Carter Dalton Lyon

The 1950s and ‘60s were marked by the Civil Rights movement, as African Americans mobilized to gain the same equal rights under the law as white people enjoyed. It seems as if churches should have been on the forefront of this movement. Yet, most all-white churches would fight hard to remain segregated. The integration of these churches became one of the aims of the Civil Rights movement resulting in the church visit campaign of 1963-4. Groups of ministers and laypeople, both black and white, would attempt to enter churches for Sunday services. Although the tactic was followed throughout the south, the campaign in Jackson Mississippi was the most sustained.

In his book, Sanctuaries of Segregation, author Carter Dalton Lyon gives a fascinating and well-documented account of the church visit campaign in Jackson including its place within the larger movement, how it compared to the campaigns in other cities, and, of course, the response by the churches both at the local and denominational levels, the in-fighting it often caused as local churches defied national directives to integrate, the excuses churches found, often scripture-based, to protect segregation, and the ministers and laypeople whose commitment to the cause of desegregation never waivered despite all the obstacles thrown in their way.

Thanks to Netgalley and the University Press of Mississippi for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review… (més)