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As I was driving into the office this morning in late June, I passed by the leftover remnants of the festival that was held in Rothbury last week while I was traveling out West. “Isn’t it awful?”, we cry, “all of those people leaving such a mess for others to clean up?” It occurred to me that we are no different, especially as it concerns racism. We know that it’s out there, but we figure that’s someone else’s job to clean up the mess. I know, I know, none of you are racists…….I’m not either.
Did you know that not long after our US Constitution was ratified in 1788 things had already begun changing for BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) in the colonies? Prior to that time, racism didn’t exist in the fledgling colonies which became united. The more people that arrived from Britain, the more the slave trade took hold,the worse things got. In US churches, clergy refused to serve persons of color the elements of communion until after whites were served, they were made to sit in the back of the church or in balconies. In 1796, Richard Allen, and a group of black parishioners were
told to move just because they were sitting in newly made pews which were supposedly “reserved”. This, after Mr. Allen had assisted when asked to do the dirty work of a Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic: nursing the sick and burying their dead. Mr. Allen had been a Methodist preacher since 1760 – some 34 years by that time. Have you ever been asked to move out of somebody’s “spot”? I have, and I wasn’t too happy about it either. Mr. Allen started a black church right across the street. I’m sure that their “newly made pews” fit them there just fine.
Let me tell you about another patriot – Rev. Lemuel Haynes. According to ChristianityToday.com he was “the first African American ordained by any religious body.” He was one of three known blacks that fought under Allen and Benedict Arnold in the attack at Fort Ticonderoga. Therefore, he fought with one of my patriot ancestors that “marched on alarm” in that very same conflict! Rev. Haynes not only served our country with distinction, but he served an all-white congregation in Rutland, VT for 30 years until “a conflict within the church” asked him to leave. 1
I know that this isn’t the typical newsletter article. Everyone likes them to be light-hearted and fun. We cannot be lighthearted and fun when it comes to racism. God’s grace makes us all free in Jesus Christ, and it makes us all brothers and sisters with one another. It’s everyone’s job to pick up the garbage, it’s everyone’s job to help eliminate racism.
Blessings,
Pastor Bev
1 http://www.fort-ticonderoga.org/history/online-resources/articles/Blacks-at-Fort-Ticonderoga.pdf
www.dar.org
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