"Singing as I go"

Abstract

This thesis explores the response of white southern Baptists during the Civil Rights movement. It seeks to explain why white Baptists, specifically members of the Southern Baptist Convention, did not get involved issues of racial injustice. After demonstrating that southern religion and southern culture have a long history of symbiosis, the paper turns to the SBC. The SBC was founded as a regional response to perceived abolitionist leanings on the part of northern Baptists. Throughout the 19th and early 20th century, the SBC maintained a biblical defense of slavery and a strict allegiance to the Lost Cause. Following WWII, however, cracks began to emerge in the denomination’s commitment to white supremacy. As evidenced by the case study of Tattnall Square Baptist Church, liberal ministers often found their hands tied by congregants who believed the church’s mission was to convert souls, not challenge the standing social order.