A Stone of Hope

Prophetic Religion and the Death of Jim Crow

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, Civil Rights, Social Science, Cultural Studies, African-American Studies, Religion & Spirituality
Cover of the book A Stone of Hope by David L. Chappell, The University of North Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: David L. Chappell ISBN: 9780807895573
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Publication: December 7, 2009
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press Language: English
Author: David L. Chappell
ISBN: 9780807895573
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication: December 7, 2009
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Language: English

The civil rights movement was arguably the most successful social movement in American history. In a provocative new assessment of its success, David Chappell argues that the story of civil rights is not a story of the ultimate triumph of liberal ideas after decades of gradual progress. Rather, it is a story of the power of religious tradition.
Chappell reconsiders the intellectual roots of civil rights reform, showing how northern liberals' faith in the power of human reason to overcome prejudice was at odds with the movement's goal of immediate change. Even when liberals sincerely wanted change, they recognized that they could not necessarily inspire others to unite and fight for it. But the prophetic tradition of the Old Testament--sometimes translated into secular language--drove African American activists to unprecedented solidarity and self-sacrifice. Martin Luther King Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, James Lawson, Modjeska Simkins, and other black leaders believed, as the Hebrew prophets believed, that they had to stand apart from society and instigate dramatic changes to force an unwilling world to abandon its sinful ways. Their impassioned campaign to stamp out "the sin of segregation" brought the vitality of a religious revival to their cause. Meanwhile, segregationists found little support within their white southern religious denominations. Although segregationists outvoted and outgunned black integrationists, the segregationists lost, Chappell concludes, largely because they did not have a religious commitment to their cause.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The civil rights movement was arguably the most successful social movement in American history. In a provocative new assessment of its success, David Chappell argues that the story of civil rights is not a story of the ultimate triumph of liberal ideas after decades of gradual progress. Rather, it is a story of the power of religious tradition.
Chappell reconsiders the intellectual roots of civil rights reform, showing how northern liberals' faith in the power of human reason to overcome prejudice was at odds with the movement's goal of immediate change. Even when liberals sincerely wanted change, they recognized that they could not necessarily inspire others to unite and fight for it. But the prophetic tradition of the Old Testament--sometimes translated into secular language--drove African American activists to unprecedented solidarity and self-sacrifice. Martin Luther King Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, James Lawson, Modjeska Simkins, and other black leaders believed, as the Hebrew prophets believed, that they had to stand apart from society and instigate dramatic changes to force an unwilling world to abandon its sinful ways. Their impassioned campaign to stamp out "the sin of segregation" brought the vitality of a religious revival to their cause. Meanwhile, segregationists found little support within their white southern religious denominations. Although segregationists outvoted and outgunned black integrationists, the segregationists lost, Chappell concludes, largely because they did not have a religious commitment to their cause.

More books from The University of North Carolina Press

Cover of the book The Gospel of Freedom and Power by David L. Chappell
Cover of the book Real Native Genius by David L. Chappell
Cover of the book Carolina del Norte: Geographies of Latinization in the South by David L. Chappell
Cover of the book The South in Black and White by David L. Chappell
Cover of the book Martha Jefferson Randolph, Daughter of Monticello by David L. Chappell
Cover of the book A Philosophical Commentary on the Politics of Aristotle by David L. Chappell
Cover of the book The Scotch-Irish by David L. Chappell
Cover of the book Bittersweet Legacy by David L. Chappell
Cover of the book American Orientalism by David L. Chappell
Cover of the book Light and Air by David L. Chappell
Cover of the book The South for New Southerners by David L. Chappell
Cover of the book Power and Privilege by David L. Chappell
Cover of the book The Senator and the Sharecropper by David L. Chappell
Cover of the book Race Mixture in Nineteenth-Century U.S. and Spanish American Fictions by David L. Chappell
Cover of the book The Art of Forgetting by David L. Chappell
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy