Toward Racial Reconciliation: Collective Memory, Myth and Nostalgia in American Pentecostalism

In 1994, at a conference which became popularly known as the ?Memphis Miracle?, American Pentecostals sought racial reconciliation for their movement. This text looks at the rhetoric of racial reconciliation as employed in that event. Specifically, the argument is made that American Pentecostals relied on the rhetorical tools of collective memory, myth and nostalgia in their effort toward racial healing and reconciliation. It is further posited that the narrative of the Azusa Street revival of 1906 served as a rallying point for Pentecostals in regard to the afore mentioned rhetorical tools. The argument is made in this book, that in order to achieve this much needed reconciliation, Pentecostals looked to the narrative of the Azusa Street revival, reexamining their collective memory of the event, and in doing so they have mythologized the characters and events of that revival. Finally, nostalgic rhetoric was employed showing that in order for Pentecostals to achieve the desired racial reconciliation, they must look back to the interracial characteristic of the Azusa Street revival as a template for racial healing today.