Episcopalians and Race: Civil War to Civil Rights

Religion in the South

by Gardiner H. Shattuck Jr.

Meeting at an African American college in North Carolina in 1959, a group of black and white Episcopalians organized the Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity and pledged to oppose all distinctions based on race, ethnicity, and social class. They adopted a motto derived from Psalm 133: ""Behold, how good and joyful a thing it is, for brethren to dwell together in unity!"" Though the spiritual intentions of these individuals were positive, the reality of the association between blacks and whites in the church was much more complicated. Episcopalians and Race examines the often ambivalent relationship between black communities and the predominantly white leadership of the Episcopal Church since the Civil War. Paying special attention to the 1950s and 60s, Gardiner Shattuck analyzes the impact of the civil rights movement on church life, especially in southern states. He discusses the Church's lofty goals―exemplified by the Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity―and ignoble practices and attitudes, such as the failure to recognize the role of black clergy and laity within the denomination. The efforts of mainline Protestant denominations were critically important in the struggle for civil rights, and Episcopalians expended a great deal of time and resources in engaging in the quest for racial equality and strengthening the missionary outreach to African Americans in the South. Shattuck offers an insider's history of Episcopalians' efforts, both successful and unsuccessful, to come to terms with race and racism since the Civil War.

Genres: Religion, Christianity, History

328 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2000

Reviews

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very interesting and illuminating history. In spite of the parenthetical description in the title, it is not just about the South. I found the early history, more or less from 1900-1960, to be the most interesting. It's remarkable to learn about the deeply entrenched racism that was so present in the Episcopal Church then. And the testimony of the Episcopalians who fought against it is inspiring. The later history of the racial justice movement both during and after the transition to the black power movement and beyond is also very interesting, but the book gets a little too enmeshed with church politics at that point in my opinion and makes the Episcopal Church seem almost hopelessly mired, at least as for racial justice. The end almost ignores the 1980s, jumping to the book's epilogue about the 1991 General Convention, which took place in and became tainted by the controversy over Arizona, the site of the convention, not recognizing Martin Luther King Day. That might be a fitting expression of where the Episcopal Church was at the time with reckoning with racism, not only in 1991 but in the decade before and decade after. Nonetheless, it's a bit jarring, left me feeling like it was kind of an afterthought, inserted to remind us that the story doesn't end with the classic era of the civil rights movement and doesn't really seem fair to what was happening at that time in the Episcopal Church to address racism. The book was published in 2000, so later history is naturally, entirely absent.

[C. Raphiell · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCELLENT!

[Rosemary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard truths, but necessary and important. I am reading and discussion with a group of Episcopal clergy.