head of United Pastors in Mission, a group of predominantly black clergy. “We got more work now, that’s what it means for us.”

Wilde put it more bluntly: the self-titled Rev. James Hogg, KKK grand dragon, must be in “hog heaven” with all the publicity, he said.


But Moss, pastor of Olivet Baptist Church, said the “painful experience” of the White-Forbes feud has had the unintended effect of heightening the consciousness of not only the faith community, but caused the business and civic communities to examine the issues of racism and violence symbolized by the Klan.

“The Klan is one dot on a broad map of hate groups throughout the nation, and those groups seem to be growing at a pace of speed that should be of concern to everyone,” Moss said. “Hatred, violence and racism are really the broad issues that every community, and especially our faith communities, ought to give continuing attention to, not on a one-time basis.”

The religious community, historically a powerful force in the civil rights movement, is responding in Greater Cleveland with a series of events to celebrate unity and begin a regional dialogue about racism.

“We’re going to raise the beloved community concept,” Macon said.

In services, Aug. 13-15, churches, mosques and synagogues are being asked to raise issues of racial harmony and justice. On Aug. 18, Vivian will speak at a rally and Forbes, White and representatives of the Police Department are being invited. Other events are also being planned.

In addition to the parade and teach-in on Aug. 21, several churches are planning special programs the day of the rally.

In a letter to Episcopal clergy, Bishop J. Clark Grew urged his churches “to take specific, positive measures” to gather people in their communities to promote peace and unity on the day of the rally.


“Let’s deal with racism that’s part of our lives, and not the Klan’s presence,” Grew said in an interview.

The Catholic diocese was considering holding a major rally of its own, but decided to join together with the Aug. 18 interfaith rally as a more powerful statement of unity, said Len Calabrese, executive director of the Commission on Catholic Community Action.

“I would not say I’m glad the Klan is coming to Cleveland, but I’m glad so far we’re trying to respond in as unified a manner as possible,” Calabrese said.

Lacy said this has become a “great opportunity” for the religious community in Greater Cleveland to work together in the future on issues of racial justice.

“We don’t see this as a one-shot deal,” she said. “The greatest tragedy is when good people do nothing, and it creates opportunities for others to fill that vacuum.”

DEA END BRIGGS

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