Is Donny Reagan of Happy Valley Church of Jesus Christ the Most Racist Pastor in the US? He Claims Interracial Marriages Are 'Not Right'
Is Donny Reagan of Happy Valley Church of Jesus Christ the most racist pastor in the United States?
After viewing a YouTube clip of Reagan railing against interracial marriage and "hybreed" [hybrid] children in a sermon recorded in 2013, the American Jesus blog concluded that if he isn't, he is most certainly in the top 10.
"If he's not the most racist pastor in America, then he's at least got to crack the top 10 list," noted the blog of the Johnson City, Tenn., pastor.
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"Today we have so much fussing and stewing about this segregation of white and colored and everything. Why don't they leave it alone? Let it be the way God made it," yelled Reagan from the pulpit in the clip.
"There is a move in the message of blacks marrying whites, whites marrying blacks," Reagan points out from a prepared speech. "And folks think that is alright, but you know, my God still has nationalities outside the city," he added to cheers from his congregation.
"Hybreeding, hybreeding, oh how terrible. They hybreed the people. You know it's a big molding pot. I've got hundreds of precious colored friends that's born-again Christians. But on this line of segregation, hybreeding the people. What, tell me what fine cultured, fine Christian colored woman would want her baby to be a mulatto by a white man? No sir, it's not right," said Reagan.
"If God wanted a man, brown, black, white, whatever color he wanted him that God's creation. That's the way He wanted it," he added.
Reagan's comments highlight a recent observation made by theologian John Piper who explained that one of the biggest reasons some preacher's don't preach racial harmony from the pulpit is due to the fear of having black in-laws.
"Say at the level of interracial marriage. I really believe that in my background, and it's still probably true today, one of the biggest hindrances to pressing toward togetherness … is people wondering 'but if you put people together, the younger ones tend to like each other. They fall in love. They might get married then I've got, 'Oh no' I've got a black son-, daughter-in-law. I think deep down probably some folks are still at least uncertain, if not fearful of that," said Piper.
Many viewers of the video on YouTube have reacted to Reagan's message with a mix of heartfelt and angry responses.
"I lived in Johnson City, and went to Happy Valley High School. I was the only African American in my class. This video really hurts me," said Ryan Mungwira. "I can't believe that someone so close in my community would say this, but based on experience, I feel that the idea proposed here is thought by most of the people who live there. Not everyone of course, I have some wonderful friends from there, but the old timers and ignorant will always be that way."
Another commenter, James Wilson, said he could not finish watching the video.
"I honestly cannot finish watching this, I stopped a little over 5 mins into this and I find his message to be appalling and slanderous in the name of God and religion. What really p***ed me off is when he was like 'I guess we should take a break and head to taco bell.' Not racist my a**! This preacher better check his ancestry before he goes around spewing out a "Pure race" sermon because somewhere in just about everyone's family tree there were interracial couples, there is no such thing as a pure race other than the human race."
