As a citizen of Philadelphia, when I first heard about 76 Place, it did not sound like a great idea. Having served 15 years as the pastor of Mother Bethel AME Church, 12 blocks from Jefferson Station, I’ve seen what happens during major events along the east side of Market Street. As a person of faith who preaches faith in action, I have greater concerns about what will happen to the communities near the proposed arena. To me, the plan for a Sixers arena at 10th and Market violates the essential Biblical commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

The Sixers’ ownership has not shown that they love Philadelphians as neighbors. Instead, they have proven they are comfortable with displacing the least of us.

Logistical nightmare, cultural erasure

My church is located at 6th and Lombard streets. Anytime there’s something going on that blocks east Market Street — a marathon, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, for example — hundreds of congregants who take transit or drive cannot make it to our services, meetings or events.

Bishop Richard Allen founded Mother Bethel 1794. We are the oldest church in our denomination. Harriett Tubman, William Still, Lucretia Mott and Frederick Douglass all spoke from our pulpit. Ours is the spiritual home to 700 local parishioners and thousands more visitors who come to us to learn about African American history and heritage. It is vital to this literal sanctuary’s survival that people can be with us, in person.

The last thing Center City needs is a basketball arena that’s going to host at least 42 games a year. Imagine. In one evening, there’s the Flower Show, the Sixers play the hottest team in the NBA — and, just for good measure, there’s a protest. This scenario is just a complete nightmare for people who live there and have to get around.

Most of the clergy I speak with — Baptist leaders, imams — are overwhelming against it.

I was in Chinatown for the first meeting between Sixers representatives and community members after the team announced their plans for their arena. (Notice, I said “after,” because we all learned about the team’s plans in the newspaper, not from the team itself.) At that meeting, and after, the Sixers have continually said their new arena is not going to displace anyone. They say it’s going to be wonderful and at the end of the day, Chinatown is going to love it — everybody’s going to love it — because nobody’s going to get pushed out.

But I’ve seen what happened in Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown, home of the Wizards’ arena. That project was different in a couple significant ways: It was built with public money, using eminent domain to seize several homes and businesses in Chinatown. But in the decades since, most Asian American residents and businesses have left because of increasing housing costs and decreased business traffic, leaving one prominent leader to call it more of a “Chinatown block” than a neighborhood. Although D.C.’s Chinatown has nice street signs that say Chinatown, it is a facade.

It is our moral obligation to speak up for our brothers and sisters in Chinatown.

It reminds me of how, in this country, we keep Native American names on places where there are no longer any Native American people. That’s the direction 76 Place will drive Chinatown — Asian in name only. Chinatown residents have already been cut off once by I-676 and cut off again by the encroachment of the Convention Center. Now, they’ll be cut off from the southern end as well.

What’s more, who’s to say the basketball team won’t change their minds again? In 20 or 30 years, a new owner may come along, that shiny new arena will no longer shine, and they may decide to move on to another neighborhood.

Faith leaders against 76 Place

Much has been made about Black clergy support for this project. As a dues-paying member of the same organization who sent representatives to stand behind our mayor as she spoke of 76 Place months ago, I am disappointed that the media and public have given so much weight to the opinions of so few. The former president of the Black Clergy of Philadelphia, an arena supporter, by no means represents all of us. My beloved peer leaders of faith communities of color are not a monolith.

At a recent press conference at City Hall, I joined at least a dozen members of the Black clergy and POWER Interfaith to stand in opposition to the plan. The idea that there’s widespread support among us for this idea is just wrong. Most of the clergy I speak with — Baptist leaders, imams — are overwhelming against it.

We feel this way not just because of the impact it will have on our congregations. It is our moral obligation to speak up for our brothers and sisters in Chinatown.

The Sixers’ ownership has not shown that they love Philadelphians as neighbors. Instead, they have proven they are comfortable with displacing the least of us.

Listen. We all want new things. We don’t want to see our city stuck in the past; we don’t want to be a museum. Philadelphia has to live. It has to grow. We want people to be prosperous; we want the people in the Building Trades to make money building things — that’s good for everyone. None of us are trying to stop progress. We love the 76ers; we want to see them win on and off the court.

At the same time, we also love our existing communities and neighborhoods. These kinds of projects must be done in a way that considers the people who cannot afford to hire lobbyists and lawyers in order to sell their case to City Council and the mayor.

The Bible speaks about hospitality, about being kind to the stranger. My faith directs me to do unto others as you would want them to do unto you. In that regard, I pray that Philadelphia doesn’t step on one community in order to build up another.

Mark Tyler served as the 52nd pastor of Mother Bethel AME Church from 2008 to 2024. He is now the historiographer and executive director of the denomination’s Department of Research and Scholarship. Also a documentary filmmaker, he has produced PBS’s The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross with Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates (among other films) and hosts The Power Hour on WURD Radio.

The Citizen welcomes guest commentary from community members who represent that it is their own work and their own opinion based on true facts that they know firsthand.

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