Supporting Civil Rights

Selma, AL 1965

The Rev. Tom Turnbull, rector of St. Mary’s 1957-1981, went to Selma Alabama in March of 1965 in response to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s invitation to clergy and Christians to join him there to march to Montgomery.

Background

The voting rights demonstrations in Selma in March of 1965, “Bloody Sunday”, and the Selma Montgomery March, were a water-shed moment of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.

After two years of work to register black voters in Selma, under harsh opposition, the Dallas County Voters League local organizers asked Dr. King and Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), to assist them. Just two months after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr. King was thrown in jail in Selma along with 200 voting rights protesters. King’s imprisonment, and the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson by a state trooper, during a non-violent civil rights demonstration, were the catalyst for the March 1965 demonstrations. Dr. King invited clergy and Christians to join the demonstrations in Selma. They planned to march with Jimmie’s body from Selma to Montgomery. On Sunday March 7, 1965, “Bloody Sunday”, 600 peaceful demonstrators attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus bridge, they were stopped and beaten brutally by police. Fifty were hospitalized, including John Lewis, who had significant head wounds. The violence was nationally televised, inspiring outrage and action nationwide.

On March 9, a second march of clergy was attempted, later that day a marcher (a white Unitarian minister from Boston), Rev. James Reeb was brutally attacked by segregationists in Selma, and died from his head wounds two-days later.

The third and successful march to Montgomery happened March 21, 1965, after a Federal Judge ruled that the marchers should receive Federal protection. Upon completing the 54 mile march, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “How Long? Not Long” speech on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol. The demonstrations in Selma led to Congress passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that summer.

Rev. Tom’s Reflections on Selma

Rev. Tom had followed Dr. King’s work and writings for a number of years. Following the events of bloody Sunday, Dr. King again called for Christians, specifically clergy, to come and join the movement in Selma, (Tom kept a copy of this call to action which had been distributed by the Episcopal Church headquarters).

“No American is without responsibility. All are involved in the sorrow that rises from Selma to contaminate every crevice of our national life. The people of Selma will struggle on for the soul of the nation, but it is fitting that all Americans help to bear the burden. I call therefore, on clergy of all faiths, representatives of every part of the country, to join me in Selma for a ministers march to Montgomery on Tuesday morning, March 9.” – Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. March 8, 1965.

Tom was moved by this invitation and felt that his Christian faith required him to go. He departed for Selma March 17, 1965 and returned eight days later. While in Selma he took part in four different demonstrations, and was spat on, kicked, verbally abused, and detained overnight by police along with hundreds of others.

In his sermon, March 28, 1965, Tom reflected on why he went to Selma, and committed his continued support to the movement.

“I went, I could not do otherwise. To preach Christ –the gospel of love—the good news and to be willing and able to go and remain away would be wrong. It was time for more than words.”

“I pledge my continued moral, spiritual, and financial support to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Dr. King. I promise to return if he calls again for my bodily presence. I promise continued cooperation with our Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish friends of Dr. King. There should be no barriers between Christ’s brothers and sisters, and I pledge myself to continued action until racial barriers are down in every section of our land – including Napa California. Only by walking and talking about ‘freedom’ all over this land shall we ever overcome.”

Post-Selma Response

Tom received criticism from members of the congregation and community for his participation in Selma. Upon his return he received a phone call from a person attacking him with racist taunts and expressing the desire that he should have died in Selma. He continued to receive threats, even death threats for more than a year after his time in Selma. As many as a quarter of the congregation left St. Mary’s in the months following Tom’s return from Selma. Tom reflected years later, that the trip to Selma took a financial toll on the church, but that it was absolutely worth it.

However, Tom’s actions also inspired a new generation of church members, who came to church to hear more, and who were inspired that following Jesus requires taking risks and acting for love and justice. Tom’s trip to Selma continues to inspire us as a community today.

Rev. Robin gave a talk during Black History Month 2023 about Selma, Tom’s participation, and the Episcopal Church’s involvement in Civil Rights. You can view that talk here.

George Floyd’s Death 2020

In response to George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police in May of 2020, St. Mary’s began the Sunday service with a Litany for the sins of racism, which was modified from one produced by the diocese in Minneapolis.

Our rector, Rev. Robin, as part of the Interfaith Clergy Council of Napa, helped to plan a peace vigil and prayer service for racial healing. Rev. Robin along with some parishioners (numbers were restricted by COVID regulations) participated in the march and vigil, and Rev. Robin was asked to speak by her colleagues, representing the Christian perspective.

Here is an excerpt from her speech.

…Jesus offered love and healing, and the very central point of our Christian faith is that idea of self-giving love. No greater love has a person than this, Jesus said, then to lay down their life for their friends. And yet, it has been Christians in this nation who have enslaved people of African descent, who have abused, segregated, and lynched them. It is Christians over generations in this valley who have committed genocide against native people, who have abused farm workers and railroad workers, who have systematically prevented people of color from having property ownership. We did this. My own ancestors did this. And I am so deeply sorry. I am sorry for the sin of racism which infects my own heart. I am sorry for way that I benefit from systems of injustice and violence which look at people and don’t see their full humanity. I am sorry that the founding principle of this nation, Liberty and justice for all, has never been achieved, and that there is not equal protection under the law. …

Those of us who are white have come here today, to … commit ourselves to do the hard work of having difficult conversations about race with other white people. We commit ourselves to learning, to educating ourselves, to listening more than we speak, to listen again and again… This work that we do as the community, as a nation, is critical to the soul of our nation. We are called to be repairs of the breach, restorers of streets to live in. We pledge this to you, our siblings of color, we pledge this day, so help us God. Amen.

Rev. Robin co-authored this prayer with the Interfaith clergy council (video) which was also printed as a Letter to the Editor:

Response

St. Mary’s along with other Episcopal Churches in the Napa Valley have committed ourselves to continued learning and action for racial justice. Rev. Robin is one of the trainers for our diocesan curriculum on racial healing called “I will with God’s Help: A Racial Healing Workshop”. We have also hosted the Sacred Ground course, which is a ten-week deep dive into the racial history of our nation, and an invitation to a personal spiritual journey toward healing. We were also honored to participate in a five-month workshop series on Native American trauma and healing in the Napa Valley, hosted by our local Suscol Intertribal Council. Check out our Classes and Speakers page for more information.