A Moral Crusade: The Preservation of Segregation by Southern Baptists in Alabama from 1930-1968

Abstract

This paper explores how members of the Southern Baptist (SB) denomination developed their arguments, tactics, and rhetoric to stall integration during the Civil Rights Movement (CRM). It argues that the physical and ideological structure of the SB denomination and the Biblical argument underlying the fight against integration were the catalyst for the SB response to the CRM. As the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) annual reports—SBC’s resolutions passed at their yearly convention meetings—and The Alabama Baptist demonstrate, many SB leaders determined that preventing integration was a moral crusade instituted by God. These writings reveal that the SB argument for segregation rested solely on the authority of scripture, the emphasis placed on individual autonomy, and the threat of God’s wrath towards humanity—and the nation—should it not abide by his commands. As a result of this language, integration was significantly stalled in Alabama and the road was paved for the denomination to later achieve political ascendancy.