Letter on the Selma March, 1965

Why Clergymen Went To Selma

Editor, The News:

Your paper has in recent weeks been full of letters attacking the activities of civil rights groups in Alabama and especially the involvement of White clergymen in the various protests and demonstrations that have gone on there. The minister who is seeking to be faithful to the Gospel and his calling is going to have to accept criticism and not worry about it. But I think it is valuable in this time of temporary calm for one who has not been involved in any demonstrations to defend and support those ministers from North and South who have felt it necessary to become involved.

Despite the wishful thinking of a number of your readers, these ministers are not by and large immature, irresponsible, thrill-seeking pastors unwilling to clean up their own house but anxious to clean up someone else's. The ones I have known have been outstanding, thoughtful, mature ministers, leaders in their denomination. who have taken this step only after serious and prayerful consideration,

Their actions may be criticized but not their motivations. They have not looked on such participation as an exciting joyride. Most of them would admit to genuine fear and reluctance, which fortunately is overcome by the courage of their convictions. They have worked hard in their own parishes and have not thought it amiss to answer a call for help.

Mr. James Reeb, who was killed, had worked long and hard in the Negro ghettos of Roxbury in Boston. I am sure he would have been glad to have had Southern help if it had been offered. This attitude of hostility toward "outsiders" who "come in" to our territory is peculiarly Southern, distinctly un-American, and denies the federal idea that the Union is concerned for the parts as much as the parts for the Union.

Why did the ministers go to Selma and Montgomery? At least two or three reasons can be given. For one thing they were invited and wanted. The notion that they were unwanted is typically a White man's attitude and ignores a major part of the population. The Negroes wanted the help of these men who felt they could not ignore that call for help any more than any other. (It is wrong to also assume that the Negro community did not back Martin Luther King's call for help. They most emphatically did.).

A second reason for going was the feeling that the Christian presence is necessary in such difficult situations. They felt - and rightly so that Christian principles and ethics are at stake, and the church should take its stand in behalf of justice and human rights.

And finally they went in recognition of the fact that orderly protest and demonstration are legitimate and effective ways of political action in this country. Their legitimacy was made clear as far back as the Boston Tea Party. Their effectiveness is demonstrated in the comprehensive voting rights bill soon to become law.

White clergymen went to Selma and Montgomery as ministers answering a call for help, as Christians expressing their convictions, and as Americans taking responsible political action. They went on my behalf, I can thankfully say. And regardless of how their consciences may bother them, mine bothers me - not because I was there, but because I was not.

THE REV. PATRICK D. MILLER JR.
Travelers Rest.