White racists are responsible for the fires, she said. And the media kept up their wailing about White racists burning Black churches. I have dozens of the most outrageous, bigoted, irrational newspaper clippings you can imagine on the subject. I'll read excerpts from a couple of them, just to give you the flavor. A typical case was an editorial in the Charleston Gazette, a raving-liberal West Virginia newspaper which is an embarrassment to an otherwise decent state.
Raw racism seems to be the motive. . . .
As we've said before, Americans generally are decent, compassionate people who don't feel racial hate. Extreme bigots presumably are starting the fires, even though investigators haven't yet found evidence of an organized conspiracy. Our guess is that a few white rednecks, half drunk in a Southern roadhouse, see a TV report of a black church burning and decide to inflict the same punishment on blacks in their vicinity. Churches are a natural target for race-haters. . . . Just because they're idiots doesn't mean they aren't disgusting criminals who must be locked in prison.