Religion and Civil Rights (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Role of the Black Church in the American Civil Rights Movement
2017
This paper seeks to argue that the black church played a pioneering role in the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s. To be sure, one cannot think of the CRM without the crucial role played by the black church. The black church not only provided support to various civil rights organizations but also acted as the movement church itself. The church ministers played a vital role in the success of the CRM and the black church mobilized resources and made the CRM practically possible. From the role of the Church in the CRM, one can easily envision the role of religion in social change and identity politics which, in turn, seeks to negate the promise of the project enlightenment. Today, religion has come back as a powerful force and has thus become a reality both in social change and construction of identity not only nationally but also internationally.
Bill Hansen: A Catholic Activist in the Civil Rights Movement
American Catholic Studies, 2017
Abstract: Historians have noted the “miniscule presence” of Roman Catholics in the Civil Rights movement prior to 1963. While most priests and religious sisters were forbidden by their superiors from demonstrating in support of African American rights, several lay Catholics actively participated in the southern freedom struggle before the March on Washington. Because they seldom called attention to their faith, these individuals have been largely ignored by scholars examining the religious origins of civil-rights activists. Notable among these “invisible Catholics” is Bill Hansen, the son of a Cincinnati working-class family. Educated in parochial schools from first grade through college, Bill was a founding member of the Xavier University Interracial Society. From Xavier he went south where he was arrested in Mississippi as a Freedom Rider, badly beaten in a Georgia jail cell, and sent to an Alabama prison for participating in a “freedom walk.” In all, he was arrested 45 times. Fro...
Pneuma, 2013
Although black Pentecostal leaders are known for their emphasis on holiness and spiritual empowerment, they are not renowned for having led and spearheaded political protest struggles during the Civil Rights movement. In this paper I discuss black Pentecostals’ postures toward political protest struggles, and I analyze reasons why some black Pentecostals participated in the Civil Rights movement while others did not. My central argument is that critical consciousness formation played an integral role in motivating a minority of Church of God in Christ (COGIC) clergy and leaders to engage in Civil Rights protest struggles. That is to say, many black Pentecostals who took part in the movement reconciled their strivings for spiritual empowerment against evil with critical reflection upon complex social, political, and economic realities. They recognized the utility of opposing structures of oppression through direct, nonviolent means.
The faith of Black Catholics inspired their activism
U.S. Catholic, 2023
When remembering the revolutionary period in American history known as the civil rights movement-a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign that set out to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United States and lasted from 1954 to 1968-several key figures come to mind. Perhaps it is Thurgood Marshall and his groundbreaking work on the Supreme Court case that came to be known as Brown vs. Board of Education; Rosa Parks, whose unwillingness to give up her seat on the bus played a pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott; or maybe the most prominent figure, pastor and theologian Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who was a key participant and organizer for the March on Washington, the Selma to Montgomery marches, and the Poor Peopleʼs Campaign to name just a few. But what o en doesnʼt happen in our recollections of this tumultuous and challenging time is considering the active role that many Catholics, specifically Black Catholics,
We Walk By Faith": Religion and Race During the Civil Rights Movement
2000
Proudly Protestant and Evangelical, southerners consider themselves the religious backbone of America. Yet, in historical moments when the nation's attention was centered on the South, few recognized Christian morality in the actions of many. How could a Citizen Council member burn a cross on Saturday and serve as a deacon on Sunday? This question found resonance in particular with southern blacks, whose churches were instrumental in challenging social injustice. This paper looks at the different understandings, not of the radicals, but of the majority of black and white southerners, about the role of religion in society and how this impacted the way they reacted to the civil rights movement. By looking at these groups from an inter-religious perspective, one is able to see how different they truly are and begin to build bridges and heal old wounds.
2014
Having assumed black Pentecostals are "otherworldly" or detached from politics and this-worldly concerns, many religious and civil rights scholars have ignored black Holiness-Pentecostals' involvements in the Civil Rights Movement and instead focused on the roles of black Baptists and Methodists. Primarily guided by historical, sociological, theo-ethical, and hermeneutical methods, this dissertation examines Church of God in Christ (COGIC) members' engagements in the Civil Rights Movement in Memphis, Tennessee, 1954-1968. I chose Memphis as the location to examine these assumptions because the most renowned Civil Rights leader, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., delivered his last sermon at Mason Temple Church of God in Christ (COGIC), the headquarters of the largest and oldest black holiness-Pentecostal denomination. The dissertation argues that Memphis COGIC members were not divorced from the Memphis Movement but endeavored to combat racial injustice and inequality through a diversity of means, including through politics, nonviolent direct action, and spiritual quest. I contend that despite being marginalized and treated as outsiders on account of their race and religious faith, prior to the Civil Rights Movement early saints affirmed their identity as United States citizens, valued American democratic ideas of freedom and equality, and endeavored to advance democratic principles through participating in civic life. Additionally, when the Civil Rights Movement came to Memphis in the 1950s, COGIC members joined and worked alongside black church leaders from other denominations and engaged in nearly every aspect of the struggle, including political campaigns, desegregation efforts, and the Sanitation Workers Strike. Furthermore, I argue that Holiness-Pentecostal theology informed the activism of Memphis COGIC Civil Rights activists. Affirming his Holiness-Pentecostal heritage, Bishop J.O. Patterson Sr., a prominent Memphis Civil Rights activist, sought to persuade blacks in general and to remind black Christian activists in particular of the indispensability of spiritual presence and empowerment for social struggle. My research findings provoke scholars of religion to rethink the meaning and implications of otherworldliness. Additionally, this research indicates that there is greater complexity to black churches involvement in the Civil Rights Movement besides the contributions of black Baptists and Methodists. This dissertation is dedicated to my wife, Courtney Miller-Chism, my companion and friend who has encouraged and supported me greatly during my years of graduate study; to my son, Jonathan Chism Jr., who was born as I began writing and who has provided me with smiles and inspiration; to my parents-Moses Chism Sr. and Forrestine Chism, who have given me a strong foundation rooted in love; my older siblings-Anthony, Felicia, Moses Jr., David, and Daniel, who have been positive role models; to my mother-in-law, Gloria Miller and my Aunt Charlotte for your support with childcare during these past few years; and to all of my sister-in-laws, brother-in-law, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and cousins. This dissertation would not have been possible without the many people who have contributed to my intellectual development and growth. First, I want to thank to my advisor, Dr. Anthony B. Pinn. Thanks for pushing me intellectually, for being a friend, and for patiently showing me the ropes. I appreciate each of the members of my dissertation committee who have helped me to grow during coursework. I appreciate Dr. Michael Emerson for providing tips for conducting qualitative interviews and for reading the full draft of the dissertation. I am thankful to all of my colleagues past and present in the Religious Studies Department and in the African American Religion concentration at Rice. I appreciate all of my professors in the Religious Studies Department,
In recent years historians and scholars of religious studies have chronicled and debated the critical role that black and white liberal Protestants, Catholics, and Jews played in the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and 1960s. At every stage of the movement, mainline and traditional black churches proved vital. Less is known about the actions and reactions of conservative or moderate white believers. The churches that these fundamentalists and evangelicals belonged to would grow tremendously in the coming decades, eventually claiming roughly 26 percent of the American population. From the 1960s forward, conservative Protestants would also become key political players, helping to decide national elections. Their responses to the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act, which intended to end discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin, and the heated debates that led up to the law reveal much about how conservative Christians related to the state and to a changing society. Responses to the bill ranged from resigned acceptance to racist denunciation. But believers were united in their antistatism and in their opposition to political and theological liberalism. This article examines how evangelicals and fundamentalists engaged in politics and understood race and racism in personal terms. It also analyzes the religious dimensions of modern American conservatism.
Pulpits and platforms: The role of the church in determining protest among black americans
Soc. F., 2005
This article further specifies the relationship between church-based resources, group identification and political activism among black Americans. Previous research indicates that political communication within churches and activism within the church serve to motivate political participation. Our research suggests that, net of relevant controls, activism within the church does not significantly increase protest politics. A key determinant of protest participation is attending a church that exhibits a politicized church culture, and this effect is contingent upon educational attainment and membership in secular organizations. Hence, the church serves as a crucial context for the dissemination of political messages and exposure to opportunities for protest only for those black Americans with relatively low educational achievement and organizational involvement. Group identification has no effect on protest participation.
Politics and the Black Church in a Southern Community
Journal of Black Studies, 1980
Beginning in the late 1940s after the abolition of the allwhite Democratic primary, the Southern Black church increasingly became a focal point for newly emerging Black political activities. The significance of the Black church in politics was due to the fact that Black clergymen played crucial political middleman roles between the emerging Black electorate and interested white politicians. With the passage of time and the growth of Black political activity, however, more secular social and political institutions began to supplant the Black clergy as chief political cue givers for their communities (Davidson, 1972; Murray and Vedlitz, 1974). One result was that the Black clergy lost some of its political influence as other Black activists were able to develop their own secular power baseso