A group of church leaders have written an open letter to Franklin Graham, criticising his Facebook comments last week about the killing of young black men by police, and are gathering signatories.
The issue of institutionalised racism in American police forces has become a major pressure point for the country's black community, and particularly in Ferguson since the shooting of black teenager Michael Brown in August. Last week two policemen were wounded when they were shot during a protest in the city.
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However, he was condemned by church leaders including Sojourners founder, theologian and activist Jim Wallis, who wrote: "Your Facebook post makes you seem, at best, oblivious to the racial inequity in this country's policing and criminal justice system, which is also still deeply embedded in our American society. At worst, your post reflects your own racial biases – unconscious or conscious."
Now a group of evangelical leaders has crafted a collective response to Graham, with one of them, Sojourners worker Lisa Sharon Harper, saying: "We will not tolerate this type of flippant, patronizing commentary from faith leaders on critical issues that mean life and death for many in the body of Christ and in communities across America."