{"id":840,"date":"2023-09-28T21:30:07","date_gmt":"2023-09-28T21:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/communication-studies\/?p=840"},"modified":"2026-03-30T16:29:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T16:29:59","slug":"dustin-woods-class-visits-historic-site-of-mlk-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/communication-studies\/2023\/09\/28\/dustin-woods-class-visits-historic-site-of-mlk-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Dustin Wood&#8217;s Class Visits Historic Site of MLK Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-835 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-cas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/09\/28212035\/IMG_0683-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-cas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/09\/28212035\/IMG_0683-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-cas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/09\/28212035\/IMG_0683-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-cas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/09\/28212035\/IMG_0683-rotated.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>The Civil Rights Movement is sometimes described as a religious phenomenon. Many of the Movement\u2019s leaders were ministers, and many more individuals were inspired to participate in the Movement because of their religious beliefs. While religion motivated many church members to join the struggle for civil rights, most churches were hesitant to support the Movement in an official capacity.<\/p>\n<p>On April 25, 1957, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke at the Conference on Christian Faith and Human Relations co-hosted by Vanderbilt Divinity School and Scarritt College. In his speech, \u201cThe Role of the Church in Facing the Nation\u2019s Chief Moral Dilemma,\u201d King urged more than 300 church leaders to see the Church\u2019s obligation to address racial injustice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[E]very Christian,\u201d King argued, \u201cis confronted with the basic responsibility of working courageously for a non-segregated society. The task of conquering segregation is an inescapable must confronting the Christian Churches.\u201d King\u2019s speech directly <img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-834 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-cas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/09\/28212033\/IMG_0688-216x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"417\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-cas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/09\/28212033\/IMG_0688-216x300.jpg 216w, https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-cas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/09\/28212033\/IMG_0688-737x1024.jpg 737w, https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-cas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/09\/28212033\/IMG_0688-768x1068.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-cas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/09\/28212033\/IMG_0688.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>confronted those who desired distance between the Church and the Civil Rights Movement. \u201cIf we are to remain true to the gospel of Jesus Christ,\u201d King exhorted, \u201cwe cannot rest until segregation and discrimination are banished from every area of American Life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to the generosity of Scarritt Bennett Center, Dr. Dustin Wood\u2019s Rhetoric of U.S. Religion class had the opportunity to visit the very space where King delivered his message. Wood\u2019s class gathered in historic Wightman Chapel to discuss King\u2019s speech and entertain present-day applications of the address. As his students sat in the pews once occupied by King\u2019s audience, Wood encouraged his class to reflect on their own prejudices and to consider their role in working toward a more just society.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Civil Rights Movement is sometimes described as a religious phenomenon. Many of the Movement\u2019s leaders were ministers, and many more individuals were inspired to participate in the Movement because of their religious beliefs. While religion motivated many church members to join the struggle for civil rights, most churches were hesitant to support the Movement&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":833,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[13,4],"tags":[5],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cdn.vanderbilt.edu\/vu-cas\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/42\/2023\/09\/28211707\/Wood_Thumbnail.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/communication-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/communication-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/communication-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/communication-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/communication-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/communication-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":842,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/communication-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840\/revisions\/842"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/communication-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/communication-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/communication-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/as.vanderbilt.edu\/communication-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}