Lisa Sharon Harper, director of organizing for the Sojourners community in Washington, defined "America's original sin" as "racial hierarchy" at a June 15 conference on solidarity and faith issues in the nation's capital.
Two days later, that sin reappeared in a shocking and conscience-troubling way, as nine members of a Bible study group at an African-American church in Charleston, South Carolina, were murdered, allegedly by a 21-year-old white man, Dylann Roof, who had penned a race-baiting and race-hating manifesto not long before the shooting. In the manifesto, Roof said that, through the action he was contemplating taking, he hoped to start a race war in the country.
Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the U.S. bishops' conference, expressed "grief and deep sadness" over the murders in a June 19 statement. "There have been far too many heartbreaking losses in the African-American community this year alone. Our prayers are with all those suffering from this heinous crime. We join our voices with civic and religious leaders in pledging to work for healing and reconciliation," he said.
Source: Catholic News Service | Mark Pattison