Rev. William Jasper Jr. (Screenshot from USA Today video)
Rev. Jasper Williams Jr. (Screenshot from USA Tody video)
The monumental funeral service for the late Aretha Franklin on Friday still makes news.
Franklin's family pushes back against rmarks by the Rev. Jasper Williams Jr., calling them "offensive and distasteful" and saying he "did not properly eulogize her," reports Brian McCollum of the Detroit Free Press.
During a lengthy eulogy at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit, Rev. Williams criticized black-on-black crime, insisted single moms are incapable of raising sons by themselves and knocked the Black Livers Matter movement. Williams has long been associated with the family and delivered the eulogoy for Franklin's dad, Rev. C.L. Franklin.
Vaughn Franklin, a nephew, gave a statement to the Free Press late Monday. The statement, issued on the family's behalf, says in part:
I want to speak on behalf of the Franklin family as it relates to the comments that Rev. Jasper Williams, Jr. made on Friday during my aunt’s Celebration of Life service. . . . We found the comments to be offensive and distasteful.
Rev. Jasper Williams spent more than 50 minutes speaking and at no time did he properly eulogize her.
My aunt did not ask Rev. Jasper Williams, Jr. to eulogize her before she passed away because dying is a topic that she never discussed with anyone.
Williams said: "Black lives must not matter until black people start respecting black lives and stop killing ourselves."
He also said "there are not fathers in the home no more" and said that a black woman cannot raise a black boy to be a man. Franklin was the single mother of four boys.
Williams has stuck by his words.
