Pastor Michael Cheuk admits he was reluctant to get involved in an event that might involve violence. After all, city officials were telling people to stay home.
“In many congregations there wasn’t a clear consensus regarding whether to get involved publicly or sit back a little bit," he recalls. "And it was dangerous.”
But then he heard the stories of other faith leaders like the Reverend Sarah Kelly who grew up in Charlottesville. The statue of Robert E. Lee didn’t bother her.
“I just thought it was a beautiful horse,” she recalls.
But she and her friends couldn’t walk past Lee Park without facing hostility from White residents who preferred a segregated city.
“When we went down the street as a Black person we were taunted, and I was almost afraid to go on that street with people hollering, ‘What are you doing up here?’”
And that moved Michael Cheuk.
“It really stirred my heart that this is the time that I need to stand up.”
Later, other ministers wanted to hear his story.
“A group of interfaith leaders from Northern Virginia came," Cheuk says. "They asked us questions about our experience, and afterward they said, ‘You should write a book about this.’”
Now members of the Charlottesville Clergy Collective have done just that, publishing a book of essays called Standing Up to Hate. Some faith leaders recalled tear gas and bloodshed. Others, like 82-year-old pastor Sarah Kelly, stayed in local churches to provide refuge for protestors and to pray.
“I wanted to be active," she says, "but being I was on the cane, they thought that wouldn’t be too smart, so I ended up inside the building just for those that wanted prayer.” :11
Since then, they’ve organized discussions and field trips to better educate Charlottesville about its racist history, and they’re now designing a virtual tour of the city – one they hope to share with the public and with students.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
