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News Tip: Charleston Church Shooting Harkens Back to a Brutal Past, Duke Expert Says

Valerie Cooper, a professor of black church studies at Duke Divinity School, can discuss the historic importance of AME churches.

The victims of the shooting were likely some of the Emanuel AME Church’s most faithful congregation members.Quote: “There is a long, sad history of anti-black violence, bombings, and arson aimed at black churches, which function as the beating theological, social, political, and even economic heart of many black communities,” said Valerie Cooper, associate professor of black church studies at Duke University. “Particularly during the 20th century, burning black churches was a way to try to intimidate blacks seeking increased political or economic power since the churches so often functioned as the hub of civil rights organizing. The bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963, and the subsequent death of four little girls who were there for Sunday school, shocked the nation with the violent lengths to which racists would go to disrupt and destroy black churches, and by extension, black communities.” “Typically, mid-week meetings at black churches draw the faithful members to events like Bible studies, prayer meetings and choir rehearsals. Because the assailant attacked on a Wednesday night, his victims may include long-time, faithful members of the congregation where the attack took place.”Bio: Cooper studies the intersections of religion, race, politics, and popular culture. She has published essays on African American evangelicals (particularly in Pentecostalism and the Holiness Movement) and on African Americans’ use of the Bible, and co-authored an essay on the roles of religion and race in the 2008 election of President Barack Obama. For additional comment, contact Cooper at:vcooper@div@duke.eduhttp://divinity.duke.edu/academics/faculty/valerie-cooper