The Birth Defect--Slavery and Redemption

Yesterday, standing on a spot that was rendered both infamous and hallowed by the slave trade, President Bush called slavery "one of the great crimes of history." But he didn't stop there. He demonstrated that he sees and understands the theme of redemption woven into history: that is, good can come out of the greatest of evils. The president made his remarks on Goree Island off the coast of Senegal. It was from Goree Island that countless thousands of Africans boarded slave ships bound for America.

"At this place," Bush said, "liberty and life were stolen and sold. Human beings were delivered and sorted, and weighed, and branded with the marks of commercial enterprises, and loaded as cargo on a voyage without return."

The effects of slavery weren't limited to the enslaved, however. As the president said, their "captors were corrupted" as well. "Years of unpunished brutality and bullying and rape produced a dullness and hardness of conscience" in those who called themselves "master."

National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice got it exactly right when she said slavery was America's "birth defect." Yet, throughout American history, the president said, "there were men and women who clearly saw this sin and called it by name." In one of history's greatest ironies, "African Americans have upheld the ideals of America by exposing laws and habits contradicting those ideals."

Even more inspiring is the manner in which those who were enslaved, and their descendants, overcame their oppression. The president was right when he told us that their "spirit did not break."

As a result, "by a plan known only to Providence, the stolen sons and daughters of Africa helped to awaken the conscience of America. The very people traded into slavery helped to set America free." Although their ancestors did not ask to play this role, African Americans forced America to live up to her promises and potential.

The president focused on Christianity's crucial role in this chapter of our history. In a story filled with ironies, this indeed may be the greatest. Not only were the leading abolitionists Christians, but slaves adopted the religion of their captors, made it their own, and turned it into an instrument for their emancipation. Bush noted, "In America, enslaved Africans learned the story of the exodus from Egypt and set their own hearts on a promised land of freedom. Enslaved Africans discovered a suffering Savior and found He was more like themselves than their masters."

Of course, it's considered to be the height of political incorrectness to suggest that any good could have come out of slavery—let alone to give credit to the Savior. It's far better to wallow in the status of victim. But not only does that ignore the lessons of history, it also ignores the power of redemption and leaves us powerless in the face of today's crises.

Call us here at BreakPoint (1-877-3-CALLBP), and ask for a copy of the president's magnificent, eloquent speech on Goree Island.

The heart of any good narrative is redemption, and this story is filled with redemption and hope. It's the heart of the story of the Exodus, of the Babylonian captivity, of the cross, and of African slavery. And the reason it's the heart of a good narrative—as the president so well knows—is because it is the heart of the Gospel.

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That's pretty awesome. It reminds me of one of my favorite questions: Why don't black people do something to recognize all the POSITIVE that a lot of white people have done on their behalf, instead always focusing on the negatives. Not to discount the trials and tribulations, but the bottom line is, if ALL the white folks in America had said, sorry, we're not going to let you share in our society and our dream -- they would all be second class citizens at best, slaves at worst.

If Klintoon gave the apology for slavery, then where is the black "thank you" in response to all those who made their present day status as equal members of these United States possible?

Good points. The reason people like Jesse Jackson focus on the victimization is because you can't pretend to be Moses if the people you're trying to lead have equality.

As for apologies, when Lincoln, in his Second Inaugural Address, called the Civil War God's judgement for slavery (and said we deserved even worse!) I took that as a pretty frank admission by the U.S. Government that slavery was wrong. If saying, "This thing we did was so bad we deserved millions of deaths as our punishment" is not an apology, what the heck is?

"As for apologies, when Lincoln, in his Second Inaugural Address, called the Civil War God's judgement for slavery (and said we deserved even worse!) I took that as a pretty frank admission by the U.S. Government that slavery was wrong. If saying, "This thing we did was so bad we deserved millions of deaths as our punishment" is not an apology, what the heck is?"

Thanks for this post. The greatest apology came in the form of the Civil War, the white American bloodbath that ended slavery forever. The permanent seal of this great amends to the Black race was stamped onto our Constitution with the addition of the 13th Amendment. The 20th Century further cemented the great apology with Civil Rights laws, Affirmative Action programs, Black History Month, the granting of "minority status" to African-Americans, and the opening up of Major League sports, universities, job opportunities and ten thousand other forms of apologies. I think the President's speech was unbalanced, lacking in historical perspective and factual completeness, and totally PC. I like President Bush, but I thought he was above this political grandstanding that so sadly marked the Clinton Presidency. Every generation of Americans has had its own moral blindness; ours is the slaughter of 1.5 million babies a year. As this present generation was raised with legalized abortion and is therefore blind to its moral evil, our earliest generation of Americans were also born into the universally accepted practice of slavery and were similarly blinded to the evil of its own day.

However, I would have liked to have heard the President state that the U.S. abolished the slave trade in 1807, and that soon after, the Northern States abolished slavery entirely. The majority of early Americans found slavery to be repulsive and outlawed it, (North of the Mason/Dixon line), while many of the Founding Fathers were still alive.

Bush's little speech was total crap, it could have come out of the mouth of Jimmy Carter. (I wonder what the reaction of people on this forum would have been if there had been no publicity on this speech and I had posted it here claiming that it was a speech Jimmy Carter had made in Africa a couple of years ago.)As starving men will eat grass and worms, so the favorable mention of Christianity (a public rarity, as the author noted) has apparantly so enthralled Colson that he is willing to overlook its faults. One of the oddest of those faults is its peculiar theology. According to Mr. Bush "there were men and women who clearly saw this sin and called it by name" and "Christian men and women became blind to the clearest commands of their faith and added hypocrisy to injustice". Jesus Christ himself didn't condemn slavery as a sin, but luckily He now has Bush and Colson to set Him straight on the matter. The remarks in fact are a backhanded swipe at Christianity (I wonder who wrote this speech, it certainly wasn't GWB). As I say, starving men . . .

You make good points, but I think the criticism of the President as PC is unwarranted. I believe this was the real stuff. He certainly didn't have to go to Africa, or to this island. He could have spent weeks in Africa and never mentioned slavery, or he could (as he has in past statements) have focused on the slavery that exists in the here and now, such as the government-endorsed slave trade in Sudan. I think this speech was the real deal, and I think it has more praise than condemnation of America in it.

However, I would have liked to have heard the President state that the U.S. abolished the slave trade in 1807, and that soon after, the Northern States abolished slavery entirely.

I agree. We need to hear more about early abolition efforts, especially when the reparations stupidity comes up. If I pay into reparations, who am I paying on behalf of? My Scottish-Canadian Grandma whose parents came over during WWI? My Quebecois-descended Grandad whose people never owned slaves? What about my Mom's side? Lots of early settler types on that side, but all Downeasters, and therefore citizens of a state that outlawed slavery almost 200 years ago. When you factor in my wife it gets even cloudier: Her great-grandmother came over from Germany well after the Civil War, some of her ancestors (and some of mine) were Indians. And since her ancestry runs through Wisconsin and mine Maine, it's almost a certainty that we had ancestors fighting on the Union side of the Civil War. Imagine the irony if one of my ancestors was in the 20th Maine Regiment, and I must pay out on behalf of a man who helped hold Little Round Top. Yeesh!

Were you really tired when you wrote this post? It's very cranky, whiny and incoherent.

Bush's little speech was total crap, it could have come out of the mouth of Jimmy Carter.

What part of the speech was Carteresque? Are you sure you remember Carter? Are you perhaps thinking of Gabe Kotter? Trust me, Carter would have sent this speech back, because it only criticizes (some) past Americans and has nothing to say about the horrible evil Carter sees America as these days. A Carter speech would have had a long, repentance-filled section calling for us all to bend down and kiss Jesse Jackson on his Heinie-town.

Jesus Christ himself didn't condemn slavery as a sin, but luckily He now has Bush and Colson to set Him straight on the matter.

Let me do a slight edit on that for you and see what it sounds like:

Jesus Christ himself didn't condemn homosexuality as a sin, but luckily He now has Jim Dobson and Chuck Colson to set Him straight on the matter.

These days we have ~~sodomites~~ "people of different sexual preference" running churches in mainline denominations. Why? Because they say, "Homosexuality isn't a sin, because Jesus never condemned it." That's the exact measure you're using to criticize the President and Colson. By your measure tyranny is not sinful because Jesus didn't speak against the Romans or advocate revolt against them. What if the Founders had followed your standard? We would still be subjects of the Crown. Christianity is about following Christ, not looking for what we can get away with. What do you think the chances are that Jesus would own a slave? "WWJD? Buy some darkies to help around the carpentry shop." Somehow, I don't think so.

Sorry, but if you think that it's within the will of God for Christ's followers to own Africans, you should get on a plane to Sudan, settle down and buy a couple. The not-quite-as-sinful-as-I-thought-apparently government there has killed two million Christians and animists there in the last twenty years, and enslaved two million more, so it shouldn't be too hard to find some unused land and a few folks to do the work for you.

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