Born of Conviction: White Methodists and Mississippi's Closed Society by Joseph T. Reiff

The dominant narrative of the role of white citizens and the white church in Mississippi’s civil rights era focuses on their intense resistance to change. The “Born of Conviction” statement, signed by twenty-eight whit Methodist pastors and published in the Mississippi Methodist Advocates on January 2, 1963, offered an alternative witness to the segregationist party line. Calling for freedom of the pulpit and reminding readers of the Methodist Disciplines’ claim that the teachings of Jesus permit “no discrimination because of race, color, or creed,” the pastors sought to speak to and for a mostly silent yet significant minority of Mississippians, and to lead white Methodists to join the conversation on the need for racial justice. The document additionally expressed support for public schools and opposition to any attempt to close them, and affirmed the signers’ opposition to Communism. Though a few individuals, both laity and clergy, voiced public affirmation of “Born of Conviction,” the overwhelming reaction was negative – by mid-1964, eighteen of the signers had left Mississippi, evidence of the challenges faced by white who offered even mild dissent to massive resistance in the Deep South.©  367 pages 
     Hardcover published in 2016