May 16, 2024

Boston Christian Leaders Call on ‘White Churches’ to Pay Millions in Slavery Reparations

Boston, Massachusetts, Christian leaders are calling on “white churches” to dole out tens of millions of {dollars} in reparations to black folks to rectify their historical past with slavery.

“We call sincerely and with a heart filled with faith and Christian love for our white churches to join us and not be silent around this issue of racism and slavery and commit to reparations,” Reverend Kevin Peterson stated at a latest event at Resurrection Lutheran Church, the Daily Mail experiences.

According to the reverend, King’s Chapel, Arlington Street Church, Trinity Church, and Old South Church should “publicly atone for the sins of slavery” and “commit to a process of reparations” due to a whole lot of slaves being owned by their clergy and parishioners in the previous.

“Where they will extend their great wealth – tens of millions of dollars among some of those churches – into the black community,” Peterson stated, including {that a} letter signed by 16 clergymen despatched to the named church buildings outlined their reparations plans.

The group of clergymen — who the outlet famous is made up of black and white Christians — listed cost strategies together with money, creating inexpensive housing, or erecting “financial and economic institutions in Black Boston.”

Peterson additionally pointed to the Catholic Church for aiding in “sustaining institutionalized racism across the city.”

“Not only are we looking at the period of slavery, we’re looking at three centuries of institutionalized anti-black racism and the Catholic Church is inclusive of the churches we want to engage,” he said.

The occasion was put collectively by the Boston People’s Reparations Commission, which has been pushing for the town authorities to pay out a whopping $15 billion for its participation in chattel slavery.

Rev. Peterson has additionally known as on Faneuil Hall Marketplace, situated in the town’s historic space, to be renamed to eliminate the affiliation to Peter Faneuil, the slave trafficker who constructed it. 

Reverend John Gibbons of Arlington Street Church — one of many establishments named in the letter —  joined the occasion and stated that it’s not sufficient for church buildings to merely focus on their historical past and the idea of reparations.

“Somehow we need to move with some urgency toward action and so part of what we’re doing is to prod and encourage white churches to go beyond what they have done thus far,” he stated. 

King’s Chapel already acknowledges that ministers and church members owned a complete of 219 slaves all through its centuries-long historical past, whereas Old South Church revealed a report “on its historical ties to slavery” in accordance to the outlet.

Reverend John Edgerton of Old South is on board with the reparations activists’ effort, telling the Boston Globe that the church “is committed to learning the truth about our history and making repair — the God who loves justice demands nothing less.”

The Archdiocese of Boston said that the “suffering of the black community is constantly with us in the Commonwealth and nationally” and introduced that leaders would “certainly review” what the activists proposed.



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