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NEWS

BY MELISSA LAUBER
UMCONNECTION STAFF

COURTESY OF BRIAN JACKSON

Church and community leaders gathered to end the silence and speak out against hate crimes that occurred recently in St. Mary's County. The church, police and community leaders will continue to work in the future to address issues of racism. Hate crimes are not isolated, the leaders claim. 'They affect us all.'

Earlier this winter, red and black words of hate were painted in the snow in a town in southern Maryland. The snow has melted, but the righteous indignation that drove more than 200 people to Zion UMC near Lexington Park, remains.

On Feb. 27, police responded to complaints of racist symbols and threats spray painted on a car and in the snow on the grounds of the offices of the St. Mary's County branch of the NAACP in Hermanville.

According to the police report, the letters KKK, the word 'kills,' and '[racial epithet for African Americans] will die!' were written in the snow. It was the fourth incident of such graffiti in the area. The first occurred Feb. 16.

In response to the incidents, more than 200 people gathered at an anti-hate rally March 7 at Zion UMC.

Police leaders vowed to take this hate crime seriously, political leaders spoke out against the existence of hate groups and religious leaders pledged to help foster a spirit of inclusiveness within the community's increasing diversity, while denouncing the graffiti as evil.

Walker

Amid the singing of gospel songs from the Civil Rights movement, the crowd pledged not to trivialize or forget the incident and to let it serve as a catalyst for greater understanding.

Jackson

The Rev. Brian Jackson has called his congregation at Zion UMC to prayer and fasting. At Good Friday services he held a recruitment drive for the NAACP to ensure that people of faith are 'at the table,' to help steer community discussions.

Jackson is concerned about the silence that initially surrounded these expressions of hate. 'It was as if keeping it silent kept it contained,' he said. 'It doesn't.'

Awareness is key, said Walker, who preached about the incidents at the Easter Sunday sunrise worship, which drew more than 700 people. 'This can't get forgotten or put on the back burner,' he said.

Walker and Jackson are planning to bring their two churches together for some activities that address racism. Both are concerned about what Jackson calls 'the plantation mentality' that they say exists in some of the more rural parts of St. Mary's County.

They are also concerned that the graffiti was 'a trial balloon to see if the Ku Klux Klan or some other hate group might get organized in the area,' Walker said.
According to national statistics, 7,489 hate crimes were reported to the FBI in 2003. Racial bias accounted for 51 percent of those crimes.

In 2003, in Maryland, 166 racially biased hate crimes were reported. In the District of Columbia, 10 were reported and in West Virginia 20 were reported.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, in 2003 several active hate groups met in this region including: the Imperial Klan of America in Washington, D.C., and Churchville; the World Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Sharpsburg; and three Klan organizations in West Virginia. Neo-Nazi hate groups were also active in Baltimore, Cumberland and Edgewater in 2003, the center reported.

'This was not just a crime against one segment of the community,' Walker said. 'It was a hate crime against the entire community. The church will do something.'