Pastor sets self ablaze to fight racism

June 23, 2014, Rev. Charles Moore, a 79 year old retired pastor of the united Methodist Church in Texas, USA, drove to Grand Saline, his childhood home. He pulled into the parking lot of a shopping mall, came out of the car, poured petrol on himself and set himself ablaze. Witnesses tried to save him, even with a fire extinguisher but he died in the hospital where he was rushed to.

Rev. Charles Moore

Many who saw the shocking act of suicide could not stop wondering why he took such an extreme action, but his just released suicide note tells why. The Pastor had spent a greater part of his life fighting against racism and he set himself on fire in Grand Saline, his childhood home where he first witnessed racism.
His suicide note indicates that he killed himself in order to advance his fight against racism
It reads: "Many African-Americans were lynched around here," he wrote. "I have decided to join them by giving my body to be burned.

"When I was about 10 years old, some friends and I were walking down the road toward the creek to catch some fish, when a man called 'Uncle Billy' stopped us and called us into his home for a drink of water — but his real purpose was to cheerily tell us about helping to kill 'n--s' and put their heads up on a pole," he wrote.
He continued: "A section of Grande Saline was (maybe still is) called 'pole town,' where the heads were displayed. It was years later before I knew what the name meant."

In another letter he obtained by the Washington Post, Moore gave more reasons.
"I would much prefer to go on living and enjoy my beloved wife and grandchildren and others," he wrote. "But I have come to believe that only my self-immolation will get the attention of anybody and perhaps inspire some to higher service."

The Dallas Morning News reports that “in the '90s he went on a two-week hunger strike protesting the United Methodist Church's discrimination against homosexuals. He picketed against the death penalty and preached against sexism. He served in Indian and African slums.

"I have no significant achievements to offer," he wrote in one letter. "So I am laying down my life here today, in order to call attention to issues of great human concern."
In his final letter, he noted that he died “with love in (his) heart” for the victims as racism and “the perpetrators of such horrors.”
He left behind his wife, Barbara, two sons and two grandchildren.