Obama eulogizes Pinckney: 'What a good man'

"What a good man," President Barack Obama said of South Carolina State Sen. and Rev. ClementaPinckney during his eulogy of the slain pastor Friday afternoon.

"Sometimes I think that's the best thing to hope for when you're eulogized," Obama said. "After allthe words and recitations and resumes are read, to just say somebody was a good man. You don'thave to be of high station to be a good man. A preacher by 13, pastor by 18, public service by 23.What a life Clementa Pinckney lived. What an example he set. What a model for his faith."

The president spoke at the funeral service at the TD Arena on the College of Charleston campus,which filled to capacity, leaving thousands outside the arena to be turned away to find alternatelocations to view the service.

"The Bible calls us to hope, to persevere, and have faith in things not seen," Obama said. He quotedHebrews 11:13, saying, "'They were still living in faith when they died,' Scripture tells us. 'They didnot receive the things promised. They only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admittingthey were foreigners and strangers on earth.'"

Obama called Pinckney "a man who believed in things not seen, a man who believed there werebetter days ahead, off in the distance; a man of service who persevered, knowing full well he wouldnot receive all those things he was promised because he believed those efforts would deliver a betterlife for those who followed."

"Rev. Pinckney embodied a politics that was neither mean nor small," the president said. "Heconducted himself quietly and kindly and diligently. He encouraged progress not by pushing hisideas alone but by seeking out your ideas, partnering with you to make things happen. He was full ofempathy and fellow feeling, able to walk in someone else's shoes and see through their eyes."

Listing the names of the nine people slain on June 17 inside the Emanuel AME Church following aBible study, Obama called them good, decent, God-fearing people.

"Each were at different stations of life, but bound together by a common commitment to God," hesaid. "People so full of life and so full of kindness, people who ran the race, who persevered. Peopleof great faith.

Obama said the nation shares the grief of the families of the victims of the shooting.

"God has visited grace upon us," he said, "for he has allowed us to see where we've been blind. Hehas given us the chance where we've been lost to find our best selves."

Obama said for too long, we have been blind to the pain the flag caused to some of our citizens.

"It's true a flag didn't cause these murders, but as people from all walks of life, Republicans andDemocrats now acknowledge, including Gov. Haley, whose recent elloquence on the subject isworthy of praise, as we all have to acknowledge, the flag has always represented more than justancestral pride."

Obama said removing the flag from the capitol grounds would not be an act of political correctnessor an insult to the valor of Confederate soldiers.

"It would simply be an acknowledgement that the cause for which they fought, the cause of slavery,was wrong," he said to cheers from the crowd. "By taking down that flag, we express God's grace.But I don't think God wants us to stop there."

Obama said we should ask tough questions about how past injustices have shaped the present, citingissues like children languishing in povery and attending dilapidated schools, and what we're doing tocause of some children to hate; injustices in the criminal justice system, the training of policeofficers and gun violence.

"Maybe we now realize the way racial bias can infect us even when we don't realize it, so that we'reguarding against not just racial slurs, but we're also guarding against the subtle impulse to callJohnny back for a job interview, but not Jamal," he said. "So that we search our hearts when weconsider laws that make it harder for some of our fellow citizens to vote, by recognizing our commonhumanity, by treating every child as important, regardless of the color of their skin or the stationinto which they were born, and to do what's necessary to make opportunity real for every American.By doing that, we express God's grace."

"None of us can or should expect a transformation in race relations overnight," Obama said. "Everytime something like this happens, somebody says, 'We have to have a conversation on race.' We talka lot about race. There's no shortcut. And we don't need more talk."

"None of us should believe a handful of gun safety measures will prevent every tragedy; it will not,"he said. "People of good will will continue to debate the merits of various policies as our democracyrequires. It is a big, raucous place, America is. And there are good people on both sides of thesedebates. Whatever solutions we find will necessarily be incomplete. But it would be a betrayal ofeverything Rev. Pinckney stood for, I believe, if we allowed ourselves to slip into a comfortablesilence again."

Obama ended the eulogy by an impromptu chrous of "Amazing Grace," and the entire audiencejoined in. He listed each of the victims, saying each one had found that grace through the example of

their lives.

"They've now passed it onto us. May we find ourselves worthy of that precious and extraordinary giftas long as our lives endure," the president said. "May grace now lead them home. May God continueto shed his grace on the United States of America."

Emanuel AME Church Interim Pastor Norvel Goff recognized some of the dignitaries present,including South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Charleston Major Joe Riley, U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, U.S.Rep. Jim Clyburn and Former Sec. of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Goff then turned his attention to Pinckney's widow and children.

"I want you to know the world has come to you and to South Carolina for the poise and dignity...thefamily has demonstrated in how we handle our grief," Goff said. "But we hold on to our faith. Noweapon formed against us, no evil can separate us from the love of God," he added, paraphrasingportions of Isaiah 54 and Romans 8.

South Carolina Senate Chaplain James I. St. John offered a prayer in honor of Pinckney and the othereight victims of the June 17 shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church.

"As we gather here in this arena in Charleston today with hearts still bruised and hurting by thehorrific events of Wednesday night a week ago at Mother Emanuel Church, we know that weabsolutely must turn to you, that you, Dear God, are our source of consolation," St. John said.

South Carolina state Sen. Gerald Malloy called Pinckney "a prodigy walking amongst us."

"We will always miss our friend," Malloy said. "But know this: Sen. Pinckney, without a doubt, lovedyou. He loved people. He loved serving people. He answered life's most pervasive question, and thatis, 'What are you doing for others?' He loved helping people. It didn't matter who you were or whereyou came from. He extended a helping hand to all walks of life. That's just the kind of man he was."

Malloy said because of Pinckney's death, the state would see the Confederate flag come down, astatement that brought cheers and a standing ovation from the crowd.

"You're the one that did it," he said. "It's coming down."

Malloy said Pinckney's service included championing greater access of health care for the poor byMedicaid expansion, rallied against predatory lending practices and access to the voting booth forall citizens and pushed for body cameras for law enforcement officers.

"It seemed his voice always had the greatest impact when it was used for the voiceless," Malloy said."Perhaps that's why it resonates with us."

"Sen. Pinckney's last act as a Christian and as a senator was to open his doors to someone who hedid not know, who he did not understand, and who did not look like him. So in the days and weeksahead, let us not close the doors that Sen. Pinckney gave his life for us to open. Do not give intotemptation and let anger and resentment close those doors that Sen. Pinckney opened. Do not letrace, religion or politics close the doors to dialog that Sen. Pinckney opened to help make us a betterpeople. And do not close the doors to the word that Clem insisted we hear: to love each other, toforgive, even when it's hard to do, and to care for the least of these," Malloy said.

"Clemtenta was more than a friend, he was like a son to me," South Carolina state Rep. and Rev.Joseph Neal said. "I want you to understand that when hate abruptly ends the life of someonespecial, it seems we quickly respond. It's our nature to come together, ignoring all that divides, andto repudiate hate. In times like these, we mourn the life that was so devalued in these senselesskillings, but we make a point to affirm that all lives matter."

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