By Lee Grady
I FOUND THIS OLD PHOTO AT MY PARENTS' HOME OVER THE HOLIDAYS.
It is terrible quality, but you can see that I'm in Selma, Alabama, with my parents, my sister Laura and another man.
This was 1962, three years before the Selma marches that are chronicled in the new movie "Selma."
I was four and our family lived in Montgomery, Alabama, where my dad was the local leader of the Boy Scouts of America.
This week I asked my dad to tell me his memories of that time. He remembered that right after the Selma marches there was a rumor that some African-Americans might do "sit-ins" in local churches to protest racial discrimination.
My dad, who was chairman of the deacons in our Baptist church, was asked to stand at the door to give potential demonstrators a friendly letter saying they were welcome to worship with us.
One man who was a member of the church asked my dad if he could stand at the door with him with a baseball bat to intimidate people. (Can you imagine a Christian suggesting such a thing??!!)
My dad told this man to forget his baseball bat and go back in the church and attend the worship service. I am grateful for my father's example.
What is so sad is that so many white Christians sat quietly and silently while all this was going on--some because they were afraid of violence, others because of the pressure of cultural tradition.
This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Selma marches. I hope we will learn to speak up---and to tell the people with baseball bats to sit down.
I FOUND THIS OLD PHOTO AT MY PARENTS' HOME OVER THE HOLIDAYS.
It is terrible quality, but you can see that I'm in Selma, Alabama, with my parents, my sister Laura and another man.
This was 1962, three years before the Selma marches that are chronicled in the new movie "Selma."
I was four and our family lived in Montgomery, Alabama, where my dad was the local leader of the Boy Scouts of America.
This week I asked my dad to tell me his memories of that time. He remembered that right after the Selma marches there was a rumor that some African-Americans might do "sit-ins" in local churches to protest racial discrimination.
My dad, who was chairman of the deacons in our Baptist church, was asked to stand at the door to give potential demonstrators a friendly letter saying they were welcome to worship with us.
One man who was a member of the church asked my dad if he could stand at the door with him with a baseball bat to intimidate people. (Can you imagine a Christian suggesting such a thing??!!)
My dad told this man to forget his baseball bat and go back in the church and attend the worship service. I am grateful for my father's example.
What is so sad is that so many white Christians sat quietly and silently while all this was going on--some because they were afraid of violence, others because of the pressure of cultural tradition.
This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Selma marches. I hope we will learn to speak up---and to tell the people with baseball bats to sit down.
