Interfaith Forum Explores Ways to Combat Hate

Photos by Evan Brandt

Above: Darrell Brown, center, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Paoli, makes a point during last night's interfaith forum on combating racism. At left is Bishop Michael Anthony of Heart of God Church. At right is Tameka Hatcher from the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.

At left: There were about 50 people in the audience at last night's interfaith forum.

If you think this world is getting crazier by the day, and people struggle to connect in meaningful ways, you're not alone.

A lot of people who feel the same way turned out Tuesday night for an interfaith forum held at the Carousel at Pottstown and spurred by  an incident last summer outside the Royersford office of state Rep. Joe Ciresi, D-146th Dist.

A message promoting the Ku Klux Klan was discovered written

in dust outside state Rep. Joe Ciresi's office in August.

In the dust on windows opposite his office, someone had drawn hate symbols, including a swastika and comments about Anne Frank, whose diary written while hiding from Nazis documented the struggles Jews faced during the Holocaust.

He was joined by fellow state legislators state Rep. Tim Hennessey, R-26th Dist., and state Sen. Bob Mensch, R-24th Dist. and the ability of the three to cooperate on legislation that benefits the greater Pottstown area was used as an example of people overcoming their differences for the greater good.

The panel also responded to questions from the audience.

The panelists for the evening were Bill MacGregor of Pottstown Works; the Rev. Dr. Marcia Bailey,
pastor of First Baptist Church in Pottstown; the Rev. Nichole Jackson, pastor of Trinity Reformed United Church of Christ in Pottstown; Bishop Michael Anthony, pastor of Heart of God Church; the Rev. Darrell Brown, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Paoli; Tameka Hatcher, Educational Outreach Coordinator of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and Julia Katz, from the board of governors of Hesed Shel Emet, Pottstown's only synagogue.

Hatcher told the crowd of about 50 that the Human Relations Commission got its real start in the 1950s when a statewide poll of employers showed that most would not employ an African-American even if the worker had an advanced degree. She said Pennsylvania was the fourth state to adopt an anti-discrimination statute.

She said that although no one was ever charged for the incident outside Ciresi's office, profiles of such actors suggest it is a young person who feels marginalized in society. With 36 active hate groups, Pennsylvania ranks eighth in the nation for the number of hate groups operating here according to the Southern Poverty Law Center's database, Hatcher said.

More recently, the Human Relations Commission has been working with its counterparts in Pottstown, with the Exeter School District and in York County, where pro Ku Klux Klan leaflets were left on cars parked outside a theater where Spike Lee's film "Black Klansman" was showing, said Hatcher.

From left, state Sen. Bob Mensch, and state Reps Tim Hennessey

and Joe Ciresi all attended last night's forum.

Her agency does more than fight racism, said Hatcher. She noted that when a Pennsylvania company was purchased by a larger corporation, and became more automated, it began laying off older workers who were said to be unlikely to be able to adapt to the newer technology.

"They were predominantly older white men, and so many of them said to us that they did not believe discrimination really happened in the workplace, that people just didn't want to work, until it happened to them," Hatcher said.

Mensch said the state Senate is currently mulling legislation that would give the Human Relations Commission "more teeth" to combat discrimination, and that could be expanded to also include protections for those discriminated against due to their sexual orientation.

"I'm getting a lot of messages from people telling me not to do it, but those people read too much on Twitter," he said.

Marcia Bailey, center, pastor at First Baptist Church in Pottstown,

makes a point with Nichole Jackson, pastor at Trinity Reformed

United Church of Christ, right, and Bill MacGregor from Pottstown

Works, left, listen.

In fact social media and the wider Internet in general were discussed as ways that keep people from reaching a deeper understanding of each other and, as Bailey noted, "makes it easier for people to be targeted electronically."

Jackson said that attempts at conversation online can go so toxic so quickly that she prefers to speak with people face to face, or at least on the telephone.

She said her conversations with Johnny Corson, president of the Pottstown chapter of the NAACP, have eased her out of her comfort zone.

"Relationships are at the root of everything we do," Jackson said. "It's a humbling experience to hear the pain of another person without getting defensive, but if we can keep coming back to the table, it gets less so."

Those face-to-face conversations are the way to build understanding and break down walls between faiths, ethnicities and beliefs, said Brown.

Even family relationships tend be the path out of hate, said Bailey. She used an example of a family member who reveals that they are gay. "They already love this person, how can they reject them? And then all the pre-conceptions that had about 'those people' melt away," Bailey said.

Bishop Michael Anthony, center, pastor of Heart of God church,

makes a joke while the Rev. Nichole Jackson, left, and pastor

Darrell Brown, right, show their appreciation.

"I truly believe the power of relationships is how we're going to overcome," said Brown. The fact that Pottstown's leaders are having these conversations now; the fact that Pottstown Police Chief Michael Markovich attends Pottstown Ministerium meetings are all important for understanding.

"What happens to a community when they're not prepared, when they can't reach out to their leaders," he said. "One terrible act of violence can tear a whole community apart, unless people in the community can look to their leaders to have their best interests at heart."

Anthony said that this generation of children seems to have by-passed many of the prejudices their parents may hold, knowingly or not. "Kids hang out together without all the hang-ups adults have," he said.

But those children are being discriminated against by a state education funding system that has been shown to short-change school districts with a higher minority population, said activist John Tremble.

Anthony, who works in the school district, said he sees first-hand how Pottstown's school children are

"How do we get people to understand we're just like they are?"

said Julia Katz, right, from the board of governors of Temple 

Hesed Shel Emet.

denied resources wealthier districts enjoy.

"It's about priorities," said Hatcher, who emphasized she was expressing her person opinion and not a policy position of the Human Relations Commission. "The state will end up dealing with these children one way or the other. The question is whether they will pay for it on the educational level, or pay for it at a correctional institution."

"In my tradition, Christianity, we say every child is a child of God. But I think this is a justice issue," said Jackson. "I see children in my congregation who are being denied what they need to grow. And if I don't stand up say its unfair, I can't say every child is a child of God."

Anthony said while it is incumbent upon Pottstown to teach its children "how to be strong in this moment," it is incumbent upon those with the power to right this wrong to act.

"You can't tell me you love me, and then watch me suffering and not do something to help," he said. "Love is an action word."

And with that, click here to read all the Tweets from the forum.