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Medford UCC church honors its history of fighting racism Friday Jan 13, 2017 at 6:15 PM Jan 13, 2017 at 6:17 PM Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune As part of a stand against the appearance of racially charged posters in downtown Medford and on their church property, leaders of Medford Congregational United Church of Christ are planning to confront racism directly, using the Martin Luther King Day holiday as a springboard. Church leaders hope a Sunday program, in place of regular church services, will send a message of tolerance and openness to diversity. The event, from 10 a.m. to noon, will include a reading of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 "Letter From Birmingham Jail," along with a dramatization of the freeing of slaves from the 1840s slave ship La Amistad, and the renaming of a church meeting room in memory of the slaves of the historic ship. The church will also launch a multi-part discussion series on white privilege, and present a historical talk dubbed, "Why there are so few African-Americans in Southern Oregon." The Rev. Laura Lee Kent said this weekend's events were prompted largely by recent racially charged incidents, including anti-Muslim posters plastered around Medford in December and reports of Hispanic residents being harassed prior to the recent election, but also by a desire of the church to remember its own history. "Two times before we talked about doing this; we had some hate posters put on our church. We have our suspicions where they're coming from," Kent said, alluding to the church's public stand against the posters found downtown in December, as well as a letter written to urge the city of Medford to take a strong public stance in favor of diversity. "Last week the posters showed up again — they did some different posters this time — but we had already begun talking about how we wanted to make some sort of proactive response, at least within our own congregation, and use our worship service to commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr., Day." Kent said most church members are likely unaware of the church's ties to Amistad, which illegally sailed in 1839 with 53 illegally captured members of the Mende tribe of West Africa. Despite harsh conditions on board, the unlikely passengers seized control of the vessel and, in trying to return to Africa, ended up in the waters off the coast of Long Island, after which a long and notorious legal battle ensued that played a large role in the history of slavery for the United States. Fred Blue, a retired professor of antislavery history from Youngstown State University who now lives in the Rogue Valley, said this week's event was a good example of the type of events needed to encourage diversity and educate people about longstanding racism in the country. Blue said the story of Amistad is "significant to both the pre-Civil War years and today.” "These slaves came across in 1839 on a Spanish slave ship, which made it illegal since the Spanish had banned the slave trade 20 years or so earlier. They were taken to Cuba and put on another ship called the Amistad, then taken to another one of the Spanish colonies. They revolted and took control of the ship, and when they got to America, the Congregational Church played a big role in helping them while they were here," Blue said. While waiting for the Amistad victims to be freed, students of Yale and members of the Congregational Church taught them English and later set up a mission when the slaves returned to their home in Sierra Leone. Kent said the church felt it was important to take a stand against any hate in the community. Response to the posters also found the church replacing the hate flyers with new flyers that say, “All are welcome here.” "The ship has a deep historic connection to the United Church of Christ," Kent said. "It was our congregation that helped rescue the slaves from the ship. We have deep ties to the Amistad, and we feel strongly about taking a stand against any kind of hate in our community." For information about the church, see medforducc.org — Buffy Pollock is a freelance writer living in Medford. Email her at [email protected].