30 Picket Church Over Pastor’s Support of School Plan
About 30 people peacefully picketed the First African Methodist Episcopal Church, Los Angeles’ oldest black church, Sunday to protest the pastor’s support of a school board decision to demolish 64 modest homes in the South-Central area for a new school.
The protesters, many of them homeowners whose houses are threatened, said they were protesting the Rev. Cecil L. Murray’s backing of a Board of Education plan to destroy homes to pave the way for a new elementary school on West 47th Street.
Murray said he was willing to meet with the protesters, but he was unwilling to back away from his support for new schools.
“The community is in dire need (of new schools) . . . and some residents might have to make a sacrifice for the larger community,” he said.
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