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185 12. Initiatives Continue within the University and the Unitarian Church The days of recompense are come. —Hosea 9:7 After key leaders of the civil rights movement left the Chicago scene in 1966–67, taking with them their programs of direct action, the initiative shifted to other institutions, especially two organizations that anchored my life, the Unitarian Church and the university. The assassination of Martin Luther King in the spring of 1968 hit members of the Unitarian Church very hard. We were devastated. As James Baldwin expressed the change: “Since Martin’s death, something has altered in me. Something has gone away.”1 King embodied all the qualities and values embraced by the congregation. He was a minister, he spoke and wrote as an intellectual, and he insisted that whites be welcomed into the civil rights revolution (in contrast to the fast-developing Black Power movement). A memorial service at the Unitarian Church to honor the memory of the fallen leader left me quite agitated. While at a few points I wanted to exclaim “Amen,” for the most part I wanted to shout out about what seemed to me the absolute sterility of the service. To ask an African American to lead a tribute to Martin Luther King in an essentially white church was to ask that person to assume an impossible burden. The African American cannot “tell it like it is”—he is forced to be reasonably polite and to practice the moderation that is the hallmark of an integrated group. In effect, he must say the things that everyone expects to hear, namely, that we all are guilty of racism. Initiatives Continue 186 But to ask a white person to deal with the evil that produced King’s death was to ask that person to assume an equally impossible and heavy burden. Without question, racism existed. I had been on the receiving end of it on several occasions, starting in the 1950s with experiences at the interracial camp for city kids, where I experienced extreme viciousness on the part of several white parents, and continuing through the tumultuous marches into white Chicago neighborhoods during the summer of 1966. The only resolution for whites was to alter their behavior, and it was by this crucial test that I saw little change taking place during that Sunday morning service. Where was the program? Where was any mention of Operation Breadbasket? Where was the pledging of additional money to the civil rights movement? Where was the pledging of time? My notes from that time concluded : “I remember the words of the Quaker with whom I worked at the interracial camp in Pennsylvania. He used to tell a story of the visitor who, upon seeing everyone sitting quietly, inquired at a Friends meeting house, “When does the service start?” The answer came simply and directly: “The service starts when the worship ends.” I had the feeling that when 12:00 arrived on this Sunday morning, nothing new had begun. While the First Unitarian Church of Chicago welcomed blacks, very few had become church members. Was this a reflection of the fact that few blacks had reached middle-class status? Could it be that the cerebral approach to religion that characterized Unitarianism did not resonate with folks coming from a tradition of gospel music and expressive worship? The Saturday morning “services” conducted by Jesse Jackson pulsated with warmth and emotion . By contrast, our services at First Church were orderly and intellectual. I have reported on how members of the congregation debated and wrestled with choices thrust upon them by developments in the civil rights struggle. While out of the country, I received a letter from Alex Poinsett in March 1966. He reported that his efforts to persuade the Unitarian Church to become involved as an institution in supporting the movement was bearing fruit. Happily, the board of trustees had voted to take $9,000 from the endowment and split it between the SCLC and the CCCO. While this action had to be approved by the congregation, Alex felt that given other steps that had been taken, it would be approved quite easily. Rev. Andrew Young had preached at the church, and a series of photographs taken during the Selma march were on exhibition. Alex concluded, “So the ball is rolling, finally, and I think it will brush aside any opposition.” Soon after Martin Luther King’s death in 1968, a group of blacks within the Unitarian denomination decided to assert themselves. During...

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