Official: Fire at South Carolina black church wasn't arson (AP)

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Nation & World JULY 1, 2015

Official: Fire at South Carolina black church wasn't arson

BY BRUCE SMITH AND MEG KINNARD
Associated Press

Preliminary indications are that the fire at the Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in Greeleyville was not intentionally set and was not arson, the official said. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case publicly. The fire is still under investigation, the official said.

Greeleyville is a town of about 400 people around 50 miles north of Charleston, where a pastor and eight members of a historic black church were fatally shot June 17 in what authorities are investigating as a hate crime.

The fire — reported about 9 p.m. Tuesday as storms moved through the area — occurred as federal authorities also investigate a series of fires at black churches in several Southern states. So far, there is no indication the fires are related.

On Wednesday morning, only the brick walls of the Greeleyville church remained. The roof had collapsed, and the long windows no longer had glass in them. The side of the church facing the rural highway had a white cross that appeared charred.

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Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/article25944496.html

[NaturalHigh]

1. That's good to know.

It's still a tragedy for the members, but at least they don't have the added burden of knowing that someone hated them enough to burn down their church.

[Oilwellian]

4. You believe what an anonymous SC official says?

I remain skeptical. What are the odds of so many black churches in the South burning down in such a short amount of time? Especially with the added racial tensions in the mix due to the murders, and the national rejection of the confederate flag.

[johnp3907]

2. "The fire is still under investigation, the official said."

So how can we know it's not arson?

[alphafemale]

3. Lightning? nt

[meaculpa2011]

6. I was asleep on my boat...

about twenty years ago when I was awakened by thunder and lightning.

I saw lightning strike a sailboat about 400 yards from where I was anchored. It glowed for a few seconds then burst into flames. Luckily, all three aboard got into the water before the fire consumed their boat. The Bay Constable saw the whole episode from the police dock, raced out and grabbed them from the water.

Scareeeeee!!!

[alphafemale]

9. Lighning can leave very tell-tale evidence

Either way it is heartbreaking for that congregation.

[Igel]

8. Default hypothesis.

Do we assume that every church fire is arson until proven otherwise? Do we assume that every church fire is not arson until proven otherwise?

And if it is arson, do we assume that it was set by a white person? And if so, do we assume it was because of race hatred?

In the mid '90s, '94-'96 or '97, there were a lot of church burnings. A lot of people believe that most churches burned where black. White churches burned in greater numbers than black churches. Black churches disproportionately were affected, however, but weren't a majority. "A lot of people" are in error.

Back then most black church fires were, like most white church fires, not arson. Many people believe that most black church fires then were arson. A hefty chunk were. But what many believe is again simply incorrect. I don't remember the difference in percentages for arson/non-arson of white/black churches. I was looking at the presidential reports this morning and those numbers are already gone.

Of those that were arson and a perpetrator could be found--perhaps a third of them, a higher rate than most arsons--most were set by whites. About 1/3 of the known perps were African-Americans. This last fact tends to surprise people.

Of those that were set by whites, some perps were found to be acting out of racial hatred or bias. Most weren't. They were acting out of the usual reasons: mischief, covering some crime, etc.

I find no reason to suspect that the "known unknowns" are significantly different from the known figures. That is, that all the unsolved arson cases were racially motivated when the solved ones mostly weren't. That's a level of personal belief that is only motivated by suspicion and ill-will, and I don't go there if I can help it. I still like Hanlon's razor, and hope I always will.

However, a disproportionate number of black church fires were set by whites out of racial animus. Not half. Not a quarter. But disproportionality is taken and perceived as an exaggerated threat, made into a self-protective general rule. That means every time we hear of a black church we immediately mis-generalize and say, "White racist." And that, my friend, is one great problem with humans' easy, fast thinking: We start to jumping at the first solution that presents itself. In this case, as in so many others, we rush to under-founded, race-based explanations. The next step is, of course, explaining why those stereotypes are valid and proper. Yada-yada.


Making life difficult is that a default hypothesis was violated and no good general reason put forth to counter ill-will, suspicion, and what amounts to de facto race hatred and bias: all things being equal, we'd expect the rate of black church fires and white church fires to be roughly the same. From year to year there might be some variation and difference, but over a long enough period they should be fairly similar.

They aren't. Perhaps because of neighborhood differences, age, construction materials, upkeep and wiring/safety, use. Perhaps because a large number of arsons were missed because where the arsons occurred had inferior fire department experts, or weren't examined quickly, or nobody cared or even witnesses didn't come forward because of distrust. Lots of possible reasons. In many cases there were reasons given for the fire: bad wiring, untended open flame, misuse of extension cords for instance. Without an excuse based in what many people think is sound logic--an appeal to authority, for instance--their beliefs weren't challenged.

[BlueMTexpat]

5. It's certainly one heck of a

coincidence, especially now.

[seveneyes]

7. People are biased by their beliefs

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2015/06/30/suspect-arrested-after-racist-message-discovered-outside-church/

[LanternWaste]

10. People are also biased by anecdotal evidence...

People are also biased by anecdotal evidence...