Remembering our History
Video
Narrative 17 – April 22, 2024 (TicToc, Instagram, FB)
Despite the
ill-informed and morally misguided actions of some of our governors and state
legislatures, the ugly truth of the moral failures in our nation’s history
shall not be buried. The inspiring stories of heroic men and women who fought
for humanity, equality and justice shall not be forgotten. Some continue to
attempt to whitewash the teaching of history in our schools and universities.
We must stand up and tell the unvarnished truth so that we can learn the
lessons of history. My moral understanding has been changed by studying the 20th
century Civil Rights Movement and the 19th century Abolitionist
Movement. In the first 13 chapters of Deconstructing Christians and the
Third Wave: Unstoppable Beloved Community, I tell the stories of William
Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass, of Sara and Angelina Grimke, of Harriet
Ross Tubman and Sojourner Truth, and radical John Brown who appeared on the
cover of a famous rock and roll album in 1974.
21 – May 6 …
Monticello Plantation …
I hold in my
hand a nickel, which depicts Monticello Plantation, the 5,000 acre estate of
Thomas Jefferson, founding father and the 3rd president of the
United States where as many as 130 individuals were held in slavery for over 50
years. The institution of slavery propelled the economic engine of the United
States for over 250 years, contributing to its rise as a global power and establishing
a foundation for prosperity that persists until today. But as early as 1688,
beginning with the Quakers, there were voices of protest against slavery on
moral, religious and humanitarian grounds. The organized movement to end
slavery in the U.S. was a long struggle, a moral and spiritual struggle, a
dangerous and violent struggle. I was tremendously inspired as I spent two
years studying this time. The first 13 chapters of my book Deconstructing
Christians and the Third Wave offers my reflections on this period of our
history.
22 – May 8 …
A Colossal Conflict of Opposing Religious Values …
The 19th
century abolitionist movement to end slavery in the United States demonstrated
a colossal conflict of opposing religious values, moral values, regional
values, and the struggle over of human equality and inequality in our nation’s
history. William Lloyd Garrison was arguably the most significant leader of
that struggle, and he was only 25 years old when he began publication of his
anti-slavery newspaper The Liberator in January of 1831. He spoke 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.” The
Liberator was issued weekly, uninterrupted, for 35 years until after
ratification of the 13th Amendment which constitutionally abolished
slavery in December of 1865. I describe this movement in Part 1 Deconstructing
Christians and the Third Wave.
23 – May 10 …
New England Anti-Slavery Society, 1832 …
As a student
of history, I have been to the African Meeting House which stands as a National
Historic Landmark in the city of Boston where the New England Anti-Slavery
Society was founded in 1832, as William Lloyd Garrison and other advocates took
a bold stand to promote a moral and spiritual message of immediate abolition
and the potential unity of black and white U.S. citizens. Their strategy was
“moral suasion” based on Christian moral principles and the founding ideals of
the Declaration of Independence. Although the ideals of freedom and equality
are espoused in those sources, the historical reality of the 18th
and 19th centuries was rife with actual inequality and a moral
myopia which allowed a minority of powerful citizens to maintain a moral,
legal, religious, economic and societal inequality, and they fought hard to
preserve it. Oppressors do not give up their power willingly.
24 – May 13 … The Remarkable Grimké Sisters …
Sarah and
Angelina Grimké, two truly remarkable sisters, helped shake the world in the 19th
century. On February 21, 1838, abolitionist Angelina Grimké made history by
becoming the first woman to address a legislative assembly in the U.S. Having
been raised in a slaveholding family in Charleston, she went north to support
the abolitionist cause. She spoke these words to an overflow crowd in the
Massachusetts State Legislature … “I stand before you as a southerner, banished
from the land of my birth due to the sound of the lash and the agonizing cry of
the enslaved. I stand before you as a remorseful slaveholder…I feel obligated
to the suffering slave and the misguided master, to my country and to the
world, to do everything in my power to dismantle a system build upon the
shattered hearts and broken bodies of my fellow countrymen in chains, and
solidified by the blood, sweat, and tears of my sisters in bondage.” From
Chapter 3 of Deconstructing Christians and the Third Wave..
25
– May 15… First Female Agents of the American Anti-slavery Society …
Sarah and
Angelina Grimké were invited to become the first female agents of the American
Anti-Slavery Society. During that time, Angelina had finished her first book An
Appeal to the Christian Women of the South and Sarah had written Appeal
to the Clergy of the Southern States. Their story, as told by historian
Gerda Lerner, is an inspiring journey of moral advocacy for rights and
equality. Eventually, the cause of women’s rights became intertwined with the
abolitionist cause. There was no social media… Other than news print, you had
to promote your message in person. During one 23 week traveling tour in 1838,
the sisters spoke to 88 meetings in 67 towns, reaching over 40,000 people with
their message of abolition, emancipation, and women’s rights. Their work was
exemplary of hundreds of others travelling and speaking, year after year, for
decades, until they achieved the goal of emancipation. I tell their story in Chapter
3 of Deconstructing Christians…
26 – May 18 … Opposition came from the vested interests and
power structures …
Their moral
challenges were not so much different from our own. The four-decade movement
for the abolition of slavery faced intense opposition. And the opposition came
from the vested interests of the power structures of the society. Abolitionists
meetings and rallies were opposed because they were racially mixed, because
women were speaking and leading, and of course because their message confronted
the existing Christian order, the legal structure, and the economic interests
of property, agriculture, and industry. Abolitionists were abused and harassed
and faced multiple dangers. In the summer of 1838, the Antislavery Convention
of American Women met in Philadelphia at the magnificent newly constructed
Pennsylvania Hall, regarded a symbol of free speech in the city of freedom. As
Angelina Grimké spoke, protesters pelted the building and shattered the windows
with rocks. The next night, they burned the building to the ground.
Live from Holt Street Baptist Church – July 4
I stand in
front of my favorite historical site in Montgomery, Alabama, a place which many
consider to be the birthplace of the CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. I came here on
somewhat of an historical pilgrimage in December of 2005 to celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the beginning of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. I have
enjoyed seeing the church converted since that time into a museum … to
celebrate that event and to remind people of the historical significance. This
sight has much historical significance in many ways. As you can see we are
right under Interstate 65, and that in and of itself is another historical
reality as this neighborhood was significantly damaged by the construction of
the interstate through the middle of the neighborhood. From Chapter 15 of Deconstructing
Christians …
38 – July 12
… Civil Rights Act of 1964
60 years ago, July 2, 1964, the monumental Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed into Law, the result of at least a decade of dedicated activism on the part of the heroic men and women of the Civil Rights Movement. This was within my lifetime but I was only an infant. Six years later and just as I was entering elementary school, the schools in my hometown were finally desegregated on the basis of race. I stand in front of Harper High School which served as the school for Black children in my hometown, and which I later attended as our town’s middle school. This school is on my bike route and I reflect on that history every time I come through this neighborhood. This is not ancient history but recent history, part of our shared story, and part of our ethical education… let us not forget.
41 – July 24
… The Greatest Orator of the 19th Century …
The
resurgence and the normalization of racism and xenophobia since 2016 makes it
ever more important to remember our history. In Deconstructing Christians,
I devote two chapters to Frederick Douglass, considered by some to be the
greatest orator of the 19th century. How did a person held in
slavery for the first 20 years of his life become such a great intellectual
force in United States history? Douglass’ educational opportunities were
initiated by a benevolent woman in Baltimore, however, when she learned of the
disapproval cast upon the education of slaves, she cut off his access to
education. But young Frederick was determined and resourceful and continued to
learn. Later he offered reading classes for others held in slavery. By age 20
he escaped to the north. By age 23 he was a preacher in his Massachusetts
church and soon he became powerful and influential speaker on the abolitionist
speaking circuit. I tell the story of Frederick Douglass in Chapters 4 and 5 of
Deconstructing Christians …
42 – July 26
… Frederick Douglass …
Nothing is
more powerful than telling your personal story and Frederick Douglass published
an autobiography of his young life in 1845 at the age of 28. His story lit a
fire under the abolitionist cause and quickly he became one of the most
in-demand speakers for the movement. He travelled to Ireland and Great Britain,
leaving the states to escape hostility due to the fact that he was a wanted man
for being a fugitive former slave and also for the supposed slander of his
former slave owners… Douglass had the courage to name names and give details in
the accounting of his young life. We have the same problem today in places like
Florida where the governor and the legislature have taken extreme measures to
restrict and whitewash the teaching of race history in the schools.
43 – July 29
… Nonviolent Resistance to Unjust Laws …
Nonviolent
resistance to unjust laws was the main strategy of the highly effective Civil
Rights Movement of the 50s and 60s. Though they did not have a name for this
strategy, the Abolitionists were also very effective with nonviolent resistance
and protest. We might note that Jesus
demonstrated just such a strategy in his life and ministry and we could say the
same about other significant spiritual leaders in world history. In Chapter 10
of Deconstructing Christians, I identify 10 distinct forms of civil and
legal resistance. Frederick Douglass and
Theodore Dwight Weld were particularly effective, going into a town and
enduring abuse by hecklers and standing up to violent attacks, speaking truth
to power. The townspeople would be so
impressed by their courage in the face of violence that, eventually, they would
return and hear about the principles and values of abolition and human rights. I
describe some highlights of the Civil Rights Movement in Part II of Deconstructing
Christians and the Third Wave.
44 – July 31
… As long as you are anti-woke …
A public
display of racism is excusable as long as it’s in service of being anti-woke.
That was the message of the Republican National Convention in offering a video
of a racist act by a white protester in Mississippi as a positive demonstration
of anti-woke political activism.
The actual
incident of a young white man making monkey gestures toward a Black woman
during protest and counter protest – we could see this is immature, misguided,
certainly as a racist expression by an overzealous protester. But for the RNC
to use this this video clip as an exemplary expression of “anti-woke” behavior
demonstrates how deeply the Trump mentality has shifted and in fact impaired
the moral compass of the party that has embraced him.
Some may
say… well that’s just an unfortunate example of an extreme element which doesn’t really represent my ideals. To that I
say, maybe you need to wake up, because the extreme interests seem to be in
charge of the party.
10 – April 4
… Ethical Understanding Evolves over Time …
Ethical
understanding evolves over time… Historically, there are many cases in which
beliefs and practices taken from the Bible have been used to oppress and
exclude individuals from full participation in the church and community, only
to be overturned or abandoned through reform or through historical changes in
ethical standards. The most prominent example of this is the history of
slavery. Slavery was accepted and practiced in many cultures and defended by
Christians with the support of the Bible. In the nineteenth century, the
practice was rejected and overturned in country after country, and is now
recognized as unethical, immoral, dehumanizing and unchristian. Ethical
responsibility requires that we examine and question doctrines, norms and laws
that bear upon the dignity, the human rights and human equality of people.
I deal with
these issues in Against the Christian Oppression of Individuals on the Basis
of Sexual Orientation or Identity …