Billy Graham's Record on Race Was Both Ahead and Of His Time

There’s a nice story about Billy Graham’s reaction when he arrived to preach at a revival meeting in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1953. Upon reaching the site, he found ropes marking off a separate section for black congregants. He removed them. “Either these ropes stay down,” Graham told his hosts, “or you can go on and have the revival without me.”

The great evangelist, who died this week at the age of 99, fully deserves the accolades he has received from across the political spectrum. Yet mixed in with the praise of Graham has been a tone of reservation, because -- it is said -- the man who preached to over 200 million people in his career did not speak enough about race when his words would have made a difference. There is limited merit to this contention. The actual history is complicated, a tale of growth and retrenchment and further growth. Given the era in which Graham came of age, what he accomplished is admirable.