Sen. Mike Johnston’s decision to leave a letter of support on the door of the Shorter A.M.E. Church in Denver after shootings at an historic AME church in South Carolina has caught on. (Provided by Mike Johnston)
A white lawmaker’s decision to put a letter on the door of a black Denver church in the middle of the night in response to the and then write about it on Facebook has prompted a national trend.
Sen. Mike Johnston, a Denver Democrat, said people now are writing him and telling him they are doing the same in their cities.
He had suggested they do so in his Facebook post.
“By Sunday morning America could blanket these churches with such overwhelming expressions of love that no one could walk through the doors of an AME church without feeling a flood of love and support from white men whose names they don’t know, whose faces they can’t place, but whose love they cant ignore,” he wrote.
Johnston told The Denver Post Thursday he felt compelled to get out of bed and tape the letter to the near Colorado and East Martin Luther King boulevards.
The pastor, Dr. Timothy Tyler, so he was so upset about the shootings in Charlotte Wednesday night he couldn’t sleep so he got on Facebook. That’s when he saw Johnston’s post. He drove to the church around 4 a.m. to get the letter.
“It touched my heart so greatly,” Tyler said.
The church is planning a vigil for the South Carolina victims for 9 p.m. Thursday. Nine people were killed at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, built in 1891, in Charlotte, a place of worship that has played a key role in the civil rights movement.
Sen. Mike Johnston, center, D-Denver, talks about his bill to grant in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants who graduate from state high schools during the 2011 session. (Denver Post)
When Johnston posted the contents of the letter on Facebook, he included another message to his followers.
“As a white man I have never been called on to be an ambassador for my race. I was never the only person who looked like me in a college seminar when the room uncomfortably waited for me to speak up on behalf of my people,” Johnson said. “I have never been the one at the cocktail party confused for ‘the help. And when America met Timothy McVeigh or Ted Kascinzki or Dylan Klebold I never for a minute worried that their illness said something about me.”
Johnson said his concern is that white American might conclude the shooter is mentally ill but ignore the idea the gunman might just be a racist.
In the state Senate, Johnston is known for his passionate speeches on everything from to the .
Here is his letter to the Denver church:
Dear Pastor Tyler and the Elders of Shorter AME church,
My heart breaks for those children of God that we lost in your sister church in South Carolina tonight. On a night when old, devastating patterns of racial injustice return like childhood nightmares, it seemed the best thing to do was to get out of my bed and drive over here to make sure this note was the first thing you saw when you walked in the church tomorrow. This white man is driving over to this AME church to tell you how deeply grateful I am that the leaders of your church have helped build this city, and how honored I am that the ancestors of this church have helped build this great country.
For centuries your church has stood for the unconditional love, unfettered hope, and relentless forgiveness that define the American spirit. I want you to know I stand arm in arm with you today in your grief. I refuse to let one deranged man speak for me, and I also refuse to stay silent after his abomination.
I drove over just to remind you and remind myself of the words from one of America’s greatest preachers and one of the Lord’s greatest prophets who said that “Hate can not drive out hate, only love can do that.” With that truth in mind, in the wake of tonight’s heartless stabs of hatred, I drove here to reaffirm the overwhelming supremacy of love. And to stand with millions of other white men who are proud to call you brothers and sisters, and who feel compelled now to right the wrongs of generations past by ensuring that these lost loved ones you will not grieve alone, this hollow hatred you will not face alone, and this righteous justice you will not seek alone.
Sincerely,
Mike Johnston
Here are the additional comments Johnston posted on his Facebook page under the letter:
As a white man I have never been called on to be an ambassador for my race. I was never the only person who looked like me in a college seminar when the room uncomfortably waited for me to speak up on behalf of my people, I have never been the one at the cocktail party confused for “the help.” And when America met Timothy McVeigh or Ted Kascinzki or Dylan Klebold I never for a minute worried that their illness said something about me.
Tonight is different. When a white man walks into a church full of black folks deep in prayer at one of the nations historic AME churches and begins shooting, it has the catastrophic power to reignite a racial stereotype centuries in the healing: the seared image of white man as racial predator. I imagine that if I drove through the parking lot of any AME church tomorrow morning I would inspire the locking of car doors, holding your children a little tighter, faces paralyzed with fear, and for good reason. That was why I couldn’t wait until tomorrow. The history is too long and the hurt is too raw.
As a white American I think we should make a point today to make a small but powerful statement that today we all stand together: and do it by stopping by any AME church in your community and perform a quiet act of service and leave a humble note of thanks. Whether you can sweep a walkway or pull some weeds or collate a bulletin, or ask if you can help and offer a hug and before you go, leave a note on the front door letting them know that you care. By Sunday morning America could blanket these churches with such overwhelming expressions of love that no one could walk through the doors of an AME church without feeling a flood of love and support from white men whose names they don’t know, whose faces they cant place, but whose love they cant ignore.
Then share your small acts of love with the hashtag “ª#” Onlylovecandothat”
