Immediately after the election of President Barack Obama, many felt the country was going in the right direction in terms of racial relations, but attacks of terror and hatred have only intensified.
Immediately after the election of President Barack Obama, many felt the country was going in the right direction in terms of racial relations, but attacks of terror and hatred have only intensified.
Within 24 hours of his election, Nov. 5, 2008, Benjamin Haskell, Michael F. Jacques Jr. and Thomas Gleason Jr., all of whom are white, set fire to the Macedonia Church of God In Christ, which is located in Springfield, Mass. According to the Boston Globe, Haskell was asked by an associate why they set fire to the church. Haskell replied, “Because it was a Black church.”
A CNN report stated that on the day of the election of President Obama, a 55-year-old man by the name of Don Black, former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, stated that more than 2000 people joined his website. Statistics suggest KKK and other hate groups are gaining strength because of the election of Obama.
In the state of Texas, there have been many reported hate crimes that have occurred within the last 12 months and many more that may go unreported out of fear of the Klan or other hate groups retaliating. An alarming amount of Black churches have been targeted in Texas by the Klan and other hate groups.
In May 2008, Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in the Marshall area had "White KKK Power" painted on its walls. Also in June of 2008, Center Hill Free Will Baptist Church of Nesbitt, Texas had KKK propaganda painted on its walls. The church is 107 years old. There have been at least four churches targeted in Texas within the last year by racial violence and intimidation.
Bob Lydia, the first vice-president of the Texas NAACP and a national NAACP Board Member, stated, “There is a rise in the Klan. There is a movement of folks who never had interest in the KKK until Barack Obama became President Barak Obama.” The Anti-Defamation League listed over 18 known hate group activities in the state of Texas for 2008. These groups include the Klu Klux Klan; America’s Promise Ministries; Crew 38, a skinhead group; Neo Nazis and more. On Nov. 15, 2008 and Dec. 20, 2008, paramilitary training was even conducted by the Texas Militia.”
However, Texas is not alone in racial hate group activities because there were racially motivated acts within the last year that sprung up nationwide. On Oct. 1, 2008, in Oak Harbor, Washington, an Oak Harbor thrift store, owned by Unity Fellowship Church, was vandalized and the statue of a Black mother was decapitated. According to the Whidbey News Times, Pastor Fannie Dean has also been getting threatening letters from the KKK.
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