Political Quotes

“one wouldn't have thought that 40 years after the Montgomery bus boycott, 35 years after the freedom rides, and over 30 years after this Congress passed the most sweeping civil rights legislation in history--we would be on the Senate floor discussing an epidemic of burnings of historically African-American churches in the South. But we are here, because what is happening is an affront to all Americans--whatever their race, whatever their religions. In the 5 years between 1990 and 1995, there were 29 fires at predominantly African-American churches in the South. In the past 18 months alone, there have been at least 43 such fires. While a handful of these have been deemed accidental, most of them were intentional acts of violence--acts of violence not just against any property, but against churches. The burning of a church is not merely a crime against a piece of property or even against an individual, as terrible as such violence may be. An attack on a church reaches deeper; it is an attack against an entire community. A church, like any house of worship, is sacred. The sanctuaries, the pulpit, the artwork, and the prayer books all hold special meaning for the congregants. To witness the destruction of a house of worship, to see its walls reduced to charred remains, is a wrenching experience.…”