Franklin is pastor of Sanders Chapel and Pine Level United Methodist churches, two predominantly white congregations in Johnston County. On Sunday, he attended a prayer vigil sponsored by El Pueblo, an advocacy group for Latinos, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

About 100 people attended the vigil, a response to racially charged comments by Johnston Sheriff Steve Bizzell. In a Sept. 7 article in The News & Observer, the sheriff called Latinos “trashy” and accused them of “breeding like rabbits.” Bizzell has since apologized.

Tony Asion is director of El Pueblo. “We obviously all have a difficult time understanding one another,” he said of the divide between Latinos and whites. “But we have an expectation that there will be greater understanding and compassion toward other people.”

“This is not just about immigration,” Asion added. “It’s about the way you treat people.”

Franklin said Bizzell’s comments had brought the county’s racial tensions to the surface. He said it was important for the community to find ways to reconcile its differences.

“Regardless of who it was that made these comments, it’s clear to me that our community has been fractured,” Franklin said. “Racial tensions have been brought out. It’s time for us to step up, and especially those like myself who are leaders in the spiritual community, to find ways to help people reconcile.”

Lupeta Peters said Bizzell’s words had infuriated her. “It’s important for me to support my Hispanic people because I believe we are a hard-working people, that we’re not criminals like the sheriff said and that we do not breed like rabbits,” she said.

Peters said she was pleased to see people of all races at the vigil. “I’m very pleased,” she said. “I think it’s very important that this has brought together not only Hispanics but people of all races.”

Time to forgive?

While many at the vigil renewed calls for Bizzell’s resignation, others said the vigil only crippled the healing process. A block away from the courthouse, a small band of Bizzell supporters waved a Johnston County flag and called on their fellow citizens to forgive their embattled sheriff.

“The whole thing is, he offered an apology,” said the Rev. Leroy Hargett, pastor of Life Changers Church International, a predominantly black congregation in Smithfield. “Our God is a god of second chances. I think that’s what we need to be focusing on.”

Hargett said Bizzell had done his job by keeping the county safe and targeting drug dealers. Matthew Narron, another Bizzell supporter, said the sheriff had also helped suppress hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. (Early in his tenure as sheriff, Bizzell was a target in a plot by the KKK to bomb the county courthouse.)

“There is so much positive that he has done for the county,” Narron said. “We can’t let those mistakes outweigh his successes.”

Meanwhile, the American Civil Liberties Union has launched an investigation into whether Bizzell’s office has practiced racial profiling.

In a letter to Bizzell last month, the ACLU requested an array of documents, including arrest records and patrol reports dating back to 2004.