Burning Faith: Church Arson in the American South

Index

Affirmative action, 21, 66, 83, 87 Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, bombing of, 5–7, 58, 126, 141 Amazing Grace Baptist Church, 41, 47, 121–24, 123 Anti-Defamation League, 46, 109, 112 Antioch Baptist Church, 142 Anti-Semitism, 7–8, 25–26, 46, 81. See also Synagogues Arson Prevention Act of 1996, 85, 88, 109 Arson, statistics, xi, 22–23. See also Church burnings ATF. See Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms The Ballad of Little River, 139 Ballinger, Jay Scott, 121–23 Berry, Mary Francis, 16, 17, 74–75, 88, 97–98 Biden, Joe, 86–87, 155 Black churches: as “endangered,” 42, 48, 59; historic role of, 26, 28–32, 40; symbolism of, 7, 21, 79–80 Branch Davidians, 5–6, 22, 73, 88 Buchanan, Pat, 21 Index Page numbers in italics refer to photographs. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, 2, 6, 11, 12, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 36, 39, 46, 60, 61, 76, 80, 81, 87, 88, 129–30, 147 Center for Democratic Renewal, 63–64, 91–92 Christian Coalition, 44, 47, 48, 49, 66– 67, 68 Church burnings: in the 1950s and 1960s, 7, 15, 16, 17–18, 25–27, 29–32; as accidents, xi, 22–24, 49, 56, 68; in Alabama, 2,8, 13–14, 16–18, 23–24, 26, 30, 36, 50, 97, 101, 118, 119, 139, 142, 145–52; and the black press, 2, 26–27, 39–41, 66–67, 83–84, 89–90, 95, 132–33; in California, 72; and community, xiii–xv, 86–87, 137–44, 153–57; conflicting statistics on, 22–23, 62–64, 67, 70–71, 74–75, 92–93, 119, 129, 134–35; as “cultural conspiracy,” 20–21, 96; disbelief of 59–75; and domestic terrorism, 5–7, 25–27, 29–32, 78, 126, 130; and economic downturns, 21, 27, 33, 138–41, 156; in Florida, 2, 56, 96–97, 82; in Georgia, 2, 25, 26, 30, 31, 48, 95, 116–17, 121–24, 144; governmental 182 / Index responses to, 76–98; as hate crime, xii–xiii, 1–2, 7, 10–13, 20–21; as hoax, 35, 59, 63–66, 69–71, 73–75, 95, 98, 113; in Illinois, 29; in Indiana, 121; and insurance fraud, 18, 23–24, 37, 59–60, 65–66, 89; and insurance problems, 104–105, 111–12, 113, 119; and international terrorism, 58, 73, 80, 130, 132, 147; in Kansas, 55; in Kentucky, 26; and legal assistance, 114; in Louisiana, 14; in Maryland, 49; in Mississippi, 1–2, 19, 23, 26, 27, 30–32, 48, 99–100; and network television, 39, 71; in Nevada, 94; in New Jersey, 56, 95; in the news media, 2–4, 13, 15–16, 17–18, 20, 22, 23, 36, 38–41, 50–52, 66–74, 89, 118–19, 132–36, 141, 147; in New York, 20, 26, 93; in North Carolina, 22, 26, 34–35, 48–49, 50, 55, 62, 80, 93, 110, 118, 137; in Norway, 4–5, 114–15; in Oklahoma, 41–42, 46; in Oregon, 49, 74; and poverty, 32–34, 53–54, 61, 98, 138–40, 156; in Pennsylvania , 4, 29, 98; and poor whites, 32–34, 53–54, 61, 138–40; race as motivating factor, xii–xiii, 12, 19, 22, 141–44,157; and race relations, 8, 10, 19, 20–21, 74–75; and rebuilding efforts, 99–124; religion as motivating factor, xii–xiii, 21, 114–16; religious responses to, 43–58, 137–38; and September 11th terrorist attacks, 130, 132, 147; in South Carolina, 2, 7, 8, 19, 29, 32–34, 44, 45, 56–57, 67–68, 90, 124, 126–27, 137; as southern phenomenon, 16, 50–52, 69, 89, 100–101; symbolism of, 7, 21, 79, 86–87; and teenagers, xi, 1–2, 17, 20, 26, 32–34, 37, 48, 56, 60, 68, 73, 79, 127, 145–52, 156; in Tennessee, 2, 8, 10–12, 18, 27–28, 60, 78, 104–5, 111, 119, 142–43; in Texas, 34–35, 37–38, 56, 94, 95, 118, 137–38; in Virginia, 3, 16, 26, 106–9; in Washington, 55–56; and white churches, 115–16, 121–24; as white supremacist conspiracy, 13, 16, 18–21, 25–26, 30, 39, 61–66, 78–79, 82, 86, 90, 119, 127, 155–56; and the World Wide Web, 47, 134, 137, 150–51 Civil rights movement, 7, 13, 15, 16, 25–32, 40, 47, 52, 53–54, 69, 85, 89, 136, 143–44 Clinton, William H., 36, 37, 57, 61–62, 73...