How Does Religion Influence The Civil Rights Movement

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Religion can be defined as ?The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods?[footnoteRef:1] A church is an assembly of Christian people and can be sub-divided into various denominations such as Catholic and Protestant.

These definitions will be the parameters used for the discussion of the role of religion and churches in the civil rights era. This essay will discuss the views and influence that various Churches and religions had on the civil rights era. It will examine the differing historian?s views of religious influence on the civil rights era. [1: Oxford

Dictionary]

The Catholic Church had an ambiguous stance on the civil rights issue. Theoretically it was against racial discrimination but in practice it rarely promoted or supported the civil rights movement. Andrew S Moore sums up the Church?s attitude thus ?They preferred order and stability instead of activism for integration and racial justice.?[footnoteRef:2] In 1954, when Bishop Vincent Waters of Raleigh, North Carolina ordered an end to all segregation in the churches, it made national headlines. However, John Deedy a former editor of the Catholic magazine The Common-weal observes, "The American Catholic Church was about as interested in blacks in America as it was in American Indians, which was not very much."[footnoteRef:3] This may be due to the fact that the Catholic Church was in the minority in the South; only ten percent of Southerners were Catholics. Therefore the Church keen not to upset their white supporters the Church stayed out of the debate. Although there were anti civil rights factions within the Catholic Church, which impacted the movement negatively these had been aborted by 1970.Today the Catholic Church in America is keen to promote the part they played in the civil rights era. This is illustrated by the following excerpt said by Bishop Shelton Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana. [2: The South's Tolerable Alien: Roman Catholics in Alabama and Georgia, 1945-1970. ] [3: www.commonwealmagazine.org]

?The Civil Rights era was an important time in the history of our country. In constructive ways, many priests, religious sisters, religious brothers and lay Catholic faithful were involved in the struggle for Civil Rights,?[footnoteRef:4] [4: http://www.usccb.org/news/2014/14-146.cfm]

Bishop Fabre does not explain what these ?constructive ways? were. Implying that the Church?s involvement was not as proactive as he suggests.

Despite the Catholic Church?s official ambiguity on the subject, prominent individual clergyman did express differing stances and tried to influence opinions either for or against the movement. Archbishop Thomas J. Toolen, archbishop of Mobile and Birmingham, forbade priests to challenge publicly the state's segregation laws or participate in demonstrations. Toolen achieved widespread notoriety during the civil rights movement over comments he made about the Selma to Montgomery March in March 1965. According to Cyprian Davis, ?Toolen denounced the methods of the activists and declared that "outsiders," including priests and nuns, were stirring up trouble?.[footnoteRef:5] Reaction to Toolens comments varied, some viewing him as a racist and others as a hero for standing up to the Movement. A black Catholic from California fervently believed that Toolen?s position ?certainly cannot be considered as one of Church Teaching?[footnoteRef:6] Some claimed that Toolen?s remarks actually hurt the cause of the Civil Rights Movement and that they ?have done more harm to us than a thousand lashes by Wallace or his troopers.?[footnoteRef:7] The factions that supported Toolen included Bob Sikes, United States Representative for Florida?s first district .He extended to Toolen congratulations for his ?courageous and very proper stand taken in connection with the racial problems in Alabama?[footnoteRef:8] [5: The History of Black Catholics in the United States. New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1990. - ] [6: Letter from Peter Guidry to Thomas J. Toolen, Archbishop of Mobile-Birmingham, 27 March 1965, Toolen Papers.] [7: Letter from Mrs. William Payne to Thomas J. Toolen, Archbishop of Mobile-Birmingham, 18 March1965, Toolen Papers.] [8: Letter from Bob Sikes, United States Representative to Thomas J. Toolen, Archbishop of Mobile Birmingham,26 March 1965, Toolen Papers.]

In retrospect Toolen was not a racist as such, he simply favoured a less confrontational approach to civil rights. As far as Toolens effect on the Civil Rights Movement goes it implies that whilst not supporting it he gave it publicity with his comments. It is interesting to note that the number of Catholics in the southern states rose by four percent during Toolen?s tenure. It could therefore be suggested that although Toolen?s stance on the Civil Rights Movement was not favourable he was in touch with the Southerners beliefs and this encouraged the Catholic Church?s growth in this region.

There were some pro Civil Rights Movement Catholics. More than 900 Catholics participated in the Selma protests they included nuns and priests among the protesters was Fr. Maurice Ouellet, pastor of St. Elizabeth's African-American mission in Selma. Ouellet's first address at a Civil Rights meeting cemented his identification with the movement. He told his African-American audience that "they were God's children and American citizens and it was their Christian duty to vote."

The next day's newspaper displayed a photo of the priest singing "We Shall Overcome" while holding hands with a black woman. The caption said, "White Priest dances with Negro woman at Mass Meeting."[footnoteRef:9] Ouellet?s involvement grew and he encouraged others ?Fr. James Groppi, assistant pastor of St. Boniface Parish in Milwaukee, returned to Wisconsin "all on fire" for civil rights. In 1967, he organized members of the NAACP Youth Council in a crusade against segregated housing?[footnoteRef:10] Catholics in favour of The Civil Rights Movement have had a positive effect on the movement simply by highlighting the cause in the media and by working for improvements in the black community. [9: http://ncronline.org/news/peace-justice/54-miles-freedom-catholics-were-prominent-1965-selma-march] [10: Asante Sana, 'Thank You' Father James E. Groppi]

The Protestant denominations of the Christian faith were not as ambiguous as their Catholic colleagues in regard to The Civil Rights Movement. They were either vociferously campaigning either for or against it. At its inception the Civil Rights Movement needed two things. Firstly it required monetary support and secondly charismatic speakers to promote its cause. Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr. states that
?Most of the leaders in the forefront of the civil rights movement in the South were clergy or lay church leaders.

Many of them were financially independent and therefore were able to represent an independent voice in the community.?[footnoteRef:11] [11: The Role of Religion in the Civil Rights Movements]

The ability to have financially independent supporters greatly enhanced the Movement. They were able to campaign without paying speakers and hence were able to reach more people with their message. Most preachers are skilled orators and hence The Civil Rights Movement gained its second requirement. Rev Martin Luther King today is widely recognised as a seminal leader in the Civil Rights Movement. King first became involved with the Movement during the 1950s and through his skilled oration promoted its cause until his

death.

Historians in the past thought that without King?s promotion of the movement it would have been very different and possibly not as successful. Taylor Branch, a civil rights historian, has called King ?a new founding father?[footnoteRef:12]. However, some historians have disagreed about how influential Kings and ultimately the Protestant Church?s involvement was. Kevin Verney said, ?If King had never lived, the black struggle would have followed a course of development similar to the one it did.?[footnoteRef:13] Carson also questions the importance of King. Carson labels Du Bois as ?the most significant African American intellectual of the 20th Century?and a preeminent political thinker of the 20th Century.?[footnoteRef:14] Du Bois was a prominent Historian, Sociologist and Civil Rights campaigner. It is perhaps a little unfair to compare Du Bois to King because Du Bois died in 1963 before King was at the height of his career. [12: Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63] [13: The role of Martin Luther King and other individuals/groups in the civil rights struggle, 1870-1980, Lecture, Edge Hill University, February 2012] [14: Course Introduction and W.E.B. Du Bois http://academicearth.org/lectures/intro-and-web-dubois]

In many ways the Church was its own enemy in regards to civil rights. King once said ?We must face the sad fact that at eleven o?clock on Sunday morning when we stand to sing In Christ there is no East or West, we stand in the most segregated hour of America?[footnoteRef:15] [15: sermon at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., on March 31, 1968,]

.?

Some Protestant Church members were not in favour of The Civil Rights Movement and it can be said that they had a negative effect on the movement. W. A. Gamble a clerk in Central Mississippi Presbytery, Gamble defended Jim Crow laws, warning that ?it cannot be forgotten that the removal of segregation laws, and the consequent mingling of the races more and more, will inevitably result in miscegenation.?[footnoteRef:16] His statement scared white southerners at that time inter racial marriage was not allowed and they clung to their racial purity. It probably damaged the amount of support that The Civil Rights Movement got from white southerners. [16: logs.thegospelcoalition.org/justintaylor/2015/02/06/jim-crow-civil-rights-and-southern-white-evangelicals-a-historians-forum-]

Historians tend to disagree about how much the Church influenced the Civil Rights Movement. David L. Chappell?s suggestions of ?religious revival[footnoteRef:17]? as influencing the civil rights movement in his book,? A Stone of Hope: Prophetic Religion and the Death of Jim Crow?. While Savage promotes a theme of ?religious rebellion?[footnoteRef:18] against an elite Black religious and political establishment in her book ?Your Spirits Walk Beside Us: The Politics of Black Religion?. Historian Charles Payne noted that some white evangelicals initiated noble efforts like rebuilding black churches that white extremists had burned. Payne says, ?However, we should not confuse such efforts with advocacy for the end of segregation often these endeavours demonstrate objections to the use of violence in the defence of white supremacy, not to white supremacy itself?[footnoteRef:19] Furthermore, some Historians have totally ignored the role of religion in their assessment of The Civil Rights Movement. One of these is Danielle L. McGuire. McGuire is an associate professor of history at Wayne State University in Detroit. She is the author of ?At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance? She does not mention the role that women in the Church played in ?The Civil Rights Movement?. [17: A Stone of Hope: Prophetic Religion and the Death of Jim Crow] [18: Your Spirits Walk Beside Us: The Politics of Black Religion] [19: Debating the Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1968]

Christianity was not the only religion to influence the Civil Rights Movement.

Judaism and Islam also played their roles. Let us first consider the role of Judaism. Most Jews and their leaders were in favour of the movement. The most famous was Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, whose photo marching arm in arm with King in Selma in 1965 has become an iconic image of Jewish civil rights activism, and whose description of that march as "praying with my legs"[footnoteRef:20] is often cited. Not all Rabbis approved or wanted to get involved with the movement. Rabbi Grafman tried to be neutral, prioritizing the safety of the Jewish community and stated that segregation was a "Christian problem" between whites and blacks. In April 1963, when King and the SCLC began a campaign against Birmingham businesses, Grafman was one of eight clergy who wrote a statement criticizing King for the timing of the demonstrations, which coincided with white moderates working on a referendum election that would improve race relations. Historians also recognise the Jewish influence on the movement. In The God of the Oppressed Cone describes the Christian/Jewish God as ?being involved in a political or social struggle on the side of the oppressed people?[footnoteRef:21] Cone likens the civil rights movement to the Jews? exodus from Egypt. This gave African Americans hope. They saw themselves as the Jews, with God on their sides, and saw whites as the evil Egyptians, who would be punished. [20: Jewish

Women's Archive. ?Clergy in the Civil Rights Movement: Introductory Essay."] [21: ?The God Of The Oppressed?, Cone ]

Islam played a prominent role in The Civil Rights Movement. Probably Islam?s most notable member was Malcolm X. He was born Malcolm Little in 1925 but later changed his name. Malcolm X although pro civil rights was probably an irritation to the Civil Rights Movement in his early days as an activist. The movement championed change by none violent means whereas Malcolm X favoured change by any means. Malcolm X said "That's what you mean by non-violent, be defenceless." [footnoteRef:22]The Civil Rights Movement were probably worried that the Malcolm X stance could be mistaken for their own and this would not do their cause any good. Malcolm X was also uncomplimentary to King [22: Autobiography of Malcolm X]

?The goal of Dr. Martin Luther king is to give Negroes a chance to sit in a segregated restaurant beside the samewhite man who has brutalized them for years. To get Negroes to forgive the people who have brutalized them for 500 years ???[footnoteRef:23] [23: , Black Leadership in America: From Booker T. Washington to Jesse Jackson Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary]

Malcolm X?s attitude began to change after he visited Mecca. He left ?The Nation of Islam? and joined the less radical ?Brotherhood of Islam? This switch coincided with a change in his belief that violence should be used to secure racial freedom. Slowly he came to support The Civil Rights Movement and said to King ?"I'm throwing myself into the heart of the civil rights struggle.," [footnoteRef:24] The Civil Rights Movement were no doubt overjoyed that a fellow activist was no longer at odds with them because Malcolm X was a charismatic speaker in his own right. [24: ]

Given that both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King both believed in racial equality it is hard to understand why their means of obtaining it was so different. Perhaps the difference in their opinions sprung from a differing upbringing or possibly from belonging to different religions. Both Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were sons of Baptist preachers. So it can be assumed they both belonged to the same economic group. King was a good scholar but Malcom X was not. Malcom X?s father was murdered and the family plunged into poverty. Perhaps the violence to his father instigated a violent streak in Malcolm and he saw violence as the only way to instigate change. Malcolm X aborted his Christian religion that preached love and non-violence for the Nation of Islam, which supported Jihad. Elijah Muhammad the leader advocated that ?the white man is the devil with whom blacks cannot live?[footnoteRef:25] It was not until Malcolm left The Nation of Islam that his views on violence changed. It can therefore be presumed that King and Malcolm?s differing views were down to their different religions. These religions had differing doctrines which influenced The Civil Rights Movement. [25: Message to the Blackman in America]

In conclusion it can be stated that on the whole religion and Church?s had both a positive and negative impact on The Civil Rights Movement. However, the importance of this impact is widely disputed amongst Historians.
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