List of attacks against African-American churches

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Attacks against African-American churches in the United States have taken the form of arson, bombings, mass murder, hate crimes, and white supremacist-propelled domestic terrorism. This timeline documents acts of violence against churches with predominantly black leadership and congregations.

Contents

19th century

20th century

1951–1960

1961–1970

1971–1980

1981–1990

1991–2000

More than 30 black churches were burned in an 18-month period in 1995 and 1996, leading Congress to pass the Church Arson Prevention Act. [9]

21st century

2001–2010

2011–present

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References

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  2. 1 2 Temple, Chanda; Jeff Hansen (2000-07-16). "Ministers' homes, churches among bomb targets". Alabama Media Group. Archived from the original on 2015-07-01. Retrieved 2015-06-30.
  3. "History of Church Fires (photograph)". Washington Post. 1996-06-19.
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  5. 1 2 "Another Negro Church Is Burned In Wave of Fires in Mississippi". The New York Times. 1964-08-01. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-11-08.
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  7. "Northern Virginia Sun 13 October 1966 — Virginia Chronicle: Digital Newspaper Archive". virginiachronicle.com. Retrieved 2024-05-19.
  8. "Cartersville Baptist Church - Virginia Historical Markers on Waymarking.com". Waymarking. Retrieved 2015-06-30.
  9. 1 2 Finley, Taryn (2015-06-23). "The Charleston Shooting Was At Least The 91st Violent Attack On A Black Church Since 1956". Huff Post Black Voices. Retrieved 2015-06-30.
  10. Booth, William (1996-06-19). "In Church Fires, a Pattern but No Conspiracy". Washington Post. Retrieved 2015-06-27.
  11. Southern Poverty Law Center (1998). "Jury Decision Against Ku Klux Klan Makes for Day of Reckoning". No. 91. Retrieved 2015-06-27.
  12. ITVS. "Forgotten Fires: Synopsis". Archived from the original on 2016-05-13. Retrieved 2015-06-27.
  13. Baltimore Sun (1997). "Group to aid rebuilding of S.C. church Carroll-based ministry to help black chapel burned by juveniles" . Retrieved 2016-11-02.
  14. "Hate Incidents". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 2015-06-27.
  15. "Violent History: Attacks on Black Churches". New York Times. 2015-06-18. Retrieved 2015-06-27.
  16. Forsyth, Jim (2011-11-30). "Texas man sentenced to 37 years for fire bombing church". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2015-06-30. Retrieved 2015-06-27.
  17. 1 2 Lowery, Wesley (November 28, 2014). "The Brown family's pastor tries to make sense of the fire that gutted his church". Washington Post. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  18. Fowler, Lilly. "$20,000 reward offered for tips on church fire set after Ferguson grand jury decision". stltoday.com. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  19. Fowler, Lilly. "Federal officials investigating fire at church connected to Michael Brown family". stltoday.com. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  20. "The Flood Christian Church". St. Louis Public Radio. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  21. Rook, Brandon (2015-06-22). "Arson under investigation at African-American church in Knoxville". WATE. Retrieved 2015-06-27.
  22. Davis, Claire, with Sheera Poelman, 13WMAZ Staff (2015-06-24). "Cause of Macon fire ruled "suspicious"". WMAZ. Retrieved 2015-06-29.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. Bever, Lindsay (2015-06-29). "Six predominately black Southern churches burn within a week; arson suspected in at least three". Washington Post. Retrieved 2015-06-29.
  24. Kaplan, Sarah (2015-06-25). "A black church in North Carolina was deliberately set ablaze, officials say". Washington Post. Retrieved 2015-06-27.
  25. EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS (29 March 2019). "Mississippi man pleads guilty in 'Vote Trump' church arson". Associated Press. Retrieved 30 March 2019. Investigators said McClinton, who is African-American, belonged to Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville, which was vandalized and burned.
  26. "Member of black Mississippi church arrested for arson". The Clarion Ledger. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  27. EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS (May 2, 2019). "DA: Man never admitted painting 'Vote Trump' in church arson". AP News. Retrieved May 5, 2019. Richardson said McClinton was involved in "illicit" activities at the church and set the fire to prevent fellow congregants from meeting the next day to discuss the activities.
  28. 1 2 3 Ingber, Sasha (11 April 2019). "'Evil Acts': Son Of Sheriff's Deputy Is Chief Suspect In Louisiana Church Arson Cases". National Public Radio. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  29. 1 2 3 Blinder, Alan; Fausset, Richard; Eligon, John (April 11, 2019). "A Charred Gas Can, a Receipt and an Arrest in Fires of 3 Black Churches". New York Times .
  30. 1 2 3 McLaughlin, Eliott C. (15 April 2019). "Prosecutor adds hate crimes to charges against Louisiana church fire suspect". CNN. Retrieved 2019-04-17.
  31. "Man admits torching African American churches in Louisiana to raise his profile as "black metal" musician, feds say". CBS News. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  32. "Louisiana man gets 25 years for torching three Black churches". Boston Globe. November 2, 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-03.
  33. "Overnight fires near Jackson State University cause damage to churches, 7 total sites". The Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved 2022-11-08.
  34. "Two churches burned by suspected arsonist in Mississippi as manhunt continues". PBS NewsHour. 2022-11-08. Retrieved 2022-11-08.

Notes

Further reading