Hundreds join pastors in calling for racial justice, unity in Atlanta

After a weekend of protests and riots
sparked by the killing of George Floyd,
hundreds of Christians and hip-hop artist
Lecrae gathered in Atlanta to call on
churches and government leaders to
ensure fair treatment and an end to
racially-motivated crimes.

Additionally, leaders also announced plans
for a “March on Atlanta” that will take
place in just over two weeks.

The OneRace Movement, a Christian
coalition that exists to “displace the spirit
of racism and release a movement of racial
reconciliation across Atlanta, the
Southeast, and the nation,” held a news
conference at Liberty Plaza outside the
state capitol building in downtown Atlanta
Monday.

“Today, we are not here to talk about the
protests,” OneRace co-director Josh
Clemons told the crowd. “We are not here
to talk about the riots. We are not here to
talk about the looting. What we are here to
talk about today is the injustice in our
land.”

The news conference, which was
announced last week, drew hundreds
following a weekend of protests, violence
and destruction in the city and elsewhere in
the country.

Thousands demonstrated in the streets
after the death of Floyd, 46, who was
filmed with a white police officer’s knee on
his neck as he died on a Minneapolis,
Minnesota street on Memorial Day.

Floyd’s death follows the recent killings of
Ahmaud Arbery , who was killed in Georgia
while jogging, and Breonna Taylor , who
was fatally shot by police in Louisville,
Kentucky.

“I think this is a moment for the Church, for
you, for me to cry out: Enough is enough!
It’s time for a change. It’s time for reform
and its time for the church to lead the
way.”

Led by several Christian leaders and
pastors, the coalition released “ The
OneRace Statement on Righteousness and
Justice: A call to end Racial Violence .”

“The Christian Community must engage
this issue spiritually & civically,” the
document reads. “This engagement must
begin with understanding the deep history
of racism in our nation, then owning that
history as our collective spiritual
responsibility, and then engaging in our
spheres of influence constructively to
change the story for future generations.”

Lecrae, a 40-year-old Christian hip-hop
recording artist who resides in Atlanta, also
spoke at the news conference.

“My burden [is] my mother marched in the
‘60s and ‘70s and protested these issues
of systemic racism and injustice,” he said.
“She took me to my first march after
Rodney King was unjustly beaten. I
marched and protested in Ferguson for
Mike Brown , … for Sandra Bland. Here we
are four years later in the same situation
doing the same thing. Something different
has got to happen. There has to be a
change.”

“I am all for the idea that the Gospel is
what changes hearts. But the Gospel is
both explicit and implicit,” Lecrae said.
“The Gospel is in the form of the cross.
The cross is vertical but it is also
horizontal. So there has got to be some
horizontal implications in what you believe,
taking action in your churches, in your
communities and in your jobs.”

The new OneRace statement calls on
Christians to “work to end racially-
motivated acts of violence” by “voting in
local elections for candidates that uphold
our values of equity and dignity toward all
races” and serving “in our communities
across racial lines.”

The statement also encourages believers to
“speak up and participate in nonviolent
protest whenever we see the injustice that
demands our attention.”

“We all have varying degrees of power,
position, and privilege,” the statement
reads. “In following the example of our
Savior as described in Philippians 2:3, we
must count others as more important than
ourselves, exercising our power, position,
and privilege for the betterment of those
not like us.”

The statement calls on elected officials to
make changes to ensure that “laws are
written and enforced in ways that are
equitable towards all.”

“When legislation and enforcement enables
one segment of the population to feel safe
and another segment of the population to
feel endangered, changes are necessary,”
the statement adds.

Area pastors who spoke at the Monday
event included: Crawford Loritts of the
Fellowship Bible Church, Jeff Norris of
Perimeter Church, Lee Jenkins of Eagle’s
Nest Church, Dennis Rouse of Victory
Church, and Arthur Breland of Woodland
Hills Church.

The OneRace Movement, which released
the Atlanta Covenant signed by thousands
of faith leaders in August 2018, also
announced that tens of thousands of
people will be invited to participate in a
march in Atlanta on June 19 to call for
changes that will ensure that there will be
no more Arberys, Taylors or Floyds.
In the news conference, Lecrae said the
country needs to see “prayer,” “policy,”
“programs,” “publicity” and “protest.”

“We need all of those pieces to that
puzzle,” Lecrae said. “This is a system that
has been set up from the inception for
black people to fail. Black people can’t tear
down a system that we didn’t build. So it is
important for my brothers and sisters in
Christ to use their power and privilege to
help tear down these evil infrastructures
that hold us back.”

Lecrae continued by calling for there to be
more leaders of color within churches.