| Chapter : | Introduction |
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This mixture of culture and ethnicity produced a racially integrated Pentecostal revival during a time in American history when racial segregation was the law of the land. Beginning in the late 1890s, segregation laws were adopted across the South partly because African Americans were blamed for much of the economic, social, and political turmoil of the period. The earliest legislation provided for separate railroad and streetcar accommodations. Eventually, Jim Crow laws prescribed segregated living areas, recreational activities, and health care facilities.22 Pentecostalism’s ability to transcend racial barriers was noted by historian Edward Ayers. He asserted that, “During the years that marked one of the lowest points in American race relations, the Pentecostal movement remained almost uniquely open to exchange between blacks and whites.” Additionally, Ayers viewed Pentecostalism as a distinctive movement that successfully achieved a level of interracial cooperation unparalleled by any other institution of its day. He concluded:
However, the establishment of the predominantly white Assemblies of God denomination in 1914 at Hot Springs, Arkansas, signaled the demise of racial integration in the Pentecostal movement. Many of the members of the new organization possessed ministerial credentials issued by C. H. Mason, African American leader of the Church of God in Christ. At Hot Springs, the white ministers ended their official relationship with Mason and accepted new credentials with the Assemblies of God.