Oak Ridge faith leaders condemn racism, hatred, ask City Council to do the same

Posted at 11:48 am August 16, 2017
By John Huotari 15 Comments

Reacting to the deadly violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, this past weekend, Oak Ridge faith leaders on Monday, Aug. 14, 2017, condemned white supremacy, racism, anti-semitism, and other forms of hatred, and they asked the Oak Ridge City Council to adopt a resolution expressing similar sentiments. The statement of condemnation was read by Derrick Hammond, pastor of Oak Valley Baptist Church. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Reacting to the deadly violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, this past weekend, Oak Ridge faith leaders on Monday condemned white supremacy, racism, anti-semitism, and other forms of hatred, and they asked the Oak Ridge City Council to adopt a resolution expressing similar sentiments.

The statement of condemnation of hatred and racism was read by Derrick Hammond, pastor of Oak Valley Baptist Church, during a Monday evening meeting of the Oak Ridge City Council as 14 other clergy members stood by him in support.

It came two days after a 32-year-old Virginia woman was killed and 19 other people were injured after a car plowed into counter-protesters on the day of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. About two hours after the car crash, two Virginia state troopers who both have East Tennessee ties were killed when their police helicopter crashed and burned; the helicopter had been involved in providing surveillance and information during the day, the Charlottesville Daily Progress reported.

“This past weekend, a 32-year-old young lady by the name of Heather Heyer lost her life, and many others were seriously injured at a Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia,” the Oak Ridge faith leaders said in their statement delivered to City Council on Monday. “The white nationalists, neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members, and other ‘alt-right’ hate groups were gathered in order to ‘take America back.’

“While the kind of hate, bigotry, and white supremacist ideology that we witnessed in Charlottesville is not new to America, this racist minority movement has been emboldened by what they perceive as support for their un-American world view. Their rhetoric and actions threaten the historic progress our ancestors, from many faiths and ethnic backgrounds, have made toward equality for all. It is now our responsibility and privilege to celebrate the rich diversity of our nation and continue their work.

“Mr. Mayor and City Council, we, the faith community, stand in solidarity to condemn white supremacy, racism, anti-semitism, and any other form of hatred in the strongest terms. We desire to name it for what it is: evil, tyrannical, and antithetical to our Declaration of Independence, which declares, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'”

The faith leaders asked the Oak Ridge City Council to draft and adopt a resolution that expressed similar sentiments.

Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch said the City Council could re-affirm equal rights for all Americans, and liberty and justice for all, in September.

“Over the last 75 years, the best, the brightest, the most patriotic, the most talented men and women from every state in this country, and indeed around the world, have come to Oak Ridge,” Gooch said. “As a result of that, they’ve worked, they’ve made our county safer, they have enhanced our lives, and we our better for that. Historically, Oak Ridge has celebrated its diversity of views, its diversity of religion, and we are proud of that.

“This isn’t just a moment for us. The world is watching and so are our children.”

The statement of condemnation read by Hammond on Monday was endorsed by Reverend Sharon Youngs (First Presbyterian Church of Oak Ridge), Reverend Mark Flynn (First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge), Reverend Brian Scott (Robertsville Baptist Church), Reverend Rory Naeve (First Baptist Church of Oak Ridge), Reverend Jake Morrill (Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church), Father Brent Shelton (St. Mary’s Catholic Church), Reverend Annette Flynn (Flynn Partnerships), Reverend Larry Dipboye and Reverend Carolyn Dipboye (Grace Covenant Church), Reverend Steve Sherman (First Christian Church of Oak Ridge), and Rabbi Victor Rashkovsky (Jewish Congregation of Oak Ridge).

Here are summaries of the responses of other City Council members during Monday’s meeting:

Chuck Hope—“All men and women should be treated and acted on equally.”

Jim Dodson—Dodson is a teacher at Jefferson Middle School. Among his first words to students every day, Dodson said: “Treat other people the way you feel they should treat you. That’s one of the more important lessons that we as educators can instill in those young minds.”

Ellen Smith—“People should be able to express themselves in public without fear of being attacked, physically or in any other form, for their opinions and behavior…This is not something we want to see in our community. We condemn hatred and violence.”

Kelly Callison—Like other Council members, Callison recognized the unity of faith leaders from many different religions. That makes the country strong and resilient, he said.

Hans Vogel—Vogel said he is the first generation born here from an immigrant. It’s a diverse and unique environment, and there is diversity in the community and an ability to speak up without being attacked, Vogel said. He said he appreciated everyone coming together and looks forward to the resolution next month.

Rick Chinn—“This community brought people from all around the world together of all races and creeds to work together for a common goal, and we have, as this community, become an accepting community, and I would greatly hope that nothing like what happened in Charlottesville would happen here in the City of Oak Ridge.

“I would also remind everyone, though, that there is hate on both sides, and hate of any kind is unacceptable in my mind. There are good people with white skin, there are good people with black skin. There are bad people on both sides of the issue. I would ask us all to look inside and look at people’s hearts, and not at the color of their skin, and at their race and at their creed. Look into their hearts and accept them, and look for the goodness in everyone, and try to bring this country together.”

It’s a learning opportunity to show how the community can be brought together, Chinn said. He said he views problems as “opportunities for excellence.” “This is an incredible opportunity for us, in my opinion,” Chinn said. “This to me is an opportunity for excellence for us to show as a community how this can bring us together and make us even better.”

More information will be added as it becomes available.

You can watch the video of Monday’s City Council meeting here.

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Terry Copeland Pfeiffer

Really Rick Chinn? “Hate on both sides?” There were those who stood against hate and the other group who were about nothing BUT hate. YOU are ascribing moral equivalency here and there is none.
- Mark Caldwell
  
  Chinn should resign.
  - Matt Bailey
    
    Mark, he should resign because his opinion differs from you? That doesn’t sound like you.
    - Mark Caldwell
      
      Yes Matt, his beliefs differ from mine. I don’t cater to racists in any form.
      - Matt Bailey
        
        Nor does anyone I know, but I just don’t see evidence of racism at all in his comments. He pointed out the hatred on both sides, which was clearly evident. He said “hate of any kind is unacceptable”….That sounds pretty clear to me.
Will Cramer

Extremely disappointing from Mr. Chinn. There may be “hate” or hateful people on both sides of the political spectrum, but this is not a political issue. This is an issue of those who would seek to destroy the melting pot that is America, which is one of the key elements that makes this country so great. Mr. Chinn needs to condemn white nationalists, neo-nazi and similar groups that participated in Charlottesville and nothing else.
- Mark Caldwell
  
  That’s what one would expect from a Trump supporter as Chinn is. Let’s hope he’s a one-term council member. We don’t need him.
- Matt Bailey
  
  I would suggest that he did condemn all those groups, and he apparently realizes that there would have been no street fight without a second group to fight with. The original group you mention is despicable. A second despicable group showed up, some with baseball bats and covered faces. It doesn’t appear either group was there to cook out. Both groups got what they wanted – exposure. To make a sick day it takes two and that’s exactly what happened. Sadly.
  - Will Cramer
    
    The problem is he said “there is hate on both sides…”, implying that the level hate between the two groups is somehow equal. One group has hatred for Nazis/white supremecists/similar groups, the other group has hate for everyone who isn’t white. This isn’t a liberal vs. conservative issues, it’s a nazi issue. It’s unacceptable to discuss an incident involving nazis and the KKK and not simply say the nazi side is wrong. It’s not a political issue, it’s a social issue. Mr. Chinn should not be trying to explain it as a political issue, condemn the Nazis/KKK and leave it alone. Why is it necessary to explain it takes two to tango? Context is unimportant when it’s nazis.
    - Matt Bailey
      
      I’m not sure that one group only hates Nazis and white supremacy groups only. I agree with their hatred but it’s pretty clear they hate more than those, and come prepared to incite violence. I think everyone believes the nazi side is wrong. But to try to battle it in the street is giving them what they want / need. It turned into a political issue when the media decided to blister the Prez when they didn’t think he was forceful enough in his response. Yet long before that, many believe these same groups were being bused to Republican rallies to disrupt rallies. We’re talking about 500 Nazis. That’s not enough to even worry about in the grand scheme. You can’t change their ideology so why give it visibility?
Mike Stevens

Mr. Chinn. It sounds like you got your talking points from Faux News. Sad
David Crowe

I’ve read Mr. Chinn’s statement three times now and I’m having a hard time understanding the vitriol in the comments below. I commend Mr. Chinn for offering a full statement. In this day and age, if anyone in the public eye offers more than a couple of syllables, they are tarred and feathered by their political foes and those citizens that oppose them, as evidenced below.
To deride Mr. Chinn for pointing out that there is hate on both sides of this issue is naive and begs political correctness. Until we enter this discussion as grownups and speak honestly with each other, I don’t see much hope of real understanding between those that disagree.

Personally I don’t understand why the “Faith leaders” of Oak Ridge felt the need to put city council in the position of “condemning racism and hatred.” Not really in their wheelhouse if you look at the job description.
This is little ole Oak Ridge’s city council people. Get a grip. These folks mandate the repair of potholes. It’s not their job to take on hate groups. Unless of course you just want to force a politically chaotic and unpleasant situation on them to simply to start a fight.
- Mark Caldwell
  
  Do you have a “problem” condemning racism and hatred?
  - David Crowe
    
    Of course not. Do you have a problem with reading comprehension?
Philip W Nipper

I think sometimes Mr. Chinn tends to over think things and he may try too hard to make statements that won’t make him appear to be leaning one way or another. Leadership is not easy. Being a good and respected leader is even harder. I think Mr. Chinn probably knew when he spoke the words he did, he used some wrong ones. Open mouth, insert foot. The issue here is pretty clear cut for most folks. To put it simply, we have one flag in this country. Supporting others is unpatriotic and disrespectful to all who made the ultimate sacrifice defending it. I think all members of the city council would concur.