The pastor of First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs in Crystal Springs, Mississippi, canceled Charles and Te’Andrea Wilson’s planned wedding one day before the ceremony, arguing that the church had never hosted black couples since it was opened in 1883.
Pastor Stan Weatherford said some of the white congregation had opposed the wedding of the black couple and threatened to have him fired.
“The church congregation had decided no black could be married at that church, and that if he went on to marry her, then they would vote [the pastor] out the church,” Charles said.
“I blame the First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs, I blame those members, who knew and call themselves Christians and didn’t stand up,” he added.
This is while Charles and Te’Andrea regularly attended the church on Sundays.
Weatherford performed the wedding for the Wilsons at another church.
African-Americans are still falling victim to racism in the United States, despite the appointment of Barack Obama as a black president.
AO/HN