50 years after decrying ‘racial strife,’ Leighton Ford says ‘we didn’t follow through’

When a group of clergy approached evangelist Leighton Ford asking him to sign a letter to Charlotte’s black community after the death of George Floyd, he didn’t hesitate. Ford, a white man and brother-in-law of the late evangelist Billy Graham, has been urging Christians to meet the “demands of the Gospel” in the racial revolution for more than half a century.

In 1969 in Minneapolis, not far from where Floyd died, Ford preached about the importance of healing racial strife in America at a conference on evangelism at the time of revolution.

“If we do not seek to heal the gaping, rubbed-raw wounds of racial strife, then we shall deserve ‘the fire next time,’” Ford said in 1969. “It is to the shame of the Christian church that we have been so slow to face the demands of the Gospel in the racial revolution.”

More than 50 years later, Ford said his comments at the time were met with people listening deeply and thanking him for speaking up, but by others who were upset he had commented on the “sins of racism.”

“I think I was hopeful that we would make some real progress, and it looks today as whatever progress has been has not been enough,” Ford said. “It’s obvious now.”

Though changes have been made, Ford said “we didn’t follow through.” The church became politically divided, he said, and so much more could have been done to heal those “wounds.”

Still, Ford is hopeful the younger generation will make changes in policy and attitudes, and he sees some of that happening in Charlotte.

“No generation is perfect, but … we have to work with them and let some of them take the lead,” Ford said.

“A message to our black neighbors,” the letter from white clergy and community leaders, expressed the group’s commitment to changing themselves “with God’s help,” and to changing the community “with you.”

Ford said religious leaders need to speak on issues like this because “we’re sinners who need to confess our sins and stand for what we believe,” Ford said.

Listening has always been at the heart of Ford’s ministry.

Today, Ford said those in the white community need to listen and “listen again.”

“And not just listen, be ready to act, but maybe it starts with just listening,” he said.

‘History repeating itself’

Victor Nicholson had a difficult time watching the video of George Floyd’s death.

Nicholson, a Charlotte resident from Staten Island, New York, said he grew up five minutes away from where Eric Garner, a black man, repeated the phrase “I can’t breathe” while a police officer held him in a chokehold in 2014.

When Nicholson saw the video of Floyd, a black man who died when a white man knelt on his neck, repeating the same phrase, he thought, “History is repeating itself.”

While experiencing that “challenging moment,” Nicholson checked his phone and saw an email from Ford.

“I want you to come over to my house tomorrow, and I want to pray with you,” the email read.

“We are in this challenging time in our country,” Nicholson said. “And Leighton’s reaching out to someone who doesn’t look like him, who’s a lot younger than him. He’s a white male. I’m a black guy, and he wants to spend time with me and pray with me.”

Nicholson, 38, is the executive director of Christian mission for YMCA of Greater Charlotte. He met Ford during the interview process for the position, which he started in February. Nicholson said Ford has become a mentor and friend.

“Leighton has reached thousands, millions of people… from his platform of being an evangelist,” Nicholson said. “But I think he reaches even more people by just breaking bread with them.”

Ford taught Nicholson the importance of “breaking bread with someone who doesn’t look like you,” Nicholson said.

When they eat together, Nicholson said he and Ford sit in Ford’s backyard and split a sandwich. He said they talk to each other about the way they grew up.

“He has the ability to tell stories, but also has this great knack of asking the right questions to make you think in a totally different way,” Nicholson said.

Preaching on social justice

Grant Wacker, a professor of Christian history at Duke Divinity School and friend of Ford since the 1980s, said Ford has always been “baffled and troubled by American race relations.” Ford’s preaching on the topic had an influence on his brother-in-law, the late Rev. Billy Graham, Wacker said.

Wacker, who has written books about Graham’s life, said Ford had a key impact on Graham’s preaching on social justice.

“He was constantly on the side of telling Billy to reopen his horizons and look at the gospel’s implications of how we live our lives day-to-day especially in matters of poverty and race,” Wacker said.

Both Ford and Graham ministered internationally, which Wacker said influenced the men’s perspective on what race relations in America looked like.

In the ‘60s, Ford noticed the “raw wounds” in society begin to emerge during the Vietnam War, leading to the Civil Rights Movement and the war on poverty. Today, Ford sees similarities following the “worldwide struggle” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Pain makes us pay attention to something that’s wrong,” Ford said. “I think we can either disregard it, or we can just tranquilize it, but sometimes it takes a deep, deep change.”

After hearing of Floyd’s death, Ford said he thought of how Graham would respond. Graham’s headquarters was located in Minneapolis, so Ford envisioned Graham reaching out to Floyd’s family and grieving with them. He said Graham would say laws needed to be more equal and carried out justly.

“But what he would say, and I’ve heard him say it so many times, is that ‘the heart is the problem,’” Ford said.

Ford believes Jesus is what causes people’s hearts to change.

‘Short of breath’

When thinking about Floyd, Ford took eight minutes and 46 seconds of silence, the amount of time the officer knelt on Ford’s neck. Ford tried to hold his breath for as long as he could, but he could hold it for only one minute and 15 seconds. He said after that he was gasping for air.

“I thought, ‘What in the heaven or hell could it be like for that man to lie there for that length of time, unable to breathe?’” Ford said.

The world is short of breath, he said.

“And maybe right now, we just need to speak, yes, but just stop, before we act, and take some deep breaths,” Ford said. “And listen.”

“... Maybe if we all stopped and tried to hold our breath for a while. And then prayer would just be able to say, ‘Oh God, help. Breathe in us. Breathe through us.’ Our atmosphere is poisoned in so many ways.”