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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 1/—A <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: June 26, 1996 <br /> SUBJECT: RESOLUTION DEPLORING THE BURNINGS OF BLACK CHURCHES <br /> AND CALLING FOR COMMUNITY SOLIDARITY IN OPPOSING SUCH UNLAWFUL <br /> ACTS <br /> DEPARTMENT: Human Rights and Relations PUBLIC HEARING: _Yes XX No <br /> BUDGET AMENDMENT NEEDED <br /> Yes XX No <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> • Resolution Lucy Lewis, ext. 2251 <br /> TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br /> Hillsborough- 732 -8181 <br /> Chapel Hill- 967-9251 <br /> Durham - 688-7331 <br /> Mebane- 227-2031 <br /> PURPOSE: To propose a Resolution deploring the burnings of black churches and calling for <br /> community solidarity in opposing such unlawful acts. <br /> BACKGROUND: In a report issued by the Center for Democratic Renewal in May, at least 57 <br /> attacks on Black or multi-racial churches, mainly in the South, are cited since 1990. In 1995 the <br /> Mount Moriah Baptist Church in Orange County was burned in a fire that is still under Federal <br /> investigation. In 1996 alone, more than 30 black churches have been burned or vandalized <br /> throughout the South. In recent weeks, three of Durham's black churches were threatened and an <br /> anonymous caller threatened to bomb the NAACP's State Conference in that city, bomb threats <br /> have been called in to churches in Charlotte and Fair Bluff, and Charlotte's Matthews Murkland <br /> Presbyterian Church was burned on June 6. On June 8, President Clinton met with 34 ministers of <br /> churches which have been attacked and issued a statement denouncing these actions. <br /> The Orange County Human Relations Commission(HRC)is charged with advising the Board of <br /> County Commissioners with respect to matters relating to the Commission's purpose, including <br /> seeking to prevent and eliminate bias and discrimination and anticipating and discovering those <br /> practices and customs most likely to create animosity and unrest among citizen groups of Orange <br /> County and seeking solution as these problems arise. At its June 10 meeting, the HRC <br /> unanimously agreed to ask the Board of Commissioners to adopt a resolution deploring the <br /> burnings of black churches, opposing racially-motivated violence, and issuing a calling for <br /> community solidarity in opposing such unlawful acts. <br /> RECOMMENDATION: The Manager recommends that the Board adopt the proposed <br /> Resolution and authorize the Chair to sign. <br />