I was in Charlotte and attended several protests against the presence of ICE in the city. One I went to was made up of largely left-leaning white protesters, which you would see at many Indivisible or No Kings rallies. These are the types of protests I have seen extensively throughout the country.
However, there also were more immigrants and Latino-led protests. One that was particularly intriguing was a group of young people in high school or their late teens who were doing a type of motorcade and waving Mexican and Honduran flags.
Will McCorkle
I went to another rally that somewhat shocked me. It was at the park in downtown Charlotte. When I arrived, it seemed like a Pentecostal praise rally, with a woman preaching dramatically about the glory of God and Jesus being above all kingdoms.
They all had a time of worship where they sang some popular English songs in Spanish, by artists like Chris Tomlin or Elevation. If you had just taken a photograph, you could have thought it was taken from an anti-COVID lockdown rally, or if you had altered the demographics a little, a white Christian nationalist rally. They had a sign that said “Faith over Fear” and another that said “Jesus is King.” Another one was a spoof on the MAGA flag. It said “Jesus: Make America Holy Again.”
At first, I was a little skeptical and almost wondered if this church had co-opted this moment to conduct a church service rather than adequately focusing on the actual issues with ICE. However, we did a march afterward, and it was clear they were passionate about Jesus but also legitimately pushing back against ICE and Border Patrol in the city.
It was quite interesting as they were using the phrases and symbols of American white nationalism, which you would have maybe seen on January 6, but instead were flipping them against the ICE regime of the Trump administration.
For example, the “Faith over Fear” flag had been used extensively to oppose mask mandates, lockdowns and COVID-19 vaccines. It was unfortunately used in some really unhelpful ways, which led to the deaths of countless people. However, they were using this same sign to talk about faith being greater than the fear of the oppressive ICE regime, which is causing such havoc in the city.
Likewise, the “Jesus is King” flag was not used in the way it’s often been used by Christian white nationalists as a type of theocratic statement or, in the worst case scenario, an antisemitic one. Instead, it showed that Jesus is King, and he is above every ruler, including despots like Donald Trump.
The most ironic part was the song they were singing, “Holy Forever,” from Chris Tomlin about Jesus’ name being above everyone. You may have seen a viral video with people at the White House raising their hands and singing this song. Chris Tomlin also infamously sang at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service, the same one where Stephen Miller was reportedly paraphrasing Joseph Goebbels. However, in this context at the ICE protest, it was more moving as they sang, “All thrones and dominions, all powers and positions, your name stands above them all.”
Jesus even stood above the fascism attacking their city.
The protest in Charlotte shattered the clearly defined boxes and lines we put people in. It also showed how Christianity can be used to subvert the empire and not just prop it up. I hope more evangelicals and Pentecostals like this group in Charlotte decide to take this route instead of continuing to bow down to one who stands in complete opposition to the Prince of Peace.
Will McCorkle serves as an education professor in Charleston, S.C., and is a board member with Practice Mercy Border Ministries. He writes on the topics of immigration, peace and faith.