Standing on Holy Ground: A Triumph Over Hate Crime in the Deep South

After a vicious hate crime destroyed St. John Baptist Church in Dixiana, South Carolina, in 1984, two courageous women risked their lives to organize the rebuilding effort. Ammie Murray, a white union leader, and her African American friend Barbara Simmons braved death threats to successfully lead an interracial group of volunteers to reconstruct the historic African American church. But their joy was short-lived. In 1995, St. John was the first of more than one hundred southern black churches plagued by a series of arsons during a two-year period. The obstacles to erecting the church once more seemed insurmountable but proved no match for the tenacity of those determined to see St. John rise again.

Standing on Holy Ground is an inspiring tale grown out of chaos that proves friendship, reconciliation, spiritual strength, and enduring hope can transcend racial hatred. In a moving narrative, Sandra E. Johnson chronicles how the fearless duo of Murray and Simmons sparked a victory against hate crime in their community and became leaders in a national battle against violence and vandalism in the Deep South. Sandra E. Johnson has taught writing at the University of South Carolina, and her work has been published in the Washington Post, Transitions Abroad, and Columbia Metropolitan Magazine. A guest columnist for the State newspaper, Johnson lives in Columbia, South Carolina.