Abernathy, Ralph David

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Abernathy, Ralph David

March 11, 1926
April 17, 1990

Born in Linden, Alabama, clergyman and civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy was initially called only "David" among family members; later, through the inspiration a teacher gave one of his sisters, the appellation "Ralph" was added. In his formative years, Abernathy was deeply influenced by his hardworking father, William L. Abernathy, who was a Baptist deacon and a farmer who owned five hundred acres of choice real estate. The son's admiration for his father was a major factor in his work in public life. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, Abernathy seized the opportunity offered by the GI Bill and earned a B.S. degree in 1950 from Alabama State College (now Alabama State University). In 1951 he earned an M.A. in sociology from Atlanta University.

In 1948 Abernathy was ordained a Baptist minister and went on to serve as pastor of the congregations at the Eastern Star Baptist Church in Demopolis, Alabama, in 1950 to 1951, then at the First Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, from 1951 to 1961 and the West Hunter Street Baptist Church in Atlanta from 1961 to 1990.

While a student at Alabama State, Abernathy had two experiences that would prepare him for his later role as a civil rights leader: He was urged to contribute to the freedom struggle of African Americans by such professors as J. E. Pierce and Emma Payne Howard; and, as president of the student council, he led two campus protests for improved cafeteria services and dormitory conditions. Because of his dignified protests, Abernathy won the respect of the institution's administration. As a result, in 1951 he returned to his alma mater to become dean of men.

While pastor of First Baptist, Abernathy became a close friend of the courageous pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Vernon Johns. Johns, as an older, seasoned pulpiteer, displayed extraordinary boldness in his personal defiance of Montgomery's oppressive Jim Crow climate. When Johns's ties with Dexter were severed, Abernathy developed an even closer friendship with his successor, Martin Luther King Jr. The two young pastors' families became intertwined in a fast friendship that prompted alternating dinners between the two households. At these social meetings numerous conversations were held that frequently centered around civil rights.

In 1955 the two friends' ideas were propelled into action by the arrest of Rosa Parks, a black seamstress. After a long day of toil, Parks refused to yield her seat on a public bus for a white passenger who boarded after her. This refusal by Parks was in violation of the city's segregationist laws. Her action was not the first of its kind by African Americans in Montgomery. However, when Parks was arrested, her quiet, admirable demeanor coupled with her service as secretary of the local NAACP branch helped to stir the black community to protest.

King and Abernathy became leaders of what came to be known as the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). Through meetings in churches, the two men spearheaded a mass boycott of Montgomery's buses. While King served as head of the MIA, Abernathy functioned as program chief. Nonviolence was the method with which the protest was implemented. Despite having been a soldier, Abernathy, like King, was convinced that nonviolence was the only acceptable means of dissent. Both had read and accepted the philosophies of Henry David Thoreau and Mahatma Gandhi. The boycott persisted for more than a year. Despite the inordinate length of the struggle, the black community was consolidated in its refusal to ride segregated buses. Finally, in June 1956 a federal court upheld an injunction against the bus company's Jim Crow policy.

This successful boycott inspired the two young clergymen to expand their efforts to win civil rights for American's black citizens. As a result, in January 1957 the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) was born in Atlanta. King was elected president of the new organization, and Abernathy became its secretary-treasurer. While he attended this meeting, Abernathy's home and church were bombed in Montgomery. Although it was a close call, Abernathy's family was spared any physical harm.

King moved to Atlanta in 1960 and a year later persuaded Abernathy to follow him and take on the pastorate of West Hunter Street Baptist Church. In the years that followed, the two men, under the auspices of SCLC, led nonviolent protests in cities such as Birmingham and Selma, Alabama; Albany, Georgia; Greensboro, North Carolina; and St. Augustine, Florida. As a consequence, both were arrested many times and experienced violence and threats of violence. In 1965 Abernathy became vice president at large of SCLC. When King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1968, Abernathy was unanimously elected his successor. Soon after, Abernathy launched King's planned Poor People's Campaign. He led other protests until he resigned as head of SCLC in 1977.

After Abernathy assumed the leadership of SCLC, many compared him to King. Unfortunately, he was often perceived as lacking the charisma and poise of his friend. Some even accused Abernathy of being cross or crude in his leadership style. Perhaps the best historical defense of Abernathy's reputation came from himself in the publishing of his autobiography, And the Walls Came Tumbling Down (1989). However, its content and literary style were unappreciated by many because of the book's revelations about King's extramarital affairs. Critics accused Abernathy of betraying his long-deceased friend.

Abernathy died in 1990.