‘A VERY EMOTIONAL THANKSGIVING’
Ferguson celebrates food, family and football under an uneasy cloud
The sweet aroma of turkey, stuffing, ox-tail soup and the Southern specialty, chitlins, filled the Lee household Thursday as the extended clan began to gather.
Just off the busy kitchen of a modest suburban bungalow, the National Football League played on a big-screen TV, as children scurried in and out. It was, in some ways, the quintessential U.S. Thanksgiving.
Except this year’s celebration of food, family and endless football unfolded under an extraordinary cloud. The Lees have lived for decades in the Ferguson, Mo., area, which once again finds itself the flashpoint of racial tension in the U.S.
In their home, that cloud felt particularly personal. Carlton Lee, whose parents hosted the dinner, is pastor of the father of slain teenager Michael Brown and was heading to Brown’s home later. The teen’s killing by police touched off months of unrest. Now Lee himself is reeling from the burning down Monday of his Flood Christian Church.
The torching — which police are still investigating — followed death threats and the poisoning two weeks ago of his dog, Candy, which had to be put down. He is convinced the blaze is the work of those opposed to his outspoken comments on the Brown case, perhaps even whitesupremacist groups.
“When I got to the church it was completely black — I was completely lost for words,” said the soft-spoken clergyman. “(But) we’re not running, we’re not backing down. We will rebuild. We will be stronger, better and wiser.”
No one in the Lee family was dwelling too much on those troubles Thursday, though they were not far below the surface. Carlton Sr., the pastor’s father and family chef, offered a slice of one of several turkeys he had deep-fried, a delicious twist on the holiday fixture.
The pastor’s mother, Debra, is “scared to death” for her son and insists he texts her several times a day, but both parents said they’re just thankful everyone is still well.
“I think we will end up having a very emotional Thanksgiving. We’ll have a lot of fun and we’ll laugh and we’ll talk,” said Lee Sr. “But tomorrow we’ll still have to drive down (riot-damaged) West Florissant and see what happened.”
Across Ferguson, families sat down for Thanksgiving grateful in part for a break from the protest and rioting that has upturned their town. Several buildings burned to the ground Monday night in rioting that erupted out of a peaceful protest after it was learned a grand jury had decided not to indict Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Brown in August.
At Wellspring Church, just steps away from Ferguson police headquarters and the epicentre of months of protests, racially mixed worshippers celebrated a service full of singing and an impassioned sermon.
Seeing so many familiar businesses go up in flames this week has been “painful,” said Kevin Beck, as he and his wife, Anne, sat down to eat. “(But) you got to celebrate (Thanksgiving) anyway, you’ve got to have hope that we’ve hit the bottom and there’s only one way to go from here, and that’s up.”
Lee, 31, officiated at the wedding of Michael Brown Sr. and his wife after they joined the congregation. When Brown’s son was shot, the pastor said he felt compelled to stand by the family and began publicly calling for charges against Wilson.
Then came the death threats, one of them delivered in person. On Monday, businesses on the same street were torched by a destructive sub-set of protesters, but Lee is convinced his building — several doors from the other destroyed structures — was targeted by someone else.
In the kitchen Thursday, his mother said she is at least glad the Brown shooting has brought issues of race to the fore, saying they have long festered, and affect even families like hers, which stress the importance of education and good behaviour.