Ministers' Manifesto

@ New Georgia Encyclopedia

Hatfield, Edward A

Description

Encyclopedia article about a statement of conscience issued in November 1957 by eighty members of the Atlanta Christian Council. The statement, issued after the school integration crisis in Little Rock, Arkansas, discouraged city officials and Atlanta citizens from pursuing a course of massive resistance to federal authority. Better known as the "Ministers' Manifesto," the statement called for moderation, communication between the races, racial amity, and obedience to the law. One year later, after the Temple bombing in Atlanta aroused new fears of racial extremism, more than 300 ministers issued a second manifesto calling for the creation of a citizens' commission to debate alternatives to massive resistance. Both statements helped defuse the city's racial tensions, and helped earn Atlanta a reputation as "the City Too Busy to Hate."The Civil Rights Digital Library received support from a National Leadership Grant for Libraries awarded to the University of Georgia by the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the aggregation and enhancement of partner metadata.

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http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/ministers-manifesto