So, Washington was not saying this is some clarion call of righteousness but rather making a political statement basically saying that as long as Congress was not going to do anything, oh well. By the way, there may very well have been plenty of Americans who came out of the awakening convinced to end slavery and who probably fought passionately for that end. That does not remove that there were equally passionate forces on the other side, who used the bible itself to justify their racism. All of the fathers denounced slavery? Odd because 50% of them owned slaves. To make the case Hyatt is making is to slap all African Americans in the face in the name of God no less. Taking a public stance is meaningless and an empty gesture if you cannot even back that statement up with your life.
"The Declaration of Independence, with its colorblind language and statement that "all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights," was understood by the founding generation to be a statement against slavery." - Eddie Hyatt
There are just so much wrong with this level of gaslighting. First of all, Eddie was not around in 1776 so he has no idea what they understood those words to mean. One must remember that most people who were not slaves back then did not look upon slaves as fellow human beings let alone in any way "equal." The very same people at the Constitutional Congress just a few years later, would declare that African American slaves were worth 3/5 of a white person. That was the infamous three-fifths compromise where three out of every five slaves were officially counted, resulting in a disproportionate representation in the government to the slave states. Is Eddie Hyatt actually making the argument that slaves had any unalienable rights at all? It just is not a serious position to stake out historically, let alone morally.
'Indeed, abolitionists used both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, which came 11 years later, as weapons in the fight against slavery. Because the founders took this stand at a time when slavery was accepted and practiced in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and most of the world, Frederick Douglass would declare, "Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the fathers of this republic. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great men too"great enough to give fame to a great age. It does not often happen to a nation to raise, at one time, such a number of truly great men."' - Eddie Hyatt
Yes, ABOLITIONISTS, certainly did. They were of course opposed by the other half of this country, who used the same documents to support slavery. For goodness sake, the three-fifths compromise was written into our documents. This whitewashing of our history simply flies in the face of basic math. Eddie sells the notion that 1726 was the start of the Christian undoing of slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation however would not be for another 137 years. That does not sound very "awake" to me. I might add that we had to fight a bloody Civil War just to win that freedom. I add further that the marginalization of the former slaves as less than human would go on for over 100 more years. Realize it was only a lifetime ago that African Americans were routinely lynched, had to sit on the back of busses and had to go to different schools.
Look, I understand this is a touchy subject for many. My objection is to trying to gaslight the church into thinking that they are being told something false about our history. They are not. I am sure our Founding Fathers did the best they could. They established this fine government plan amidst a culture that still accepted slavery, which is the height of racism. It is what our country was founded upon. It drove the economy. Were there folks fighting against this? Absolutely and they deserve all the credit for doing so. That does not change the fact that there were many, many people on the other side and that includes many of the founders. It does not change the fact that they used the bible to defend their reprehensible view of our fellow human beings, all of which created in the image of God. It does not do any good to pretend our history was as pure as a rerun of Leave it Beaver. It is insulting to all of our brothers and sisters in Christ and the church should categorically reject such obvious racism, that unfortunately still lives today, especially when people try to pretend it never did. Make no mistake beloved. Racism is hate and we would do well to read the key verse above for what God has to say about that. Let no one blind you.
Reverend Anthony Wade - July 5 2024
