MARCHA, Methodist Associated Representing the Cause of Hispanic Americans, joins our sisters and brothers in grieving and mourning the tragic deaths of the pastor and members of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston SC. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who were wounded, the families of those killed in this senseless act of violence and hate and with all the members of this historic sister congregation.

We do not know what went through the mind of this young man that showed such wanton disregard for the sacredness of human life that led him to commit this heinous crime, what we know, because we (Latinos), have experienced it in our own communities, is the evil consequences of racism. The violence against our sisters an brothers in the Emanuel Church is not an isolated evil act, rather it is an expression of the sin of racism that continues to be nurtured in our society by those who proclaim hate and discrimination against others who are different. We have heard this kind of rhetoric in speeches of radio hosts and even in those from some civic leaders.

There is nothing that we can do to restore the lives of those who were murdered, but there much that our church and society can do to eradicate this pernicious and evil sin.

MARCHA commits itself to continue denouncing the expressions of racism, to work towards a society free of hate and violence, (to proclaim the gospel of reconciliation that God has given to us in Jesus) and call upon every person of good will to join together in building a world where justice and peace prevail.