A church in suburban Chicago added a message to its electric sign following the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial, and it didn't sit well with everyone. The First Baptist Church of University Park was so incensed by Zimmerman's acquittal that it added the statement "It is safe to kill BLACK PEOPLE in Amerikkka" on its sign. Pastor Reginald W. Williams took to the church's Facebook page to explain the motivation and meaning behind the message:
In 1949 Rev. Vernon Johns, the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery Alabama (and predecessor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) put on the marquis [sic] in front of Dexter Avenue "It is Safe to Kill Negroes In Montgomery". He did this after a Black man was shot by a White man and received no punishment for the crime of murder. He placed this message on his marquis [sic] to call attention to what many Black people felt during that time—that in America the lives of Black people are treated with short worth by the dominant culture, systems, and institutions. It is interesting, yet unfortunate, that 64 years later, many Black people feel the exact same—In America, the lives of Black people are treated with short worth by the dominant culture, systems, and institutions. In no uncertain terms, Black life is undervalued in our society!
However, passersby felt that the Willaims' decision to spell "AmeriKKKa" the way he did would fuel the fire of post-verdict tensions. Williams eventually changed the message to "Is it safe to Kill Black People in America?" but said the sentiment behind it is the same:
None
Williams was going for shock value because he's aware that the underlying messages of Trayvon Martin's death and George Zimmerman's acquittal are reasons to be angry.
[via Chicagoist]
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