THE LIE
In her campaign leading up to the June 2018 primary, Alderwoman Carolyn Blackman issued the above slanderous ad to smear her opponent, Ricardo Trinidad, by attacking his church as practicing racial segregation.
In an effort to validate her claim, Alderwoman Blackman quoted the above paragraph as her reference point.
THE FACTS
The above paragraph is actually part of the introduction to a 282-page doctoral dissertation authored by Cleran Hollancid entitled, “Seventh-Day Adventists and ‘Race’ Relations in the U.S.: The Case of Black-White Structural Segregation.” This dissertation was an in-depth analysis of race relations in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, which did NOT conclude what Alderwoman Blackman would have you believe. Rather, it explained the structure of the church and how its members voluntarily worship in separate parishes along racial lines. Per Dr. Hollancid, they do this because of differing worship styles, culture, music, and to have complete power over the church’s administration. But without understanding the context of the quoted text, a person might be led by Alderwoman Blackman’s ad to believe that the Seventh-Day Adventist Church is racist.
But if one were to read the next paragraph in the dissertation, they would find other churches, including the one Alderwoman Blackman belongs to, have racial divisions as well, but might be more concerning than the Seventh-Day Adventists because they are not voluntarily structured that way. Here is that paragraph:
“The segregation arrangement, essentially a black-white schism, falls within the overall denominational structure, at the two bottom levels of the general church structure (i.e., from the local church to the local conference). This is unlike other denominations such as Baptists and Methodists, for instance, which have experienced total racial divisions in their general membership, and have totally separate black and white church organizational structures. Thus, gaining deeper insight into this racialized structure and unique SDA arrangement lies at the heart of the metanarrative driving this social research."
Throughout his dissertation, Dr. Hollancid maintains that many churches in the United States are racially divided. He focused his study on the Seventh-Day Adventists because their divide is unique, in that it is structured that way by its members voluntarily. He calls this concept the “homophily principle,” where “people tend to associate with others like themselves.” It is a voluntary design, influenced by the members’ differences in culture, worship styles, music, etc.
Dr. Hollancid also makes positive observations about the Seventh-Day Adventists, such as, “the church espouses a unity doctrine – in that all brethren are one.” This clearly shows that Dr. Hollancid was not trying to portray the Seventh-Day Adventists as racist.
So why did Alderwoman Blackman try to make you believe this? To smear and slander her opponent in order to gain your vote?
The truth of the matter is that most churches in America have racial divides, not just the Seventh-Day Adventists. Dr. Martin Luther King once observed that:
“We must face the fact that in America, the church is still the most segregated major institution in America. At 11:00 on Sunday morning when we stand and sing and Christ has no east or west, we stand at the most segregated hour in this nation.”
Furthermore, in an August 2016 article by Billy Hallowell of the Deseret News, he cited a study that determined 80%of churches have one main racial composition in their membership! He also observed that:
“Segregating parishioners was a move that many churches reportedly took amid social tensions over slavery, as well as an increasing African American population — growth that sometimes outpaced that of the white population. This was apparently the case when it came to First Baptist Church. Unfortunately, those deep divides that segregated the church have continued through to today…”
The bottom line is that Alderwoman Blackman singled out the Seventh Day Adventist Church as racist, using a misleading quote from a lengthy dissertation, to portray her opponent as racist. And to try and further tie her opponent to this malicious claim, she lied about him claiming in his campaign literature to be a “reverend” of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, which he absolutely did not do! She attacked her opponent’s faith, his church, and the Seventh Day Adventist denomination as a whole, all for political gain. This is unconscionable!
And when specifically confronted with her allegations at the June 26, 2018 town meeting, in front of the public, Alderwoman Blackman confirmed her belief that the Seventh-Day Adventist Church is racist, and Segregation is in fact alive and well in Dover. This type of behavior will not be tolerated by an elected official. Most recently Alderwoman Blackman was censured by the Mayor and Board of Alderman for her conduct (please see the resolution below)
One last point - HYPOCRISY!
Alderwoman Blackman is a member of the Dover First political campaign, who on May 31, 2018, posted a commentary on Facebook criticizing the Mayor and Town Administrator for treating police officers disrespectfully resulting in lawsuits against the town. Even though this claim was revealed to be a lie, it’s ironic that Dover First would be so outraged by a public official disrespecting someone causing them to sue, when one of their own members, a sitting public official, Alderwoman Carolyn Blackman, did just that, in public and on the record, exposing the town to a lawsuit for slander! Lies, slander and hypocrisy, in order to remain a public official. How can residents trust such a person with their tax dollars and community?
Dover First Facebook post
