Transformed: A White Mississippi Pastor’s Journey into Civil Rights and Beyond (Willie Morris Books in Memoir and Biography)

In May 1964, Bill McAtee became the new minister at Columbia Presbyterian Church, deep in the Piney Woods of south Mississippi. Soon after his arrival, three young civil rights workers were brutally murdered outside Philadelphia, Mississippi. Many other activists from across the country poured into the state to try to bring an end to segregation and to register black citizens to vote. Already deeply troubled by the resistance of so many of his fellow white southerners to any change in the racial status quo, McAtee understood that he could no longer be a passive bystander. A fourth-generation Mississippian and son of a Presbyterian minister, he joined a group of local ministers—two white and four black—to assist the mayor of Columbia, Earl D. "Buddy" McLean, in building community bridges and navigating the roiling social and political waters. Focusing on the quiet leadership of Mayor McLean and fellow ministers, McAtee shows how these religious and political leaders enacted changes that began opening access to public institutions and facilities for all citizens, black and white. In retrospect, McAtee's involvement in these events during this intense period became a turning point in repudiating his past acquiescence to the injustices of the racist society of his birth. His personal account of this transformation underscores its meaning for him today and reminds the reader that no generation can ignore the past or rest comfortably on its progress toward tolerance, equality, and justice. What began in May 1964 as the routine beginning of a new pastorate at the Columbia Presbyterian Church soon turned into a life-changing experience for Bill McAtee, a fourth generation Mississippian and son of a Presbyterian minister. This story revolves around the quiet leadership of Earl D. "Buddy" McLean, who became Mayor of Columbia, determined that his community not undergo the violence and reckless defiance of the law that engulfed so many other Mississippi communities. McAtee joined a group of local ministers, two white and four black, to assist the Mayor in navigating the uncharted social and political waters in a series of "firsts" that began opening access to public institutions and facilities for all citizens as required by the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Civil Rights Workers, providing constructive creative tension, took to the streets on behalf of the poorest of the poor demanding what rightly belonged to them according to the law. In retrospect, McAtee's engagement in these events during this intense period (1964-1966) became a turning point in repudiating his past silent acquiescence to the injustices of the racist society of his birth. His accounting of this personal transformation reflects how his values and behavior were shaped. This story is a candid reminder that no generation can summarily ignore individual and institutional deceits of the past or rest comfortably on its progress toward tolerance, equality, and justice. Focusing on the quiet leadership of Mayor McLean and fellow ministers, Bill McAtee shows how these religious and political leaders enacted changes that began opening access to public institutions and facilities for all citizens, black and white.