A ship chartered by the American Colonization Society sails out of Baltimore with 172 freedmen from the Lynchburg, Virginia area, many who are of “the Baptist persuasion, one of the latter being a preacher.” A number of skilled persons are among those who embark. The destination is Carysburg, in the interior of Liberia. The leaders…
Far from the South, today in Indianapolis is the inaugural gathering of the State Convention of the Colored People of Indiana. Many Baptists are among those present. Delegates note that the Declaration of Independence “declares life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as “inalienable rights of all men,” rights for which colored men “have fought,…
Southern Baptist leaders are busy at work rewriting the history of slavery as a kind, benevolent, godly institution. Today’s Virginia Baptist Religious Herald sketches the argument, a narrative of the past that is blatantly false and self-serving, married to a trajectory of a racially-unequal future that is decidedly deceitful and disingenuous. In addition, the fanciful…