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. The Clarendon County churches were burned only eight weeks after the Oklahoma City bombing. 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. 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. Both whites and blacks in Forgotten Fires talk about their hope being taken away.
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. 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. 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.