The Charleston Shootings And The History Of Southern Black Churches

By Frank Stasio,

Will Michaels

Published June 19, 2015 at 12:07 PM EDT

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Emanuel AME Church, Charleston, SC

Howard Arnoff / Flickr

Image of Debbie Elliott, who is an NPR correspondent reporting from Charleston about the shootings.

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Debbie Elliott is an NPR correspondent reporting from Charleston about the shootings.

Christy Haynes / NPR

Image of Valerie Cooper, who is an associate professor of black church studies at the Duke Divinity School.

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Valerie Cooper is an associate professor of black church studies at the Duke Divinity School.

Andrew Tie / WUNC

A gunman shot and killed nine people at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on Wednesday evening.

Police arrested a 21-year-old white man from Lexington, South Carolina, Dylann Roof.

Host Frank Stasio talks about the latest with NPR correspondent Debbie Elliott.

He also talks with Valerie Cooper, professor of black church studies at Duke University, about the history of anti-black violence aimed at black churches.

Professor Cooper spoke about an essay by professor Eddie Glaude, Jr., "The Black Church Is Dead." NPR's Michel Martin talked with Glaude about the piece. Find the conversation here.