My MDiv thesis. 

Basically: how did Seventh-day Adventist missionaries relate to the racism of the South? and what can that teach us for doing missions now? Early Adventist missionaries first resisted the racist beliefs and practices of the South. Then, pressured by custom and escalating violence, they began to accommodate the racism by racially segregating, yet continuing to resist the oppression of Blacks.

Over time, however, the segregation which began as accommodation was normalized and institutionalized. In effect, it became part of the Adventist culture in America. This history has been instructive for understanding how to relate to oppressive cultural practices in missions, and two recommendations are made for preventing the adoption of the oppression in the larger culture when some accommodation is necessary. First, the accommodation must be accompanied with regular internal communication of right principles. Second, the accommodation must be regularly and intentionally re-examined. These strategies are designed to resist the internalization of the wrong principles which underlie the oppressive practices which are being accommodated.