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Flames of intense house fire

Source: Brian Stablyk / Getty

According to the New York Times, yet another southern Black church was engulfed in flames last night, this time in Greeleyville, SC. A federal law enforcement says the fire was not arson, yet there are concerns that the church, Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, was racially targeted. The church was burned down by the Ku Klux Klan in 1995.

The fire is still under investigation. Locals reported the fire at 9 pm on Tuesday; authorities say there is no evidence linking the fire to others we’ve seen at Black churches since the Emanuel AME Church massacre. The church’s cross has been charred, and the roof and glass windows have collapsed to the floor. Only its brick walls still stand.

Rev. Alice Parson Wright, a local pastor said: “When I got the message last night, my first thought was: ‘Not again. Not again. Not again. And then the second thought was: ‘I pray this is not arson but an act of God because of the weather.'”

A local councilman, Eddie Woods, Jr., noted the resilience of the congregation. “That was a tough thing to see. It is hurting those people again. But we’re going to rebuild.”

Read more here at the New York Times.

RELATED LINKS: 

Three Black Churches Have Burned Since Charleston Church Massacre

America’s Sordid History Of Attacking Sacred Black Spaces

3 Things To Know About AME Church

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