A pastor of a church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina resigned recently after giving a speech against racism.
During the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards, Pastor Robert Lee IV introduced Susan Bro on stage, the mother of Heather Heyer, who was killed in the Charlottesville attack. While he was on stage, he brought up the issue of racism in our country.
Pastor Lee brought up this sensitive topic not only because of who he was introducing, but because he is a descendant of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. He wanted to let the audience, and everyone watching, know that it was his “moral duty to speak out against racism.”
The pastor denounced his ancestor as “an idol of white supremacy, racism, and hate.”
Lee continued, giving a nod to the Black Lives Matter movement, everyone who participated in the Women’s Marches, and also to Heyer. The pastor was essentially spreading a message to stomp out hate.
However, not everyone loved the speech, and that included members of his congregation. They claimed that they were uncomfortable with his support of the Black Lives Matter movement and Women’s marches. The congregants were also upset about the attention they were getting from all over the country.
The church was going to bring up a vote to keep the pastor in his tenure — but instead, he resigned.
Although Lee was hurt by the church’s reactions, he stands by his words and the message that he was sending on that stage.
“A theologian I admire speaks of costly grace and sometimes speaking up costs more than we could have imagined,” Lee told Spectrum News Charlotte. “I love my church and will always have fond memories there for my first pastorate.”
Standing up and speaking out against hate and racism was worth losing his job, he said.
Someone just asked me was it worth it… Was it worth losing everything.
Unequivocally yes.
— Rev. Rob Lee (@roblee4) September 3, 2017
“I’d just like people to know that a small group of voices is no match to the unwavering movement of justice in this world,” Lee says in an email, declining to comment on the specific circumstances behind his resignation.
“I do want the hate-filled rhetoric to end so that we might focus on real issues like DACA being rescinded and continuing to keep in the public conscious the issues of racial inequality and the monuments that support those systems.”
Lee used his voice on that stage to spread a message about love and acceptance — and for that, he deserves a round of applause.
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