Everyone has a story.(1) Let’s tell our stories … for healing.
In recognition of Black History Month, I want to share some reflections on one of the most significant chapters in Black History and American History, the struggle to end slavery in the United States - the Abolitionist movement. Examination of history and the mistakes of our past can be instructive and inspiring if we allow, it can lead us to a greater sensitivity of heart and gentleness of spirit toward others, and a greater ability to work together for the good.
Race is a topic in the forefront of American social and political discussion presently. Can we agree that the tenor of public discourse has turned to the negative? Let’s talk about this. Is it possible that well meaning people are tolerating, if not actually promoting, values that harm rather than help, representing a spirit contrary to a message of acceptance, uplift, and opportunity that has been a significant thread in American history since its founding? Where will this lead us?
The five cent coin in this image depicts Monticello Plantation, the 5,000 acre estate of Thomas Jefferson, "founding father" and our third president, where at times, as many as 130 individuals held in slavery resided as the primary source of labor for over 50 years. The "institution" of southern chattel slavery drove the economic engine of the United States for 250 years as it became a world economic power and established a base of prosperity for those who benefited from the system. Clearly the establishment of slavery, the eventual dismantling of the practice, and the ongoing aftermath defines a great part of our nation's cultural identity, many of our struggles and challenges, much of the ongoing discourse across a greater portion of our political, economic, religious, educational and cultural questions and debates. This is not ancient history, but recent history. We cannot and should not run from this history nor try to bury it, but rather understand it.
The organized movement to end American slavery was a thirty year struggle - much longer if taken more broadly – a moral struggle, a spiritual struggle, a dangerous, violent, and deadly struggle, culminating in our most deadly war (debates about the specific causes of the war notwithstanding). On January 1, 1831, William Lloyd Garrison began to publish the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, with these words … “Let all the enemies of the persecuted Blacks tremble … On the subject of slavery, I do not wish to write with moderation, I will not excuse, I will not equivocate, I will not retreat a single inch, and I will be heard.” (Hampton)(Mayer) One year later he gathered with other like minded activists in the African Meeting House in Boston to found the New England Anti Slavery Society. Whereas anti-slavery sentiments had been expressed in the US for decades, mingled with doctrines of racial superiority, segregation and African colonization, Garrison and others boldly took a stand to promote a moral and spiritual message of immediate abolition and the potential unity of black and white American citizens in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence. Whereas the ideals of freedom and equality are clearly stated in that document, the surrounding historical reality was fraught with ambiguity and sin, hidden conflict and contradiction (e.g. Thomas Jefferson, Monticello). This moral myopia is characteristic of many chapters of our American history. I’m not casting a stone – I wonder if anyone feels guiltless for past and present injustices due to our own self -interestedness? What I mean to say is that the vast depth of “all men are created equal” was, perhaps, a stroke of genius? - an act of God? – but when written, those who affirmed it could barely begin to comprehend and apply its application. I hold that we all stand to learn from our mistakes so as thereby to strive for our better selves, individually and collectively. That is my hope.
The story to be told in the next few articles will get us to 1863. But, for historical context, it took our country another 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (which has recently been significantly rolled back), along with the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act, leaving an entire century of race based inequity, oppression, and a plethora of creatively constructed barriers preventing minority citizens access to tangible resources. These realities have a lasting negative impact. Goodness and justice demand that we not selfishly pass by on the other side of the road but rather learn how to work together for good.(4)
In a series of brief articles, I hope to share reflections on this period of our history, a story that has been better told and in more detail in other places (5), but a story I feel compelled to share with you with a fresh look informed by our present challenges.
African Meeting House, Boston
Museum of African American History.
References:
The organized movement to end American slavery was a thirty year struggle - much longer if taken more broadly – a moral struggle, a spiritual struggle, a dangerous, violent, and deadly struggle, culminating in our most deadly war (debates about the specific causes of the war notwithstanding). On January 1, 1831, William Lloyd Garrison began to publish the abolitionist newspaper The Liberator, with these words … “Let all the enemies of the persecuted Blacks tremble … On the subject of slavery, I do not wish to write with moderation, I will not excuse, I will not equivocate, I will not retreat a single inch, and I will be heard.” (Hampton)(Mayer) One year later he gathered with other like minded activists in the African Meeting House in Boston to found the New England Anti Slavery Society. Whereas anti-slavery sentiments had been expressed in the US for decades, mingled with doctrines of racial superiority, segregation and African colonization, Garrison and others boldly took a stand to promote a moral and spiritual message of immediate abolition and the potential unity of black and white American citizens in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence. Whereas the ideals of freedom and equality are clearly stated in that document, the surrounding historical reality was fraught with ambiguity and sin, hidden conflict and contradiction (e.g. Thomas Jefferson, Monticello). This moral myopia is characteristic of many chapters of our American history. I’m not casting a stone – I wonder if anyone feels guiltless for past and present injustices due to our own self -interestedness? What I mean to say is that the vast depth of “all men are created equal” was, perhaps, a stroke of genius? - an act of God? – but when written, those who affirmed it could barely begin to comprehend and apply its application. I hold that we all stand to learn from our mistakes so as thereby to strive for our better selves, individually and collectively. That is my hope.
The story to be told in the next few articles will get us to 1863. But, for historical context, it took our country another 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (which has recently been significantly rolled back), along with the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act, leaving an entire century of race based inequity, oppression, and a plethora of creatively constructed barriers preventing minority citizens access to tangible resources. These realities have a lasting negative impact. Goodness and justice demand that we not selfishly pass by on the other side of the road but rather learn how to work together for good.(4)
In a series of brief articles, I hope to share reflections on this period of our history, a story that has been better told and in more detail in other places (5), but a story I feel compelled to share with you with a fresh look informed by our present challenges.
African Meeting House, Boston
Museum of African American History.
References:
(1) Steve Lopez, The Soloist.
(2) (Hampton, 1986)
(3) (Mayer, 1998)
(4) Isaiah 1:17.
(5) E.g. American Experience: The Abolitionists
Jefferson's Monticello, The Plantation. https://www.monticello.org/slavery/the-plantation/
(2) (Hampton, 1986)
(3) (Mayer, 1998)
(4) Isaiah 1:17.
(5) E.g. American Experience: The Abolitionists
Jefferson's Monticello, The Plantation. https://www.monticello.org/slavery/the-plantation/
Hampton, H. (Producer), & Hampton, H. (Director). (1986). Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954 - 1965 [Motion Picture]. PBS.
Mayer, H. (1998). All On Fire: William Lloyd Garrison and the Abolition of Slavery. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.
Rapley, R. (Writer), & Rapley, R. (Director). (2013). American Experience: The Abolitionists [Motion Picture]. PBS / Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Steve Lopez, S. G. (Writer), & Wright, J. (Director). (2009). The Soloist [Motion Picture].
Mayer, H. (1998). All On Fire: William Lloyd Garrison and the Abolition of Slavery. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.
Rapley, R. (Writer), & Rapley, R. (Director). (2013). American Experience: The Abolitionists [Motion Picture]. PBS / Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Steve Lopez, S. G. (Writer), & Wright, J. (Director). (2009). The Soloist [Motion Picture].