Gregory Nelson Hite

This course will examine the role of religion in the American civil rights movement. What were the cultural, philosophical, theological, and institutional foundations of the black freedom struggle that emerged in the late 1950s? Within the major civil rights organizations (e.g. NAACP, SCLC, SNCC, CORE) what theological, generational, regional, and denominational differences and similarities existed? How did each protest groups’ style reflect their religious foundation? How did the traditional African American Christian denominations react to the pace and direction of the struggle? How did traditional white Protestant denominations react? What role did Catholics, Jews and Muslims play? We will examine legal, theological, denominational, social, oral, and institutional history, in order to broaden our understanding of what religion is and its role in movements of social and political protest. Enrollment will be limited to 15 students. Preference will be given to more advanced students.

Course Requirements:

Weekly response papers. In every week except when there is an exam or paper due, you will be responsible for posting to the class discussion board. Each week’s post must be made by 10 pm on Tuesday evening, and must contain: #1) three discussion questions based on the week’s assigned readings, films and discussion and #2) a one-paragraph consideration of one of those questions. Think of it as “answering the question”, but without requiring you to have an absolute defendable answer. A basic gauge of paragraph size is 10 complex sentences or 250 words. Post all responses to hitecrm@lists.ncf.edu.
Final Exam. A closed book, three hour, take-home exam consisting of short identifications and essays.
Presentation. A twenty-minute presentation on each student’s research at the end of the semester.
Term Paper. A fifteen to twenty-page term paper on a topic chosen in consultation with the instructor.

Texts:

Debra Schultz. Going South: Jewish Women in the Civil Rights Movement. NYU Press, New York, 2001.
Jo Anne Robinson. The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women Who Started It. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, 1987.
John Lewis. Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement.
Charles Marsh. God’s Long Summer: Stories of Faith and Civil Rights. Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1997.
James Cone. Martin, Malcolm and America: A Dream or a Nightmare. Orbis Books, Maryknoll, New York:1995

Important NCF Dates:

Spring Orientation / Mini Classes	Jan 26-28
Spring Registration Deadline	Jan 28
Spring Classes Begin	Jan 31
Spring OCS Contracts & Tuition Waivers Deadline	Jan 31
Spring Late Registration Period ($100 Fee)	Jan 31 - Feb 4
Spring Tuition and Fees Payment Deadline	Feb 4
Last Day for 100% Spring Tuition Refund	Feb 4
Spring Contract Submission Deadline	Feb 9
Spring Late Contract Submission Period ($100 Late Fee)	Feb 10-11
Last Day for 25% Spring Tuition Refund	Feb 25
Module I Ends	Mar 18
Spring Break Week	Mar 21-25
Module II Begins	Mar 28
Provisional AOC Submission Deadline (for 5th Term students)	Apr 1
Thesis Prospectus Submission Deadline (for 6th Term students)	Apr 1
Spring Contract Renegotiation Deadline	Apr 22
LOA/OCS Declaration Deadline	May 2
Summer ISP Description Forms Due	May 2
Spring Classes End	May 13
Week of Exams/Advising/Evaluation	May 16-20

Schedule:

February 2

Introduction: “Let My People Go:” the Moses Paradigm and Other Myths of the American Civil Rights Movement

February 9

Writing and Research: Overview. Meet in PMA 117

Suggestions for Writing a Term Paper

February 16

Methodological Issues in Religion and Civil Rights Studies

Aldon Morris, “A Retrospective on the Civil Rights Movement: Political and Intellectual Landmarks.” Annual Review of Sociology Vol. 25 (1999) 517-539. Reserve.

Frederick C. Harris. "Something Within: Religion as Mobilizer of African American Political Activism." Journal of Politics Vol. 56, No.1 (February 1994) 42-68. Reserve.

James Cone, Martin, Malcolm & America: Introduction

February 23

Jim Crow and the “Southern Way of Life:” Understanding a Worldview

Initial Challenges to Segregation: NAACP and Brown

Fighting Back (1957-1962)

Emmet Till

Kenneth Clark, “How Children Learn About Race”

Brown v Board of Education- The Implementation Decision

Howard Thurman. "The Anatomy of Segregation and the ground of Hope" in African American Religious History 2nd edition Ed. Milton Sernett. Duke University Press, Durham, 1999. 548-554..

March 2

Montgomery: Class and Gender

Awakenings (1954-1956)

Jo Ann Robinson, The Montgomery Bus Boycott

“Letter from the WPC to the Mayor of Montgomery”

Martin Luther King, “For Serious Business”

Martin Luther King, “Stride Toward Freedom.”

March 9

The Black Church and the Politics of Civil Rights

James Cone, Martin, Malcolm & America: The Making of a Dreamer (1929-1952)

Joseph H. Jackson, “The National Baptist Philosophy on Civil Rights” in African American Religious History 2nd edition Ed. Milton Sernett. Duke University Press, Durham, 1999. 511-518.

Martin Luther King, “The Social Organization of Nonviolence”

Adam Fairclough, "Origins of the SCLC"

March 16

Nashville: The Theology and Practice of Nonviolence

Ain’t Scared of Your Jails (1960-1961)

James Lawson, “Eve of Nonviolent Revolution”

Satyagraha.

March 23

Spring Break

March 30

Albany: Music, Movements and Faith

The Songs are Free

Laurie Pritchet, "Albany Failure or First Step?"

Charles Sherrod, “Organizing in Albany, Georgia”

Highlander Folks School

April 6

Building the Coalition: Birmingham, the NCCR and the March on Washington

James Cone, Martin, Malcolm & America: I Have a Dream (1955-1963), We Must Love Our White Brothers.

John Lewis, Two Speeches

Newspaper Article

Martin Luther King, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”

James Findley, “Church People in the Struggle”

No Easy Walk (1961-1963)

April 13

SNCC and Freedom Summer: Like a Holy Crusade

Mississippi: Is This America (1962-1964)

Charles Marsh, God’s Long Summer

Road to Mississippi & Selections from Elizabeth Sutherland, Letters from Mississippi Reserve

April 20

Selma and Chicago: The Mystical Body of Christ and An Inescapable Web of Mutuality

Bridge to Freedom (1965)

James Cone, Martin, Malcolm & America: Shattered Dreams

Give us the Ballot

Martin Luther King, Riverside Memorial Address

April 27

Cone, Martin Malcolm and America: The Making of a Bad Nigger (1925-1952), I See a Nightmare (1952-1965), White Man’s Heaven is the Black Man’s Hell, Chicken’s Coming Home to Roost (1964-1965), Two Roads to Freedom, Nothing But Men, Making Their Mark: Legacies, Conclusion

Selections from Malcolm X and Alex Haley, “Autobiography of Malcolm X”

James Reserve

Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary

National Conference of Black Churchman: "Black Power and Black Theology Statements" in African American Religious History 2nd edition Ed. Milton Sernett. Duke University Press, Durham, 1999. 555-566.

James Cone. "Black Theology and The Black Church" in African American Religious History 2nd edition Ed. Milton Sernett. Duke University Press, Durham, 1999. 567-579..

Malcolm X

May 4

Rough Draft of Paper Due

No Class—paper workshop session.

May 11

Class Presentations

Take Home Final Exam T.B.A.

Exam Week

Revised Papers Due