Barack Obama's Eulogy for the Honorable Reverend Clementa Pinckney

<p>On June 26th 2015 President Barack Obama delivered the eulogy at the funeral of the Reverend <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clementa_C._Pinckney" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Clementa C. Pinckney</a>, the senior pastor of the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_African_Methodist_Episcopal_Church" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church</a> in Charleston and a South Carolina State Senator.</p><p>Reverend Pinckney and 8 other Black church members had been murdered a week earlier during Bible Study in a racially motivated <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_shooting" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mass shooting</a> perpetrated by a white supremacist. </p><p>The <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emanuel_African_Methodist_Episcopal_Church" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church</a> is one of the oldest B<a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_church" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">lack churches</a> in the United States, and it has long been a center for organizing events related to <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_and_political_rights" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">civil rights</a>. </p><p>Founded in 1816, the church played an important role in the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_South_Carolina" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">history of South Carolina</a>, during <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">slavery </a>and Reconstruction, during the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights_movement" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">civil rights movement</a> of the 1950s and 60s and in the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Lives_Matter" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Black Lives Matter</a> movement. </p><p>It is the oldest <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Methodist_Episcopal_Church" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">African Methodist Episcopal Church</a> in the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_United_States" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">South</a>, often referred to as "Mother Emanuel". </p><p>Rev. <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clementa_C._Pinckney" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pinckney</a>, was a well known activist who had held rallies after the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Walter_Scott" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">shooting of Walter Scott</a> by a white police officer two months earlier, in nearby <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Charleston" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">North Charleston</a>. As a <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carolina_Senate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">state senator</a>, Reverend Pinckney had pushed for legislation requiring police to wear <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_worn_video" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">body cameras</a>.</p><p>The Reverend and his church were targeted because of their history and role in civil rights activism. </p><p>With a rousing eulogy and a chorus of “Amazing Grace,” President Barack Obama called on the country to honor the nine victims of the South Carolina church massacre by working toward racial healing.</p><p>He said that included removing the Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina State House grounds.</p><p>“It’s true, the flag did not cause these murders,” The President said, but “we all have to acknowledge the flag has always represented more than just ancestral pride. For many, black and white, that flag was a reminder of systemic oppression and racial subjugation. We see that now.”</p><p>“By taking down that flag,” he said, “we express God’s grace.” But I don't think God wants us to stop there.“</p><p>On July 6, 2015, the <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Carolina_Senate" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">South Carolina Senate</a> voted to remove the Confederate flag from display outside the South Carolina State House. </p><p>Make no mistake - the protests we have seen in the last month are a co

DSR's Words Matter · The DSR Network