By Giulia Gutzwiller, Staff Writer

Xavier’s non-partisan civic engagement initiative Take It On hosted “The Gospel vs. the Swastika: Confronting Hate in Lincoln Heights,” featuring guest speaker Rev. Julian Cook. Xavier students, faculty and community members gathered in the Kennedy Auditorium on Monday to discuss the recent incident, during which Neo-Nazis draped flags with swastikas over I-75 in Lincoln Heights.

As a pastor and activist from Lincoln Heights, Rev. Cook spoke about the predominantly Black community’s origins. He explained how Lincoln Heights, established in the 1920s, was the first self-governing Black community north of the Mason-Dixon line in the United States. The community was named after sixteenth president Abraham Lincoln, because of his signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Rev. Cook spoke about the discrimination the Lincoln Heights community has faced over the years in addition to addressing the neo-Nazi demonstration. One notable example was the Cincinnati Police Department gun range in Evendale, which profoundly impacted the residents of Lincoln Heights for over 70 years as it created noise pollution and led to many health problems. After significant advocacy from the Lincoln Heights, Evendale and Woodlawn communities, the gun range was moved.

In his speech, Rev. Cook recognized the importance of faith and community when responding to incidents like this, while also acknowledging the role Christianity plays in white supremacy.

“Christian faith has been used by oppressed communities, particularly oppressed communities of color, to respond to their oppression, but at the same time is often used as the tool of white supremacists and anti-Black rhetoric, so it becomes important to be honest about that and to deal with the complexities of that,” Rev. Cook said.

Rev. Cook discussed the important role that Christian faith plays in the Lincoln Heights community as it helped many residents band together and protect one another from the dangers the neo-Nazis imposed.

Rev. Cook’s experience and insight informed many attendees about issues that marginalized groups face in the Cincinnati area.

“I grew up in Cincinnati, so I come to events like this one to hear about all of these local issues I never knew about. Hearing from communities that I am not directly a part of was really eye opening,” occupational therapy graduate student Lydia McClure said.

“I was pleasantly surprised at the number of people who are deeply concerned about the type of imposition of hatred in Cincinnati and wanted to find both theoretical and practical tools to confront it and hopefully expunge it,” Director of Take It On and Xavier theology professor Adam Clark said.

“The people who showed up were very interested, and it wasn’t just a theoretical discussion. They seem to have personal conviction in wanting to make deep improvements on how both the Xavier community and Cincinnati community can become healthy and whole,” Clark said.

Rev. Cook highlighted that students, faculty and community members should take action by calling their elected officials and interacting with community leaders to protect not only Lincoln Heights, but also other Ohio areas that may be impacted by instances of racial injustice.

“I want people to leave this event knowing that what they do and how they respond matters. There is something you can do. We must not surrender our power to hopelessness because there are those of us who do not get that privilege,” Rev. Cook said.