Congregants feared an integrated pew more than a black prisoner preaching

Evidence

I don’t know what happened at that meeting, and the issue quickly dissipated, as our friend had simply wanted to visit and had no interest in joining the church. But the events stayed with me and pushed an uncomfortable fact into my consciousness: that a black kid sitting in the pews among us was perceived as a much greater threat than a black prison inmate performing on our church stage. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 158

Categorization

• XREF: The author’s framing of church as the ‘keystone’ holding Jim Crow together is stated again here through personal experience. — connects to: A black visitor’s presence triggered fears of interracial dating and baptism — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 157

Broader Connections

• A black visitor’s presence triggered fears of interracial dating and baptism #exemplifies (0.88) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 157