Black Women Abolitionists/Educators (part 3)

These reformers recognized that prejudice was difficult to overcome. Lacy Laney felt racism was a result of the blacks' ignorance. She believed if black society became educated, whites would accept them. Not all abolitionists agreed with Laney. As an example; Sarah Douglass proclaimed, "in proportion as we become intellectual and respectable, so in proportion does their disgust and prejudice increase." It was her opinion that whites felt threatened by intelligent blacks. Peter Paul Simons spoke before the African Clarkson Association of New York City in April 1839. In his speech,, Simons denied education as a useful tactic to fight injustice. According to Simons, whites proclaimed education would elevate blacks, when in reality white society denied intelligent blacks high positions and forced blacks to settle for menial jobs. As a result of this view, abolitionists began to shift towards more forceful, energetic, and aggressive tactics. However, Frances Harper warned that reformers should not overlook an effective strategy:

"To teach our people how to build up a character for themselves–a character that will challenge respect in spite of opposition and prejudice; to develop their own souls, intellect and genius, and thus verify their credentials, is some of the best anit-slavery work that can be done in this country."

After the war, Frances Harper found great ambition among the freedmen. She wrote of former slaves who had prospered to the point of purchasing the estates of their former masters. The desire for education among the freedmen was overwhelming. Every city Harper visited required more teachers than were available.

Ann Plato cited Aristotle as claiming "knowledge was equal to power." Power therefore also depended on education. The National Convention of Black Leaders delcared that education would "elevate us from our present situation." It also proclaimed, "If we ever expect to see the influence of prejudice decrease, and ourselves respected, it must be by the blessings of an enlightened education." Frances Harper entreated young black women to consecrate their lives to the elevation of their race. Education was the primary tactic for the elevation of the black race. Black leaders realized the value of education in gaining respect, equality, and prosperity. The large nummber of freedmen schools indicated that other blacks agreed.

Lucy Laney saw a future for women as professors of higher education, not merely elementary teachers. She encouraged women to speak out, to give advice, and to share their knowledge. Black female abolitionists believed that an enlightened people were an elevated and free people. By 1893, 25,530 colored schools* existed in the United States. These schools served 1,353,352 pupils and 22,956 black teachers.

As impressive as those numbers appeared, Lucy Laney realized the work ahead when she stated, "but, oh, large as this number seems, it is small when we think of the many hundreds to whom scarecely a ray of light has yet come!"

Finally, these words by Charlotte Forten Grimke** show the amount of hope the freedmen exhibited in the years following emancipation:

"Let us take courage; never ceasing to work–hoping and believing that if not for us, for another generation there is a better, brighter day in store–when slavery and prejudice shall vanish before the glorious light of Liberty and Truth; when the rights of every colored man shall everywhere be acknowledged and respected, and he shall be treated as a man and a brother."

* Schools were primarily segregated until after 1954 with the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

** Charlotte Forten Grimke was born free in Philadelphia. Her grandfather was a free man who established a thriving business as a sail maker. As a young woman, she journeyed to the south immediately after the Civil War in order to establish schools. She kept a detailed journal. She later married one of the freed slaves (Frances Grimke). Charlotte and Frances became best friends to Anna Julia Cooper (who is my favorite little-known person in history).

Black Women Abolitionists/Educators (part 2)

Another way abolitionists used education to combat the slave institution and gain sympathy for the antislavery cause was the press. Literacy made freedom of the press available to black females such as Maria Stewart, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, and Mary Ann Shadd Cary.

Maria Stewart was active in the abolitionist movement in the 1830's. Her essays and articles frequently appeared in abolitionist papers including The Liberator. She also published a spiritual tract entitled, Meditations. After leaving Boston in the 1830's, Stewart became a member of one of New York's two literary socieities. Her speeches were recorded and published by various antislavery papers.

Frances Harper was well known as a poetess and author. She wrote hundreds of poems, many denouncing slavery and racism. Harper authored at least eight works of fiction, most dealing with slavery and racism. Her writings earned her tremendous respect. One chronicler of the time stated that "she is one of the colored women of whom white women may be proud and to whom the abolitionists can point and declare that a race which could show such women never ought to have been held in bondage."

Mary Ann Shadd Cary received her education at a Quaker boarding school. She became an educator and taught in Delaware, New York, and Pennsylvania. When the Fugitive Slave Act became law in 1850, she relocated to Windsor, Canada. In Canada, she edited The Provincial Freeman, a black newspaper. Cary was the first known black female editor in the world. As a writer and editor, Cary was able to use her education to promote and elevate her race. Frederick Douglass commented that regarding Cary's contributions to antislavery newspapers, he did "not know her equal among the colored ladies of the United States."

Black Women Abolitionists/Educators (part 1)

In the South, both free blacks and slaves used secular education as a strategy to undermine the slave system. An example is Milla Granson who learned to read and write from her owner's children. She used her education to open a "midnight school." Her school continued to operate because legislation declared that while it was illegal for whites to teach slaves, there was no law against slaves teaching other slaves. According to her own account, Milla graduated hundreds of slaves who could read and write.

Literacy aided in the escape of many slaves. Susie King Taylor* explained that the laws of Georgia required all blacks, free and slave, to carry passes to be permitted on the city streets. She spoke of frequently forging passes for her grandmother, a free woman. Milla Granson mentioned that of her graduates, many wrote passes for themselves and escaped to Canada.

Among the many proslavery arguments, perhaps the most degrading was the one that claimed that blacks were non-intellectual beings. Many abolitionists used education to combat this notion. One such woman was Frances J. Coppin. Coppin was born a slave in the District of Columbia and was aware of the argument that Negroes were incapable of learning. When she gained her freedom (her aunt purchased her freedom), Coppin determined "to get an education and teach [her] people." When Coppin heard that John C. Calhoun**, had stated that if a Negro could learn to conjugate verbs in Greek, he would abandon his belief in the inferiority of blacks, she decided to take his challenge. Coppin did learn to speak Greek to the point of conjugating verbs.

While Frances Coppin was teaching at the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia, a writer called on her and explained that he had a manuscript proving the subintellect of Negroes. Coppin asked Jesse Glasgow, a black child at the school, to answer any questions the author desired. After Jesse correctly answered all the questions posed, the writer decided his theories were wrong and never published the book.


* Susie King Taylor was a slave who ran away with the Union army during the Civil War. She spent the remainder of the war traveling with the troops and serving as a cook and laundress for them. She also wrote a memoir of the period entitled, "Reminiscences of My Life in Camp."

** John C. Calhoun had been a Senator from South Carolina and was the Vice President under JQ Adams and Jackson. He was an outspoken supporter of States' Rights and also furthered many of the racist proslavery arguments. Many streets and counties in the south still bare his name. It was nearly a deal-breaker on my marriage when we bought a house in one of those areas. I may dislike him more than anyone else I've studied.

Emmett Till

Emmett Louis Till was born in Chicago on July 25, 1941. In Chicago, blacks were relatively free from the horrors of lynchings and the threats of the Klan. It was certainly not devoid of racism, but nothing in Chicago prepared Emmett for the summer of 1955 in Mississippi.

At 14, Emmett must have been excited to spend the summer with his cousin, Curtis Jones at Jones' grandfather, Mose Wright's home in Mississippi. As a northern black, Emmett instantly gained near celebrity status. Imagine his thrill as the black youth gathered around Emmett, anxious to hear his stories of the North. I imagine their dialogue drifting into Emmett's boasting of his flirtations with girls, even white girls. The other boys then dared him to go into Bryant's Grocery and Meat Market and talk to the white clerk. Mrs. Carolyn Bryant was working that day and claimed that Emmett came into the store, proud and haughty and that as he left he said, "bye, baby" and "wolf whistled."

During the next four days, Emmett reveled in his success. No one would doubt his stories now. He knew that even in Chicago his actions would have been unacceptable, but what he didn't know was that in Mississippi, his actions would cost him his life.

On the evening of August 28, 1955, Carolyn's husband, Roy and his half brother, J.W. Milam, took young Emmett from Mose Wright's home. They beat him extensively. They shot him in the head, then tied his disfigured, swollen, limp body to a heavy cotton gin and threw him in a river. Three days later, Emmett's mangled body was found.

Mamie Till, Emmett's mother, made a courageous decision. She wanted the world to see the realities of lynchings. She hoped that they would be horrified enough to demand change. She, therefore, decided to have an open casket and to invite the press.

I have seen the television footage. It is horrifying. The image that will always remain with me is of his face; battered, bruised, swollen. I had to strain to see anything human in his features. His eyes, once wide, chocolate brown, and innocent, were swollen completely shut. One eye was missing entirely. His head was swollen from the beatings and days in the river water. Even through his dark complexion, I saw deep bruises all over his body. A shiver ran throughout my body as tears filled my eyes. That shiver returns now.

I try to imagine what he felt, what he thought. Did he beg forgiveness? Did he scream with pain? Or, did he remain defiantly flippant to the end? No one will ever know. Emmett was silenced and his killers only laughed and bragged about their accomplishment. Although many heard them admit to the lynching, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam were acquitted on September 23, 1955. They later admitted to the murder in a national magazine but could not be prosecuted again. They died free men.

The acquittal and the footage of Emmett's funeral so enraged blacks and whites, that many were moved to action. Emmett became a martyr for the cause. Although still in its infancy, the civil rights movement received many new volunteers and supporters because of the pictures of Emmett Till. Many of the college students who later began SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) were close to Emmett's age. They remembered. They swore never to forget.

WARNING:
Below is a picture of Emmett before and after his death. It is graphic.

In order to celebrate...

Happy February!

In America, February is Black History Month.

Before I was Eden's mommy, I had a mostly-enjoyable career in Higher Ed Administration. Before that I was a student. I did both my senior (undergrad) thesis and my masters work studying the history of black America. Most of my research focused on the role of education/literacy in the lives of slaves. Much of my work focused on women.

To celebrate Black History Month, I will be posting an essay here and there throughout the month. I will still be posting my regular array of "Eden did the cutest thing..." and "Here are my thoughts about this..." etc. so if you just don't have any interest in history, don't tune out completely.

Happy February!

Thoughts on the Inauguration

"Peaceful transfer of power"

Those are pretty amazing words. What an amazing and inspiring event. Think about it. From the earliest governments the transfer of power has most often been anything but peaceful. I cite just a few:

Saul and David
Bloody Mary and Elizabeth
The Entire book of Ether
Most 3rd World Countries

I truly love that as heated and partisan as the politics get in this country, we do have peaceful transfer of power every 4 or 8 years.

It makes me proud.

I was less than proud to hear the booing of people when Bush and Cheney arrived at the inauguration. Come on people, they are still our leaders and they are headed out. Class it up guys.

I don't remember any other inauguration that received so much attention. We had a day of doctors and other things that kept us out and about and yet everywhere I went there was a television with inauguration coverage showing. People were talking about it. I felt a general sense of excitement and hope.

I'm glad that most people (regardless of politics) are hoping for good things from this new administration. Many are praying for Obama's success.

I love this country!