Reverend Robert and Jean Graetz

Couple fights for civil, gay rights

(Original article published in the Montgomery Advertiser)
Rev. Robert Graetz and his wife, Jean, who both died in 2020, lived by a mantra — a lesson taught by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and practiced among the foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement.

No violent thoughts, no violent words, no violent actions.

That might seem expected — that a reverend and his wife would shy away from violence — but most reverends don’t have violence show up repeatedly on their doorsteps, threaten their families, and attempt to drive them out of town or out of this world.

In the world that the Graetzes found themselves in during the mid-1950s, abstaining from violent retaliation took monumental self-control. Refusing to run from the violent acts and threats of the opposition demanded bravery few people possess. And forgiving those who perpetrated it all required a level of love and kindness not often seen in this world.

But that was Bob and Jeannie Graetz.

“Dr. King liked to say that you have to be non-violent with the fist, the tongue and the heart,” Rev. Graetz said. “That was the mantra of the Civil Rights Movement, that’s why it worked and was so successful. It was very hard at times to not lash out. But we understood the bigger goal, the bigger objective.”

The Graetzes were primary figures in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, with Rev. Graetz leading the predominately-black Trinity Lutheran Church and serving as the secretary of the Montgomery Improvement Association, the civil rights group formed by King, Rosa Parks, E.D. Nixon, Fred Gray, and others to organize the Boycott.

Because the Graetzes were white, they drew more ire than most from the local racists. Their home was bombed twice, their car vandalized, their children threatened, and their lives turned upside down.

But they never backed down, and during a lifetime of serving the oppressed — from those early days in Montgomery to helping the poor in Appalachia to pushing for women’s rights to leading the way for gay rights — the Graetzes never encountered a wrong that seemed too scary to tackle. That includes raising seven kids and helping to raise — or at the very least, really loving — 26 grandkids, 10 great-grandkids, and one great-great-grandchild.

“Doing what’s right isn’t always the easiest path,” Jeannie said.