Congressman Brooks Hays of Arkansas could best be described as having been a moderate during the 1957 Little Rock Central High School desegregation crisis. He certainly wasn't calling for immediate integration in all areas of American society. But moderation wasn't good enough for the segregationists who made up the majority of Arkansas voters at the time.
Just as is now the case -- when officeholders in Arkansas blindly follow a con man who will go down as the worst president in American history -- Arkansas found itself on the wrong side of history in the 1950s. Hays paid the political price for his moderation.
In addition to serving in Congress for eight terms, Hays was elected in 1957 and 1958 as president of the powerful Southern Baptist Convention. He was one of the few laymen to hold the post.
"Hays was instrumental in breaking down racial and denominational barriers in Southern religious life," writes Arkansas historian Kyle Day. "He helped initiate steps toward desegregation of the Southern Baptist Church and later became the first leader of his denomination to meet formally with the pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.
"The crucible of Hays' political career was the...
Source: ArkansasOnline