Black Pastors Say Black Lives Matter Is 'Demonic,' 'Shameful' and 'Tragic'
Leon Threatt, senior pastor at CFA Ministries in Charlotte, North Carolina, and STAND's national vice president, seconded Jackson's disapproval of the Black Lives Matters message.
"I think perhaps their intent may be wanting to have a positive change, but I think the methodology is dividing the community," Threatt told The Christian Post after the press conference. "When we say 'black lives matter,' we may be over emphasizing the importance of one over the other, and it's my experience that our strength comes from our ability to work together."
Threatt, who is a former police officer and has a son who is a cop, said he has been troubled by the call from some Black Lives Matter protestors to kill the "pigs."
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"I think when we divide community of color against law enforcement, we are weakening our ability. I think they need to check their message and their method. We need to work together," Threatt asserted. "I think the problems in the inner city is far beyond black, it requires the oneness of all the people: black and white."
"Certainly, this pitting against law enforcement I am tremendously concerned about that. And we have witnessed that, and I find it quite disturbing that they would use language that would sanction and authorize the killing of law enforcement personnel. This is tragic and shameful that they would use such language," Threatt continued. "I witnessed on a news clip not long ago where they were having a Black Lives Matter march and chanting 'Death to the pigs!' This kind of language is destructive and unacceptable."
Threatt added that he believes the Obama administration has only "helped" further the divide America's communities.
"I think the [Obama administration] has been part of the problem. I think that they have helped create the division in our cities and in our communities at large. So, I have been very disappointed in this administration's unwillingness to help foster the oneness in the community," Threatt said. "The police officers and the citizens are in it together; and I think our leadership from Washington needs to be communicating that message instead of voicing some kind of twisted view that police officers are out to try to kill citizens of color. That is not the case at all."
While much of the media has focused on the tension between black communities and the officers that police them, Jackson stated that the real problem with the inner cities is the breakdown of the family and the ignorance of social responsibility.
"We are tired of hearing the police blamed as if all the problems of the inner city are the result of police misconduct. We know that is not true, yet that gets all the attention," Jackson said. "We are tired of hearing that everything is a problem of race. We know that gets all the attention. Yet, these children who are growing up without fathers have nothing to do with racism and has everything to do with responsibility."
