The Racial Justice Task Force resumes meeting on Monday, September 15, 7-8:30 pm on Zoom. Email us at RacialJustice@first-unitarian-pgh.org for a Zoom link, if you are not already on our list. Everyone is surely welcome!
Just come to be informed if that’s all you want.
We completed our summer movie series with the very sad PBS documentary American Coup: Wilmington 1898.
The perpetrators, using newspapers (THE social media of the day) spread their hatred – actually using the phrase white supremacy,
They took over the government of the city, county and state eventually. Many people were killed or forced to leave in fear, in the horrible attacks of November 10, 1898. Businesses and wealth were destroyed, and lost to any descendants. The film is historical, and also documents the efforts of citizens and descendants , to uncover the long-hidden past, and to heal and repair. Two examples: One woman established a scholarship for African American High School students who want to pursue education in the building arts, of any kind. This is in honor of the carpenter, Alfred Howe, part of a ‘building family,’ who basically built her ancestor’s home, and many others in the city. Another story is of two brothers who had their ancestor’s statue removed – he had been the owner and editor of local paper, The News and Observer. The great-grandson said – I can’t apologize for him, but, I feel remorse, “part of the legacy we have is that we were the worst of it for a period of time.”
In light of what we know is going on today, we must continue to find ways to challenge the many forms of racism in our country.
Earlier this summer, a group of us attended a program at East Liberty Presbyterian Church, as their “Facing Systemic Racism” Committee explored what they have learned about founders of their church having enslaved a number of people. An article about this presentation follows.
Come join us as we make plans for this coming year. Everyone is welcome!
Facing Historic Systemic Racism at East Liberty Presbyterian Church (ELPC)
In 2022, members of East Liberty Presbyterian Church (ELPC) learned that one of their most revered founders and donors enslaved and sold two women, Nell and Poll, in the early 1800s. Consequently, a team researched what else they could learn about these two women and their lives, and how they might reckon with this part of their church’s legacy. In late June, seven members of our church’s Racial Justice Task Force, along with close to 100 members of ELPC and a few other visitors, attended a presentation by ELPC’s ‘Facing Systemic Racism’ Committee.
This was the first formal presentation to their congregation, and we had been invited by Hollen Barmer, who was the primary speaker. Recognizing that this was going to be a lot of, and difficult, information to process, the group was advised to not feel the need to take it all in, or to have clear thoughts or answers to the discussion. This is the beginning of ELPC’s next steps around this new knowledge. They recognize that even as they have benefited from their donor’s wealth, as was the case SO widely, that wealth would not have been the same without the work of the slaves that had upheld the donor’s day-to-day lives, and more.
Using a variety of records, the group had been able to develop a picture of Nell and Poll’s family – the parents, and 3 other siblings. This is not easy research, in part because records were kept differently at different times even over this relatively short period. The family was not all together. Brief mentions here and there had to be pieced together to try to recreate the family picture. Sadly, it was not through standard birth and death records that this tracking could be done, but rather through bills of sale and wills, where Nell, Poll and other family members were recorded as property. Posters of these various records were displayed in the room. It was definitely painful, and a lot to take in.
Aside from the family histories, Hollen also spoke of challenging the myths around slavery that we may carry.
1) The myth that Pennsylvania was a ‘Free State;’
2) The myth that the North was different from the South, and
3) The myth that slaves did only unskilled work.
Perhaps Pennsylvania was called a “Free State’ because it was the earliest state to enact an anti-slavery law. Yes, but… ‘An Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery,’ passed in 1780, and it surely was gradual. (Wikipedia contrasts it with Massachusetts’ 1783 “instant abolition” after a number of court cases.) While PA’s law forbade importation of new slaves, it did not free those who were slaves at the time. Children born, after 1780, to enslaved mothers were not free either – rather they were titled “indentured servants”, and were so until they were 28 years old. A horrifying loophole, not stated, but practiced, was that any child born to one of these ‘indentured servants,” (including biracial children conceived through the violence of rape by white male enslavers) would themselves be indentured until they were 28! Thank heaven, this loophole was ended by a 1788 Amendment.
After the history discussion, the congregation members were encouraged to ask questions. Various responses to ELPC’s history were floated. Hollen mentioned that repairing the white supremacist past includes addressing the truth of what happened, and thinking of how to address the denial of power and wealth that occurred.
Amber Snyder was there from Bethel A.M.E. and some ELPC members mentioned supporting Bethel as a way of responding to their own past. The research, and thoughtful presentation, that was done about the lives of Nell and Poll is a big step down the path of repairing the Truth.