Silence And Shame In The Black Church

By: L. Lamar Wilson

I empathize with Eddie Long's accusers.

In August, two of them, Spencer LaGrande and Jamal Parris, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the alleged wounds of what they call exploitation by the man they knew as "bishop" and "Daddy" are still fresh.

"I'm fighting not to pull the trigger," Parris said, days after receiving probation for drug and gun possession charges. "I'd love to take pills and never wake up."

"The truth should've set [us] free," he added, paraphrasing John 8:32. "I thought I could cover the pain up. I thought I could move, start over and everything would go away. I was terribly wrong. I'm living a lifestyle meant to crash."

Those summer interviews with the newspaper and two Atlanta TV stations, during which LaGrande and Parris reaffirmed accusations of sexual coercion by the mega-church pastor when they were teens, have jeopardized nearly $1 million of a settlement they and fellow litigants have been paid by Long (who has denied the allegations and settled the lawsuit for "closure"). Moreover, they have lost their legal team because of Long and New Birth Missionary Baptist Church's request for a new arbitration hearing.

I worry most about Anthony Flagg and Maurice Robinson, also part of the settlement, who must remain silent.

I know this silence and shame well. CONTINUE....

Related articles

• Man at center of Eddie Long probe speaks out (thegrio.com)
• Bishop Eddie Long Reaches Settlement in Sexual Coercion Lawsuit (newsfeed.time.com)
• Is the Contemporary Black Church a Sanction of Sexual Abusers (politicore.wordpress.com)

NAACP ALLEGES RACIAL BIAS IN 'BARBIE BANDITS' CASE: White female bank robbers received less time than black male co-conspirators.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting that the head of Georgia's NAACP chapter wants a state investigation into racial sentencing patterns in Cobb County after disparities emerged in the so-called "Barbie Bandits" case.

The Feb. 27, 2007, heist at a Bank of America branch in Acworth involved four people: two young white women and a black male bank teller — who admitted their roles — and another black man convicted by a jury of planning the job.

Heather Lyn Johnston, 20, and Ashley Nicole Miller, 19, both pleaded guilty to theft-by-taking charges. Miller received two years in jail, followed by eight years probation. Johnson got 10 years probation. Prosecutors had recommended both be sentenced to 10 years, three in jail and seven years' probation.


Local NAACP president Edward DuBose says the racial disparity warrants an immediate probe by Attorney General Thurbert Baker.

"When four people are involved in the same crime and those who happen to be Caucasian receive much less time than those who are African American, this reflects a problem in the justice system that must be addressed," DuBose said at a news conference at the Cobb NAACP headquarters in Marietta.


Bank teller Benny Allen III also pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to five years in jail. Prosecutors had recommended six.

Allen, 23, told the women what to write in their demand note and handed them the money, nearly $11,000. He was on probation for a drug conviction when he was sentenced and the prosecutor in the bank case said he had not cooperated with authorities.


"He was not honest before his plea. He was not honest after his plea," prosecutor Bonnie Derrer said at his sentencing.

Michael Chastang, who is serving 15 years on drug-trafficking charges unrelated to the bank heist, received the most severe of the sentences meted out by Superior Court Judge Mary Staley. She ordered the 28-year-old Chastang to complete the term on the drug charges, then serve 10 years for the bank theft.