Final answer:
The white clergy, particularly in the South, largely ranged from indifferent to opposed regarding African American efforts to end segregation, lacked moral support for the cause, and often stood by idly or advocated compliance only as a matter of law, not moral justice.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question concerns how the white clergy reacted to the African American community's efforts to end segregation. From historical accounts, including oral histories and evidence from the Civil Rights Movement, it is clear that while some members of the white religious leadership in the South professed to be law-abiding, there was a lamentable lack of moral support for integration as a just cause. As observed by prominent civil rights leaders, many white religious leaders and white Americans remained at best indifferent or at worst actively opposed to the African American struggle for equality and civil rights.
Excerpt from a Civil Rights Leader's Perspective
"I came to Birmingham with the hope that the white religious leadership...would see the justice of our cause...But again I have been disappointed...I have watched white churches stand on the sideline...In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard so many ministers say, 'Those are social issues with which the Gospel has no real concern.'