Discussion Questions For Educators
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GENERAL What touched you most deeply as you watched this program? Who else should see this program? Why? Did anyone gain from burning the churches? Who were the losers? Why do you think people burn churches? YOUTH/FAMILY Why do you think the Klan and other hate groups target young people for recruitment? What kinds of relationships do you see between older and younger men in the show? What effect do you think Timothy Welch's experience of childhood abuse had on his attraction to the Klan? COMMUNITY RESPONSES TO HATE CRIMES One community member in Clarendon County says, "A lot of people feel like if they don't speak about it [the churches burning], it didn't happen." What is the benefit of speaking or not speaking about hate crimes? One person in Forgotten Fires refers to "middle class people that wink and laugh at the Klan [but] deep down inside are kind of glad they're there, to keep the blacks in their place, so to speak." Do you see that kind of tacit acceptance of racism happening in your community? How do you see people in your community encouraging or discouraging racism and hatemongering? Horace King says, "If they don't turn things around before it's too late, there will be a race war on American soil-and it's possible it could happen by the year 2000." Do you agree? What would it take to "turn things around"? Is that the same thing as what King means by "turn things around"? What can communities do to prevent a race war? What is accomplished when courts impose large financial penalties such as the judgment won against the Ku Klux Klan in Clarendon County? What doesn't get accomplished by this kind of court action? What other possible ways can a community respond to a hate crime? In South Carolina, Timothy Welch was a neighbor and childhood friend to the people whose churches he burned. In other parts of the country such as northern Idaho, there are relatively few religious, racial or sexual minorities, but hate groups find fertile ground there as well. What effect do you think it has when you are living close to people who are different from you, or if you don't know anyone unlike yourself? Do you think that hate is more easily fomented in a homogeneous or diverse community? How did Tim Welch's relationship with his black neighbors affect his actions? How could he move from his close childhood relationship with Aunt Effie to burning her church? How could Haley and Cox join the Klan if they say they weren't racists and had black friends? Welch says, "I figured I could make exceptions." Do you think that's possible? How are rural communities uniquely affected by church burnings? Why are rural youth susceptible to the indoctrination of hate? What can rural community leaders do to prevent hate crimes from happening? HATE GROUPS The Clarendon County churches were burned only eight weeks after the Oklahoma City bombing. Do you see anything in common between these events? Tim Welch says the KKK "was very exhilarating...something to fight for," and Horace King says the Klan is "not out to destroy America but to save it. " What do you think of those statements? B.B. Delaine says, "They understand hate, but I don't think they really fully understand why they hate." Why do you think they hate? What do you think of Tim Welch's jailhouse transformation? Do you believe he has truly repented? How do you turn a racist into an anti-racist? POVERTY, RACE AND CLASS Forgotten Fires filmmaker Michael Chandler says, "We have an obligation as a society to help the poor, and the price we pay for ignoring them and for reneging on social services is the unfortunate rise of hate groups." How much of a role do you think poverty plays in fomenting fear, hate and scapegoating? After the churches had been burned and Arthur Haley went to prison, the Haleys and the NAACP found they had a "lot in common, we were not enemies as we once thought." What stood in the way of their recognizing that before the arson? What obstacles do you see to poor whites and poor blacks in South Carolina becoming allies? NAACP investigator George Wilson says, "If you're poor, you're poor. And you will find that you have more things in common with other poor people, regardless of what their color, if you put aside your own bigotry and racism mentality." What are your thoughts about that? Lester Haley says, "I don't think I have any right in America anymore ... If I'm a poor white man with very little education, if a job comes available, they're going to give it to a black man." Do you agree? Discuss. Both whites and blacks in Forgotten Fires talk about their hope being taken away. What gives people hope, and what destroys it? CIVIL RIGHTS AND THE BLACK CHURCH Here are two quotes from Forgotten Fires:
Is the process of gaining equal human rights one of continuing progress, or is it cyclical? Why? Forgotten Fires shows many people talking about the role of the black church in the community. Many see it as a place to instill moral values in children, as the historic sanctuary for slaves, and as the center for civil rights organizing. Others, like Lester Haley, say it is a place for black people to get giveaways and government deals, and to manipulate the welfare and court system against white people. What do you think? Where do you think stereotypes and myths come from, and what can be done to dispel them? RELIGIOUS RESPONSE Many faith communities feel a bitter irony that the Ku Klux Klan also claims to believe in God and to be doing God's will. What emotions rise in you as a believer at the thought of African-American churches being set on fire? Fire in a religious context often symbolizes cleansing, rebirth, and resurrection. But the Klan has used fire as a physical threat, as torture, and as a means of destruction. What has been the effect of this distortion of symbol? Perpetrators of hate crimes have found opportunity and acceptance in organized religion. What response does your faith demand of you? What is the necessary and appropriate role of the church in addressing hate crimes-both those directed at itself, at other churches, or at non-religious groups such as racial or sexual minorities?  |