In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

F O U R The Kingdom or Individual Desires? Movement and Resistance during the 1960s On a Sunday in 1961, “John Barnett” decided to worship at a downtown Presbyterian church in “Knoshville, Kennessina.” A black New Englander who had left his church back home to study at seminary, he was happy for the chance “to be a listener instead of a pastor.” Upon entering, Barnett was confronted by a “stocky grizzled-haired man” who demanded that he leave. Shaken, Barnett withdrew, but immediately the minister followed after him, asking for forgiveness and inviting him back inside, where “the stocky usher was waiting belligerently.” Agitated , the usher said, “you’re not bringing him into this church, are you, Reverend ? That’s what’s wrong with the church today! A nigger! You goin’ to stand for that?” After the preacher held firm, the usher stormed out in disgust while Barnett was escorted to an empty pew. As the first hymn began, an elderly woman with a metal cane made her way down the aisle to sit next to Barnett—which greatly relieved him because his first instinct, in hearing the cane clacking closer to him, was to duck from an impending assault. After the service ended, he was “cordially greeted” by some congregants while others, “stony-faced,” avoided him. Leaving the church, “with the warmth of many handshakes still felt in his fingers,” Barnett found a note slipped in his pocket by the elderly lady: Please let me say to you why I came to sit beside you. I do not think integration is best for any of us. . . . But as a Christian I want you to know that I feel this to be God’s house and I would never want to exclude anyone. We are before God, all of us, “sinners saved by grace.” But I would like to say to you one thing. If you came because of your right to come, it is one thing. But we all as Christians need to put first “the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.” I am afraid your coming has done something to greatly upset our church. You know the division and unhappiness it causes. Which is more important, “the Kingdom,” or our individual desires? 124 · C H A P T E R F O U R I have loved sitting here and worshipping with you as some day I hope we will worship him in Heaven. But please think what it means. I hope you will use your fine voice for His glory. May God bless you. It was a telling exchange. From the usher’s belligerency to the quietly earnest doubt of the elderly lady, there were countless ways that African Americans were not embraced in Nashville’s everyday life. Both these individuals discounted John Barnett in favor of a congregation’s racial sanctity, preferring a lack of divisiveness rather than the harder work of expanding the possibility of what a community could be. This chapter explores how this theme played out more broadly in diverse realms across Nashville. The 1960 sit-ins had prompted the dream of an “Open City”— open in heart, mind, and potential for all of its citizens. The movement’s insistent pressures toward this goal told a rich story of tireless effort and not a little heartache and conflict. Channeling multiple versions of activisms into a collective endeavor was a herculean task. This work, however, derived from how white Nashvillians , defensively responding to the movement’s activities, found themselves scrambling for new answers and updated justifications as race continued to electrify nearly every aspect of Nashville during the early to mid-1960s. Employment issues, political realignments, public accommodations, everyday social groups; all were besieged with possibilities of change. Examining each of these realms and the historically contingent battles that took place in each shows how whites defended their beliefs in this era of shifting race relations in mixed ways. As politicians, businessmen, and everyday citizens tried uncertainly to deal with movement pressures , the combination of responses included violent lashing-out and a grasping for legal and moral language that tried to tie racial issues to other standards of behavior . In the Kingdom of Nashville, it was difficult for any number of individual desires to give way to a greater glory. Sustaining momentum from the lunch-counter campaign was difficult, and the summer of 1960 brought a lull in racial activism. Student interest in expanding voter registration and employment opportunities witnessed a brief uptick, the...

Share