Lift Up Your Voice Like a Trumpet: White Clergy and the Civil Rights and Antiwar Movements, 1954-1973

by Michael B. Friedland

Overview

When the Supreme Court declared in 1954 that segregated public
schools were unconstitutional, the highest echelons of
Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish religious organizations
enthusiastically supported the ruling, and black civil rights
workers expected and actively sought the cooperation of their
white religious cohorts. Many white southern clergy, however,
were outspoken in their defense of segregation, and even those
who supported integration were wary of risking their positions by
urging parishioners to act on their avowed religious beliefs in a
common humanity. Those who did so found themselves abandoned by friends, attacked by white supremacists, and often driven from
their communities.

Michael Friedland here offers a collective biography of several
southern and nationally known white religious leaders who did
step forward to join the major social protest movements of the
mid-twentieth century, lending their support first to the civil
rights movement and later to protests over American involvement
in Vietnam. Profiling such activists as William Sloane Coffin
Jr., Daniel and Philip Berrigan, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Eugene
Carson Blake, Robert McAfee Brown, and Will D. Campbell, he
reveals the passions and commitment behind their involvement in these protests and places their actions in the context of a burgeoning ecumenical movement.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807861592
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	11/09/2000
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
Lexile:	1750L (what's this?)
File size:	538 KB

About the Author

Michael B. Friedland, who received his Ph.D. in history from Boston College, has worked for education reform with the National Faculty, been a Fulbright Scholar in China, and is now a high school history teacher at Seattle Urban Academy.

Table of Contents

Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1. Prophets Without Honor: The Travails of the Southern Clergy, 1954-1960
Chapter 2. Going South: Northern Clergy and Direct-Action Protests, 1960-1962
Chapter 3. The Call to Battle: The Churches and Synagogues Enter the Civil Rights Struggle, 1963
Chapter 4. Bringing Good News to the Oppressed: Clerical Organization in the North and South, 1964
Chapter 5. Flood Tide: Bearing Witness in Alabama, 1965
Chapter 6. Going Against the Grain: Clergy and the Antiwar Movement, 1963-1965
Chapter 7. A Voice for Moderation: Clergy and the Antiwar Movement, 1966-1967
Chapter 8. The Escalation of Dissent: The Antiwar Movement, 1967-1968
Chapter 9. The Costly Peace: The Antiwar Movement, 1968-1973
Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

[An] ambitious synthesis, written with grace.—Journal of Southern History



Students in political science, American studies and, especially, religious studies will be soundly rewarded in reading this book.—Choice



The essence of a redeeming era in America's civil and religious history—when white clergy and laity came tardily to the black-led struggle for freedom, and for a brief period provided mainline churches and synagogues a new opportunity for renewal and prophetic witness.—The Rev. John B. Morris, founding director, Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity



Lift Up Your Voice Like a Trumpet documents in a clean, readable style replete with fascinating anecdotes a critical decade of history. In these days of debate about multiculturalism and retrenchment on Civil Rights, it is reassuring to read of the vigorous and often courageous work of 'black and white together' in the accounts of this fine, carefully researched book.—The Right Reverend Paul Moore Jr.



A gripping, monumental work illuminating a neglected stage of American social and religious history. Michael Friedland captures the passion and poignancy of a deeply shared communal commitment that changed many lives.—Malcolm Boyd, poet-in-residence, Episcopal Cathedral Center, Los Angeles



Michael Friedland gives credit to those who tried to be faithful in troubled times without heaping judgmental scorn on those who turned away. A fair assessment of both groups and an important contribution to the story of America's continuing shame.—Will D. Campbell, author of Brother to a Dragonfly

Editorial Reviews

A gripping, monumental work....[Friedland] captures the passion and poignancy of a deeply shared communal commitment that changed many lives. -- Malcolm Boyd

Malcolm Boyd

[An] ambitious synthesis, written with grace.

"Journal of Southern History"

[D]ocuments in a clean, readable style replete with fascinating anecdotes a critical decade of history.

The Right Reverend Paul Moore Jr.

ÝAn¨ ambitious synthesis, written with grace.

"Journal of Southern History"

ÝD¨ocuments in a clean, readable style replete with fascinating anecdotes a critical decade of history.

The Right Reverend Paul Moore Jr.

Michael Friedland captures the passion and poignancy of a deeply shared communal commitment that changed many lives.

Malcolm Boyd, poet-in-residence, Episcopal Cathedral Center, Los Angeles

Students in political science, American studies and, especially, religious studies will be soundly rewarded in reading this book.

"Choice"

The essence of a redeeming era in America's civil and religious history.

The Rev. John B. Morris, founding director, Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity

"[An] ambitious synthesis, written with grace.

"Journal of Southern History""

"[D]ocuments in a clean, readable style replete with fascinating anecdotes a critical decade of history.

The Right Reverend Paul Moore Jr."

"Michael Friedland captures the passion and poignancy of a deeply shared communal commitment that changed many lives.

Malcolm Boyd, poet-in-residence, Episcopal Cathedral Center, Los Angeles"

"Students in political science, American studies and, especially, religious studies will be soundly rewarded in reading this book.

"Choice""

"The essence of a redeeming era in America's civil and religious history.

The Rev. John B. Morris, founding director, Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity"

From the Publisher