The dissertation explores, illustrates, and analyzes the response of Southern Baptists to the civil rights movement and its aftermath. Focusing on the eleven states of the old Confederacy, it compares and contrasts Baptist actions and ideas regarding race at the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), state, and local levels. Southern Baptist segregationist and non—segregationist arguments are examined, including their changing nature over time. For comparative purposes reference is made to other denominations. Dividing the post-war period into 1945-53, 1954-63, and 1964-1980, Southern Baptist racial ethics are considered in terms of statements and action by SBCs, SBC agencies, (especially the Christian Life Commission), and by conventions, Baptist editors, and laymen in the regions: the progressive Upper South and Southwest; the hostile but largely silent Middle South and Southeast; and the diehard segregationist Deep South. Case studies of individual churches within the three regions highlight the moral dilemmas faced by both Southern Baptist laymen and pastors in dealing with racial issues. The study concludes that a combination of civil rights laws and non- segregationists pronouncements by the SBC and its agencies significantly eroded the racism of the Southern Baptist majority.