The preeminent scholar of black Unitarian Universalist history presents this long-awaited chronicle and analysis of the events of the Empowerment Controversy.
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Preface
Introduction
Abbreviations
Before and After Selma [1964–1966]
The Emergency Conference on the UU Response to the Black Rebellion [August 1966–November 1967]
The Formation of the Black Unitarian Universalist Caucus [November 1967–May 1968]
The Cleveland General Assembly and Its Aftermath [May–December 1968]
Prelude to Controversy [January–July 1969]
Boston General Assembly [July 1969]
The Black Affairs Council Disaffiliates from the UUA [1970]
The Washington, D.C., General Assembly [1971]
Deadlocked [1972–1975]
Black Power Was the Trigger, Not the Cause
Endings and Beginnings
Notes
Index
“The story of the Empowerment Controversy related here is a tale of honorable people pursuing dreams of racial justice, while battered by historical forces beyond their control and social circumstances not of their making, circumstances that forced them to choose between dearly held but conflicting values. It was a collision of worldviews and loyalties in which every decision was colored by the partakers’ humanity: noble intentions alongside inflamed passions; egocentrism masquerading as activism; susceptibility to self-delusion, defensiveness, and, as tragedy requires, hubris. The members of the Black Unitarian Universalist Caucus, its white allies, contesting integrationists, and the institutional loyalists who saw themselves as fighting for the financial survival of the fledgling Unitarian Universalist Association all misconstrued and racialized a broader range of tensions. Cultural and denominational pressures that had been mounting along several fault lines were increased by the urgency of the late sixties and then released by the cause de jour. Underlying it all were competing needs for power and control.
A British Unitarian observer at that General Assembly said, ‘One can only hope that out of the heart-searching, the agony, and tears, love and justice will emerge triumphant.’ Tragedy rarely leads to triumph. But perhaps wisdom can be gleaned from the pain and upheaval of those years, a wisdom that will be of use today in a new era of turmoil and polarization.”
Preface
Introduction
Abbreviations
Before and After Selma [1964–1966]
The Emergency Conference on the UU Response to the Black Rebellion [August 1966–November 1967]
The Formation of the Black Unitarian Universalist Caucus [November 1967–May 1968]
The Cleveland General Assembly and Its Aftermath [May–December 1968]
Prelude to Controversy [January–July 1969]
Boston General Assembly [July 1969]
The Black Affairs Council Disaffiliates from the UUA [1970]
The Washington, D.C., General Assembly [1971]
Deadlocked [1972–1975]
Black Power Was the Trigger, Not the Cause
Endings and Beginnings
Notes
Index
“The story of the Empowerment Controversy related here is a tale of honorable people pursuing dreams of racial justice, while battered by historical forces beyond their control and social circumstances not of their making, circumstances that forced them to choose between dearly held but conflicting values. It was a collision of worldviews and loyalties in which every decision was colored by the partakers’ humanity: noble intentions alongside inflamed passions; egocentrism masquerading as activism; susceptibility to self-delusion, defensiveness, and, as tragedy requires, hubris. The members of the Black Unitarian Universalist Caucus, its white allies, contesting integrationists, and the institutional loyalists who saw themselves as fighting for the financial survival of the fledgling Unitarian Universalist Association all misconstrued and racialized a broader range of tensions. Cultural and denominational pressures that had been mounting along several fault lines were increased by the urgency of the late sixties and then released by the cause de jour. Underlying it all were competing needs for power and control.
A British Unitarian observer at that General Assembly said, ‘One can only hope that out of the heart-searching, the agony, and tears, love and justice will emerge triumphant.’ Tragedy rarely leads to triumph. But perhaps wisdom can be gleaned from the pain and upheaval of those years, a wisdom that will be of use today in a new era of turmoil and polarization.”
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