WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
February 11th 2007
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“The Life and Witness of Henry Highland Garnett”
Luke 6:27-38
2007 is a special year for the Presbyterian Church. It is the two-hundred and fiftieth anniversary of African Americans being members in the Presbyterian Church. This year also marks the two hundredth anniversary of the first African American Presbyterian congregation. The Rev. John Gloucester was the founding pastor of “First African Presbyterian Church” in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately this and many other stories of our heritage are not all that well know, inside or outside our denomination. That is why I give thanks for the many people who have educated me and opened my eyes to the many contributions of our fore parents. It is becoming something of a custom for us here at Westminster to celebrate Black or African American History month by lifting up a few of the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us. So today we continue this tradition and look to one of those witnesses, a Presbyterian Minister the Reverend Henry Highland Garnett.
Henry Highland Garnett was born into slavery in 1815. We know little of his early childhood in Maryland. However, by the time he was nine years old Garnett escaped and went to New York City. A few years arriving in New York he heard about a school in Canaan, New Hampshire called the Noyes Academy. The Noyes Academy was a school founded by Abolitionists that accepted, “colored youth of good character on equal terms with whites of like character.” The practice of the school was to foster equality and not paternalism. It was a lesson which became the driving force behind Reverend Garnett’s life’s work. It was at Noyes where he internalized the idea that all people are created in the image of God and as such slavery could never be compatible with the tenets of the Christian faith.
Looking at all of Garnett’s accomplishments in life it is easy to be highly impressed. He was a contemporary of such well known Abolitionists as Fredrick Douglas and William Lloyd Garrison. Garnett was a main organizer in the successful campaign to desegregate of the New York public transportation system. He is also had the distinction of being the first black person to ever make a speech to the House of Representatives. When he died Garnett was serving this country as its minister to Liberia. Yet, despite all of this and more, most of our history books, even those which actually notice non-European influence often ignore his contribution.
Why is this? Well, this may have had to do with two things. The first is a speech that he gave which was commonly known as An Address to the Slaves of the United States of America. In that speech he said, among other things, “It is in your power so to torment the God-cursed slaveholder that they will be glad to let you go free.” His speech was a call, to slaves, to openly resist slavery by any means necessary. This is not the sort of thing which makes our dominant culture particular comfortable. And, the second reason was proposed by W.E.B. Dubois. Dubois believed that Garnett’s disappearance from the annals of American history and even his rejection by many in the abolitionist movement had less to do with his call to violence and more to do with Garnett’s belief that black people did not need to be saved by white people. Garnett had no problem working alongside white people in the abolitionist work. However, he was unwilling to believe that his brothers and sisters were unable to participate and lead the struggle for their own liberation. As such Garnett’s witness has simply been, dare I say, purposely ignored in many circles.
While a student at the Noyes Academy, Garnett’s significant academic and oratorical skills were nurtured. He was a dedicated student who was able to channel his passion and even anger in logical and persuasive ways. Garnett knew, early in life, that God had called him. But this calling was not just for the work of ministry he knew that God had called him as God’s own child and that he was made in the image of God. It was clear that Garnett was passionate about sharing this message.
Even as a student Garnett begin to get a reputation as something of a radical. Garnett was open about his belief that all people are equal in the eyes of God and as such should be equal in this country. This radical message nearly got the school shut down. It is reported that the local farmers threatened to burn the school down. His gifts and abilities left the impression with all who met or heard this young man that he would make a mark on the world.
By the time that Garnett left school he had all but broken with the dominant ideology of the Abolitionist movement. Garnett believed that the dominant teachings of non-violence and moral suasion were not suitable or even realistic to bring about the end of slavery. (As it turns out, history later proved him right. It took the bloodiest war in America’s history to end the sinful institution of slavery.) Yet, Garnett has bigger goals than just the end of slavery. Ending slavery, by any means necessary, was simply part of his greater mission which was to eradicate, in this country and in his own people, the idea that people of African decent were inherently inferior to those of European decent.
In 1843, Henry Highland Garnett gave a speech at the National Negro Convention. It was that speech for which is most well known. It was a speech which frightened many people. It is an eloquent speech which should be a classic in American oratory. However, his call to resist slavery was destined it to the back page or even the dustbin of history.
In his address Garnett begins by lifting the veil on the atrocities of slavery; the systematic rape, the torture, and murder of millions of people. But then, he ties the struggle for freedom to the very foundation of this nation. Garnett did not believe that the system needed to be overthrown. After all, he said that this system had been created by people who made claims like: “Give me liberty or give me death.” It would logically follow then to say better to die free than live as a slave. When Henry Highland Garnett says: “Die freemen, than live to be slaves,” he is not seen a carrying on the tradition of Patrick Henry, the patron saint of liberty, but a threat to the established order. Despite these arguments, Garnett’s was really building his whole argument upon the simple notion that each human being was made in the image of God. The hunger for liberty in each person is part of that reality and as such anything which stands in the way of liberty is something which stands against the will of God. In fact, he even went on to say that not to resist slavery was a sin.
If, however, we focus only on the issue of resistance and call to rise up, we miss what is driving this call. Garnett was preaching a message of empowerment. He said things like: “Brethren the time has come when you must act for yourselves.” And, “You can plead your own cause, and do the work of emancipation better than any others.” And, he even quotes Lord Byron, “if hereditary bondmen would be free, they must strike the blow.” His speech was not only a call to resist but a call to empowerment and a direct challenge to the paternalistic leanings of many abolitionists. In fact, even as Garnett calls for resistance it is clear he does not seek to set the agenda for resistance. He makes it clear that each person is going to have to decide the best course for resistance. Even in his call to resistance he is seeking empowerment.
Garnett believed or at least hoped he would be supported by the convocation in this position. Before the vote was cast Garnett engaged Fredrick Douglas in a debate with Douglas rejecting Garnett’s call. When the vote was finally taken Garnett only lost by only one vote. Who knows, if not for that one vote, maybe it is Fredrick Douglas that is relegated to the back burner of history?
At some point, by now, I assume that most of you have had to think: “How does this line up with Jesus teaching about offering the other check?” Well, despite initial appearances, I have come to believe that Garnett’s teaching and this passage are not really opposed to one another. After all, Garnett’s goal was not simply to bring freedom. His goal was to empower those who had been enslaved and to help them to resist any attack upon the image of God in each person. How does this fit with the scripture from Luke? Let’s take a closer look.
When Jesus teaches to offer the other check he is also teaching empowerment. He was working to provide dignity to an oppressed people in a specific people at a specific time. The entire passage is not about being a doormat but about claiming what little power they could. In ancient Israel they were revolutionary and empowering actions which have too often been used in modern times as tools to keep people in chains. Using this passage from Luke to keep people oppressed is a message simply contrary to the message of the gospel.
The life and witness of Reverend Henry Highland Garnett is a powerful one. His deep faith in God and belief that each person bore the image of God guided him his whole life long. Garnett believed that active resistance was necessary to end the greatest evil that the world has ever known. Yet, at no point did he ever preach hatred toward slave-owners. In fact, he even worked for their transformation and hoped that the nation would repent and turn around from this evil. Reverend Garnett was able to channel his passion, and anger toward positive social change and the empowerment of those who suffered the most. His legacy is not only worth remembering but is one which calls us to act and even resist all the places in our world which deny the image of God in all people. So let the witness Henry Highland Garnett be a challenge to each one of us to do just that. Amen.
February 11th 2007
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“The Life and Witness of Henry Highland Garnett”
Luke 6:27-38
2007 is a special year for the Presbyterian Church. It is the two-hundred and fiftieth anniversary of African Americans being members in the Presbyterian Church. This year also marks the two hundredth anniversary of the first African American Presbyterian congregation. The Rev. John Gloucester was the founding pastor of “First African Presbyterian Church” in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately this and many other stories of our heritage are not all that well know, inside or outside our denomination. That is why I give thanks for the many people who have educated me and opened my eyes to the many contributions of our fore parents. It is becoming something of a custom for us here at Westminster to celebrate Black or African American History month by lifting up a few of the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us. So today we continue this tradition and look to one of those witnesses, a Presbyterian Minister the Reverend Henry Highland Garnett.
Henry Highland Garnett was born into slavery in 1815. We know little of his early childhood in Maryland. However, by the time he was nine years old Garnett escaped and went to New York City. A few years arriving in New York he heard about a school in Canaan, New Hampshire called the Noyes Academy. The Noyes Academy was a school founded by Abolitionists that accepted, “colored youth of good character on equal terms with whites of like character.” The practice of the school was to foster equality and not paternalism. It was a lesson which became the driving force behind Reverend Garnett’s life’s work. It was at Noyes where he internalized the idea that all people are created in the image of God and as such slavery could never be compatible with the tenets of the Christian faith.
Looking at all of Garnett’s accomplishments in life it is easy to be highly impressed. He was a contemporary of such well known Abolitionists as Fredrick Douglas and William Lloyd Garrison. Garnett was a main organizer in the successful campaign to desegregate of the New York public transportation system. He is also had the distinction of being the first black person to ever make a speech to the House of Representatives. When he died Garnett was serving this country as its minister to Liberia. Yet, despite all of this and more, most of our history books, even those which actually notice non-European influence often ignore his contribution.
Why is this? Well, this may have had to do with two things. The first is a speech that he gave which was commonly known as An Address to the Slaves of the United States of America. In that speech he said, among other things, “It is in your power so to torment the God-cursed slaveholder that they will be glad to let you go free.” His speech was a call, to slaves, to openly resist slavery by any means necessary. This is not the sort of thing which makes our dominant culture particular comfortable. And, the second reason was proposed by W.E.B. Dubois. Dubois believed that Garnett’s disappearance from the annals of American history and even his rejection by many in the abolitionist movement had less to do with his call to violence and more to do with Garnett’s belief that black people did not need to be saved by white people. Garnett had no problem working alongside white people in the abolitionist work. However, he was unwilling to believe that his brothers and sisters were unable to participate and lead the struggle for their own liberation. As such Garnett’s witness has simply been, dare I say, purposely ignored in many circles.
While a student at the Noyes Academy, Garnett’s significant academic and oratorical skills were nurtured. He was a dedicated student who was able to channel his passion and even anger in logical and persuasive ways. Garnett knew, early in life, that God had called him. But this calling was not just for the work of ministry he knew that God had called him as God’s own child and that he was made in the image of God. It was clear that Garnett was passionate about sharing this message.
Even as a student Garnett begin to get a reputation as something of a radical. Garnett was open about his belief that all people are equal in the eyes of God and as such should be equal in this country. This radical message nearly got the school shut down. It is reported that the local farmers threatened to burn the school down. His gifts and abilities left the impression with all who met or heard this young man that he would make a mark on the world.
By the time that Garnett left school he had all but broken with the dominant ideology of the Abolitionist movement. Garnett believed that the dominant teachings of non-violence and moral suasion were not suitable or even realistic to bring about the end of slavery. (As it turns out, history later proved him right. It took the bloodiest war in America’s history to end the sinful institution of slavery.) Yet, Garnett has bigger goals than just the end of slavery. Ending slavery, by any means necessary, was simply part of his greater mission which was to eradicate, in this country and in his own people, the idea that people of African decent were inherently inferior to those of European decent.
In 1843, Henry Highland Garnett gave a speech at the National Negro Convention. It was that speech for which is most well known. It was a speech which frightened many people. It is an eloquent speech which should be a classic in American oratory. However, his call to resist slavery was destined it to the back page or even the dustbin of history.
In his address Garnett begins by lifting the veil on the atrocities of slavery; the systematic rape, the torture, and murder of millions of people. But then, he ties the struggle for freedom to the very foundation of this nation. Garnett did not believe that the system needed to be overthrown. After all, he said that this system had been created by people who made claims like: “Give me liberty or give me death.” It would logically follow then to say better to die free than live as a slave. When Henry Highland Garnett says: “Die freemen, than live to be slaves,” he is not seen a carrying on the tradition of Patrick Henry, the patron saint of liberty, but a threat to the established order. Despite these arguments, Garnett’s was really building his whole argument upon the simple notion that each human being was made in the image of God. The hunger for liberty in each person is part of that reality and as such anything which stands in the way of liberty is something which stands against the will of God. In fact, he even went on to say that not to resist slavery was a sin.
If, however, we focus only on the issue of resistance and call to rise up, we miss what is driving this call. Garnett was preaching a message of empowerment. He said things like: “Brethren the time has come when you must act for yourselves.” And, “You can plead your own cause, and do the work of emancipation better than any others.” And, he even quotes Lord Byron, “if hereditary bondmen would be free, they must strike the blow.” His speech was not only a call to resist but a call to empowerment and a direct challenge to the paternalistic leanings of many abolitionists. In fact, even as Garnett calls for resistance it is clear he does not seek to set the agenda for resistance. He makes it clear that each person is going to have to decide the best course for resistance. Even in his call to resistance he is seeking empowerment.
Garnett believed or at least hoped he would be supported by the convocation in this position. Before the vote was cast Garnett engaged Fredrick Douglas in a debate with Douglas rejecting Garnett’s call. When the vote was finally taken Garnett only lost by only one vote. Who knows, if not for that one vote, maybe it is Fredrick Douglas that is relegated to the back burner of history?
At some point, by now, I assume that most of you have had to think: “How does this line up with Jesus teaching about offering the other check?” Well, despite initial appearances, I have come to believe that Garnett’s teaching and this passage are not really opposed to one another. After all, Garnett’s goal was not simply to bring freedom. His goal was to empower those who had been enslaved and to help them to resist any attack upon the image of God in each person. How does this fit with the scripture from Luke? Let’s take a closer look.
When Jesus teaches to offer the other check he is also teaching empowerment. He was working to provide dignity to an oppressed people in a specific people at a specific time. The entire passage is not about being a doormat but about claiming what little power they could. In ancient Israel they were revolutionary and empowering actions which have too often been used in modern times as tools to keep people in chains. Using this passage from Luke to keep people oppressed is a message simply contrary to the message of the gospel.
The life and witness of Reverend Henry Highland Garnett is a powerful one. His deep faith in God and belief that each person bore the image of God guided him his whole life long. Garnett believed that active resistance was necessary to end the greatest evil that the world has ever known. Yet, at no point did he ever preach hatred toward slave-owners. In fact, he even worked for their transformation and hoped that the nation would repent and turn around from this evil. Reverend Garnett was able to channel his passion, and anger toward positive social change and the empowerment of those who suffered the most. His legacy is not only worth remembering but is one which calls us to act and even resist all the places in our world which deny the image of God in all people. So let the witness Henry Highland Garnett be a challenge to each one of us to do just that. Amen.
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