The Defining Leadership of Martin Luther King Jr and The Church in The Montgomery Bus
Boycott: The Beginning of The Civil Rights Movement
The Beginning of the Civil Rights Movement
The Civil Rights Movement began in 1955 when a woman named Rosa Parks peacefully
declined to give up her seat on a bus in the city of Montgomery, Alabama . This action, although
1
innocent on the surface, hit the hearts of many Americans. Ever prominent, deep seeded issues
that had been ingrained in America’s culture, legislation, and attitudes became uncovered. Rosa
Parks awoke the hearts of many people, and gave courage to others to step forward and fight for
change. The issue of segregation which had appeared to be at rest after the reconstruction era,
still left many African Americans desperate for equality and justice. Although racism may not
have been blatant, segregation was instituted by law in the South and by practice in the North.
While there was still a deep need for African American equality in the North, the heart of
the Civil Rights movement took place in the South. Northerns practiced many racist and wrong
things, and change would come for them. However, the Civil Rights movement began in the
worst place of them all, in the city that could’ve been considered the most racist in America.
People who had not been forced to consider their racist views were thrust into the middle of the
debate and involuntarily made to examine them. This was the same issue that Southern baptists
had at the end of the Civil War. It was almost 100 years later yet conclusions and answers that
1 Parks, Virginia. 2016. “Rosa Parks Redux: Racial Mobility Projects on the Journey to Work.”
Annals Of The American Association Of Geographers
106, no. 2: 292-299. Academic Search
Complete
, EBSCOhost
(accessed November 28, 2017).
had been reached needed to be overturned. While they may have been evangelical,
compassionate, and God fearing Christians, they had faults just as every Christian does.
Baptist attitudes at the end of the Civil War leading up to the Civil Rights Movement
At the end of the Civil War southern baptists were forced to confront their loss to the
North. This left many feeling lost, bewildered, and quite frankly confused. They had believed
that God was on their side and that they had the moral high ground, was their loss simply a
period of persecution, or was God punishing them. Some baptist leaders emerged with answers
that were hard to grasp, but easier to swallow. They explained that they had lost the war because
they had not been organized enough, and it was simply an issue of management.
Not only did Southerns distrust the North, but there was also an attitude of fear and
resentment. Northern missionaries began coming to the south to educate and evangelize to
African Americans. Afraid that they would become indoctrinated, Southerners fought back by
creating their own schools and churches. Although their views may have been incorrect, they
lived in communities that accepted and taught racism, allowing them to never be confronted with
another point of view. They held a patriarchal stance, believing that slaves were not smart
enough to provide for themselves and that they needed the help of white men.
This independence for African Americans scared many, and as a result baptists across the
South united together to form the Southern Baptist Convention . They had the goal to create a
2
system of support, networking, and establishment. With this new establishment they would be
able to control their slaves, and after the Civil War maintain control. Without the intention of
doing so, by creating segregated churches and schools southern Baptists placed themselves in the
2 Williams, Michael E. Isaac Taylor Tichenor: The Creation of the Baptist New South
.
Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2005.
middle of the Civil Rights battle that was to come. This caused them to be heavily intertwined in
the debate for social equality. They established black baptist church, schools, and other
institutions to create segregation, which deepened their entanglement.
The Beginning of Baptist involvement in the Civil Rights Movement
The Southern Baptist Convention was created because of the issue of slavery, but after
emancipation the attitude of white superiority remained. However, there were baptists who
wanted equality and they played a crucial role in the Civil Rights movement. Not only were they
major contributors, but they were also leaders. They first stepped out in the public light and
began their journey for the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Although they were not aware of this at
the time, the future of Montgomery, Alabama, the United States, and the world was about to be
