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‘We aint going nowhere’: Historically Black Springfield church responds to racist swastika

Springfield police are investigating a hate crime. After a historically Black church in central Springfield was recently vandalized with a swastika, Pitts Chapel United Methodist Church called a press conference on Friday morning. They spoke out to encourage Springfield in the fight against racism.

Pitts Chapel United Methodist Churchis one of Springfield’s oldest Black community institutions. Founded by enslaved people as an act of resistance in 1847, the congregation has worshipped ever since.

But sometime in the night of May 18 to May 19, the south side of the church building was vandalized with a swastika, a symbol of racist hatred associated with Nazis and other extremists.

Pitts Chapel Pastor Tracey Wolff said it was the third such incident in Springfield in recent years. She called on local residents, whatever their race, to speak up about hate crimes. She said her congregation’s faith will carry it forward.

“We are Pitts Chapel and we aint going nowhere," Wolff said, quoting a longtime congregation member. "And that might be most powerful thing anybody could say about Pitts. We’ve been through a lot, our community has been through a lot, the Black community in Springfield historically has been through a lot, and none of us are going anywhere.”

Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams attended the press conference and said the case was “active and open,” but that police need witnesses to fully investigate the crime. He encouraged anyone with information about the swastika incident to contact police at 417-864-1810.

Recent FBI data shows hate crime incidents are on the rise, reaching their highest level in more than 10 years, National Public Radio reported.

In the U.S., Black people are frequently targeted. In 2020, 64 percent of hate crimes reported were motivated by a bias against race, ethnicity or ancestry. Of all hate crimes documented by the FBI, 36 percent were anti-Black, 10 percent were anti-white and 9 percent were anti-Jewish.

Gregory Holman is a KSMU reporter and editor focusing on public affairs.