'God's on our Side, Today,': Lived Theology in the Civil Rights Movement in Americus, Georgia, 1942-1976

Abstract

This dissertation, ‘God’s on our Side, Today’: Lived Theology in the Civil Rights Movement in Americus, Georgia, 1942-1976, explores the theological elements embedded within the conflict over civil rights in the American South. Whether in the traditional sanctuaries of the major white Protestant denominations, in the mass meetings in black churches, or in Christian expressions of interracialism, Southerners resisted, pursued, and questioned racial change within various theological traditions. In examining the post-World War II South, I argue that certain religious strains contributed both to the theological power of the civil rights movement as well as to the staunch opposition it encountered. Uncovering these theological elements clarifies not only the passion and virulence felt during the civil rights conflict of the1960s, but also offers insight into the rise of the Religious Right and the continually vexing relationship between race and religion. By applying the notion of lived theology to the civil rights struggle in Americus, Georgia, this dissertation examines how different groups in the civil rights movement all could claim that God was on their side.