Burning of African American Churches in Alabama and Perceptions of Race Relations: Executive Summary of a Community Forum Held by the Alabama Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights in Boligee, Alabama, July 2, 1996

• NCJ Number: 165542
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 16 pages
• Corporate Author: US Cmssn on Civil Rights
• Sale Source: US Cmssn on Civil Rights
• Publication Type: Conference Material
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A community forum held in Boligee, Ala. in July 1996 examined arson against black churches in Alabama; discussed perceptions of race relations; and assessed the investigative procedures of Federal, State, and local law enforcement officials.

Abstract

Seven African American churches in Alabama experienced arson between October 1995 through June 1996. Alabama does not have a hate crime statute, but it does now provide for increased penalties when a crime is motivated by the victim's race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or mental disability. The discussion focused on the extent of the damage; the motivations of the perpetrators; the Federal assistance to the churches; and responses by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Other topics included the media coverage of the church burnings and race relations, efforts by ministers to bring the races together, the extent of racism in the area, the status of the investigation of some of the church burnings, and coordination and cooperation among law enforcement agencies at different levels of government. Footnotes