Central High 1957 desegregation crisis created struggle for Arkansas Baptists
- Sep 20, 2007 - comment
During the Little Rock Central High School integration crisis of 50 years ago, Baptists stood firmly on both sides of the fence, as well as straddling the fence, according to 1957 editions of the Arkansas Baptist (now the Arkansas Baptist News).
After the 1954 Supreme Court’s “Brown v. Board of Education” decision, the Little Rock School Board developed a “minimalist” integration plan, the first phase to begin at the high school level during the 1957-1958 school year.
Based mostly on their grades, the board selected 17 black students who had volunteered to attend Little Rock’s Central High School. By August of 1957, the number dwindled to nine.
Even before the school year began, those students faced opposition and threats. Despite such opposition, the “Little Rock nine” prepared to enter Central High on Sept. 4, 1957. But Gov. Orval E. Faubus ordered Arkansas National Guardsmen to block the black students from entering the school. Faubus declared that states’ rights prevailed and, since Arkansas’ state policy was racial segregation, he would do everything he could to prevent desegregation.
It was not until Sept. 23 that the nine actually entered the school. President Dwight Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne Division into Little Rock to protect the students, patrolling outside and escorting them inside. A personal guard from the 101st was assigned to each black student, offering protection throughout the day. Still, they endured unbelievable acts of hatred within and outside the school.
After Gov. Faubus, himself a Baptist, called out the National Guard, some ministers, including Baptists, deplored his action, while other ministers, including Baptists, praised it, according to the Sept. 12, 1957, issue of the Arkansas Baptist.
Each opposing group of ministers issued public statements and each called the Christians of the state to pray, the Arkansas Baptist said.
“We, the undersigned ministers of Little Rock, strongly protest the action of Gov. Orval E. Faubus in calling out the armed forces of the state to surround Central High School, thereby preventing integration in compliance with the Supreme Court’s decision of May 1954 and the order of the Federal Court of August 1957,” the pro-integration statement said.
“We deplore: 1.) the overriding of the authority of the local school administration; 2.) the disregard of national law; 3.) the abuse of the autonomy of the local school districts; 4.) the policing of the great majority of law abiding youth of the city; 5.) the exciting of racial tensions; 6.) the reflections cast upon our local law enforcement officers; 7.) the destruction of the respect of our citizens, young and old, for proper constitutional authority.
“We appeal to every citizen to unite with us in earnest prayer to God that justice will be brought about and a right example set for every child of our community.”
Little Rock Baptist pastors signing the statement were Dale Cowling of Second Church, W.O. Vaught of Immanuel Church and Harold Hicks of Pulaski Heights Church.
But some Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC) pastors signed a statement commending Faubus. It noted, “The laws of the state of Arkansas call for the separation of the races in the public schools of the state. It is the duty of the governor of the state to do his utmost to see that the laws of the state are enforced.”
Erwin McDonald, editor of the Arkansas Baptist, stated in a Sept. 12, 1957, editorial, “Those Arkansans who have been sitting on the fence on the race issue of integration or segregation are finding the fence to be carrying a rather high charge of emotional electricity. … Since the race issue is one that finds our Baptists of the state on the fence, and on both sides of the fence, and since this paper is the official organ of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention and not the private publication of this editor, we are taking no stand either for or against integration. But we want to be counted with those who stand for law and order, for clear, cool thinking, and for lives motivated by the love of Christ.
“… It might be that we ought to lay aside our fixed bayonets and get on some bent knees and talk to the Lord about the mess we are in.”
In an Oct. 3, 1957, editorial, McDonald wrote, “Do we dare ask what Jesus would do in a crisis like that which now exists and has existed for several weeks in Little Rock over the question of racial integration at Central High School?
“First of all, Jesus would not be a part of any crowd committing acts of violence in resistance to duly constituted law and order. He was obedient to the law of the land, even though He lived under a dictator and not in a democracy as we do here in Arkansas. He taught His disciples to be law abiding and to respect those in authority.
“Jesus would despise no one, for He loved and came to save the lost of all nations. He showed that His love knew no racial bounds when He led a sinful woman of a despised race, a Samaritan, to accept Him as her Redeemer and as the Lord of her life (John 4).”
Lakeshore Drive Church of Little Rock owes its existence to the struggle to integrate Central High. Pro-integration members left Broadmoor Church of Little Rock when its pastor, Wesley Pruden, one of Little Rock’s most vocal segregationist leaders, asked them to leave. That group founded University Church, which later changed its name to Lakeshore Drive.
Broadmoor eventually folded as members became disgruntled with their pastor and left. University’s congregation then purchased the Broadmoor property and continues to use it today.
One Baptist church purchased an advertisement in the Sept. 27, 1957, edition of the Arkansas Democrat that reprinted the text of a telegram the church had sent to President Eisenhower after he sent 101st Airborne troops into Little Rock.
“If we have the privilege of freedom of speech left, we wish to lift our voice in strong protest against the unholy invasion of the customs, rights and privileges of the citizens of Arkansas by federal troops,” the church’s telegram read. “It is our sincere conviction that if you had been spending as much time on your knees in prayer as spent on the golf course, you never would have sent troops into Arkansas.
“May God have mercy on you for it. A great many Baptist churches in Arkansas feel as we do.”
Rep. Brooks Hays, a member of Second Church who served eight terms in the House of Representatives, worked as a mediator to end the standoff between Faubus and Eisenhower. After Faubus closed the schools, Hays continued to work to re-open them on an integrated basis.
Hays’ support for integration eventually cost him his job. In the 1958 election, Dale Alford, a segregationist write-in candidate, barely beat Hays in his bid for a ninth term in Congress.
During the crisis, Hays also served as president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).
In his address at the SBC annual meeting in 1959, Hays asked his fellow Southern Baptists to live up to the denomination’s commitment to support integration. He said it was especially important for SBC missionaries to represent a denomination that believes all people are created equal by God.
“We must continue to examine, with keen sensitivity, the aspirations of our minority people for a status free from all discrimination and injustice,” Hays said. “This is a part of the Christian gospel, and we must demonstrate that we believe it. We cannot export what we do not have, and if our Christian devotions here are not adequate, our missionaries cannot transmit the Christian message to unsaved masses abroad.”
In October of 1957, the Arkansas Baptist Student Union (now Collegiate Ministries) annual convention passed a resolution that “the Christian position” includes “the equal worth of all individuals regardless of race, … upholding the law of the land” and “abstaining from and discouraging violence in the settlement of any differences.”
“I was proud of our students for passing these wonderful statements on race relations,” said Tom Logue, the ABSC campus ministry director at the time and a longtime member of Lakeshore Drive Church.
This article is reprinted from the September 20, 2007, issue of the Arkansas Baptist News, the newsjournal of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention.
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