Missionaries

We were on the bus bright and early the next morning, with Langston Hughes's "Weary Blues" and Robert Johnson's "Crossroad Blues" for the sounds of the day.

Our first stop was the Cleveland Baptist Church. We'd already heard that almost all the Delta is Baptist, of one variety of another. When you see the suffering, you understand how strong a support the religion must be to keep the people going.

The Cleveland Baptist Church was our particular destination because it was one of the many churches in the Delta that offered a Chinese "mission" school for Chinese children, who were not allowed in the white schools. The schools were often run by retired Baptist missionaries. There was a lawsuit by a Chinese father who wanted his child to attend the white schools that went all the way to the Supreme Court. In its wisdom, the Court ruled that the white schools were not required to accept Chinese children. It was good marketing on behalf of the Baptists, however, because most of the Chinese became Baptist.

It's interesting that these same churches didn't see a need to provide schools for black children.