THE EXAMINER When black pastor of operations Makeda Pennycooke sent an email to dozens of church volunteers encouraging “only white people” to serve as greeters, and there was immediate backlash soon afterwards,
TIME Swampland reports this Tuesday, Sept. 3.
In her “white greeters only” email, the pastor noted that the church leaders were hoping for more visitors to see Freedom House in the next few weeks, and due to first impressions making a big difference, having the church’s “best of the best on the front doors” was a necessity.
Yet one church member was furious at the email, stating the email insinuated white parishioners and greeters were somehow better than black or other parishioners, and sent it to a local news station to air the story. The controversy surrounded the issue was thrown into greater contention as Makeda Pennycooke is a longstanding member of Freedom House, and what’s more, is a black woman, while the senior pastors of the church are white. Yet the request itself asking for white greeters only is hard to deny, and seemingly racist in many aspects, said the report.
”We are continuing to work to bring our racial demographic pendulum back to mid-line,” Pennycooke wrote the church email, asking to present the image of the best of the best. ”We would rather have less greeters on the front door if it means that the few that we have will represent us the best.”
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All I can say is I want to read the actual e-mail so I may determine for myself whether I find it inappropriate or not. The article did not include the e-mail
