Rhetoric, Religion and the Civil Rights Movement 1954-1965 (Studies in Rhetoric and Religion) (Studies in Rhetoric & Religion) [Paperback]

Davis W. Houck (Author, Editor), David E. Dixon (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1932792546 | ISBN-13: 978-1932792546 | Publication Date: September 30, 2006

The Civil Rights Movement succeeded in large measure because of rhetorical appeals grounded in the Judeo-Christian religion. While movement leaders often used America's founding documents and ideals to depict Jim Crow's contradictory ways, the language and lessons of both the Old and New Testaments were often brought to bear on many civil rights events and issues, from local desegregation to national policy matters. This volume chronicles how national movement leaders and local activists moved a nation to live up to the Biblical ideals it often professed but infrequently practiced.

Editorial Reviews

Review

In this fascinating collection of voices, many of them long lost to history, Davis Houck and David Dixon perform a singular service by bringing together vital documents about the most important American domestic drama of the 20th century: the movement to make the nation live up to the promise of its founding, that all men are created equal, in the image and likeness of God. This book is destined to become indispensable not only for scholars, but for anyone who cares about how history really happens.
--Jon Meacham, managing editor of Newsweek and author of American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and The Making of a Nation

While it is commonly recognized that religion had a major influence on the Civil Rights Movement, this study makes clear how. Civil Rights speakers invoked sacred texts to give their struggle meaning and purpose, to re-enact divinely inspired stories, and to call white society to account. Houck and Dixon recover these texts and set them in context. This book is an invaluable resource for exploring how religious rhetoric made the civil rights movement move.
--David Zarefsky, Owen L. Coon Professor of Communication Studies, Northwestern University

The editors of Rhetoric, Religion and the Civil Rights Movement have composed a vital anthology for the academy, the Church, and the public. They have listened to hours upon hours of audiotapes and searched for and through a grand array of speeches and sermons. This volume permits insight into the critical minds and movements that otherwise might remain inaccessible to scholars and future generations of those called to public service or social justice ministry.
--Dale P. Andrews, Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Homiletics and Pastoral Theology, School of Theology, Boston University

About the Author

Davis W. Houck (Ph.D. Pennsylvania State University) is Associate Professor at Florida State University. David E. Dixon (Ph. D. University of Notre Dame) is Assistant Professor at St. Josephs College.

Product Details

• Paperback: 1002 pages
• Publisher: Baylor University Press (September 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932792546
• ISBN-13: 978-1932792546
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,701,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)