Viral TikTok: Will Black or White Churches Feed a Hungry Baby?

By Rev. Dorothy S. Boulware Overview: A veteran and mother of an 8-year-old, Nikalie Monroe launched her experiment during the government shutdown, when SNAP benefits ran out. One church that showed compassion has received more than $90,000 in donations from around the world. (WIB) – It was a simple social experiment: a Kentucky TikTokker, posing as an impoverished mom with a hungry, crying newborn, randomly dials houses of worship and records what happens when she asks for infant formula. Her child, she says, hasn’t eaten since the day before, and she’s desperate. For the clergy, it went viral on social media, for all the wrong reasons. LEARN MORE: As SNAP Benefits Stall, Black Churches Step Up to Feed America Rather than follow Christ’s teachings to tend to their flock, both near and far, without question, many of those churches — most of them white — turned Nikalie Monroe down flat, or told her to visit a food bank. Some megachurches told her to fill out forms or suggested she apply for government aid. While a few churches, after learning they failed Monroe’s test, promised to do better, others shamed her from the pulpit. ‘Not Gonna Let a Baby Starve’ “Doubling...