Tuesday, September 3, 2013

"Only white people"

A pastor at a racially diverse church in North Carolina (in north Charlotte, where I used to live) sent out an email to worshippers (for which the church subsequently apologized) asking that "only white people" perform as greeters. The email stated that "first impressions matter" and added that the church wanted "the best of the best on the front doors." Apparently they were trying to maintain a racial balance and wanted to appeal to white visitors-- the church's apology explained that the pastor "noticed our front door greeting team was no longer reflecting the racial diversity of our entire congregation, and she wanted potential visitors to see people like themselves upon entering our church." But the phrasing ("best of the best"? Really??!) was undeniably offensive.

The surprising twist here is that the pastor who sent out the email is black.

1 comment:

  1. This is gold. I think it was written without thought to what it actually said. Nice Blog BTW

    ReplyDelete