2. The African-American Experience in America and in South Carolina

3. Goals for our time together:
Give an overview of how we got to where we are
Hear personal reflections on how this has impacted actual people
Begin a dialogue for what this means for Grace Church in the upstate

4. Preliminary Thoughts:
Obviously only touching the surface
There are lots of nuances and differing perspectives on the details of the things we will talk about
Several critical missed windows of opportunity

5. The Beginning
First Africans in the British colonies arrived in Virginia in 1619 (indentured servants?)
In 1662, law was passed saying a child had the status of his/her mother
By 1691 all free blacks were kicked out of Virginia
Rich planters making money off of crops and slaves were more reliable and a better long-term investment than indentured servants

6. The Beginning in South Carolina
Charleston founded in 1670 by island planters with slaves
Eventually, 40% of all slaves imported into North America came through Charleston
Blacks outnumbered whites in South Carolina from the early 1700s to the Civil War
Rich planters making money off of crops and slaves were more reliable and a better long-term investment than indentured servants

7. A Window – 1786 to 1800
1790 – approx. 700,000 slaves, total population 4,000,000

9. A Window – 1786 to 1800
1790 – approx. 700,000 slaves, total population 4,000,000
Importation of slaves banned by congress in 1808
Invention of the cotton gin

10. The Cotton Gin 1790 – 1.5 million pounds of cotton
1810 – 85 million pounds of cotton, accounted for 22% of the value of all US exports
1860 – 2.28 billion pounds of cotton, 57% of export revenue

17. Natural Population Growth
The Population growth of slaves in America was unique.
700,000 slaves were brought to America and there were 4,000,000 slaves by 1860.
4,000,000 slaves were brought to Brazil and there were about 4,000,000 people of African descent in 1872.

18. A Second Window – 1865 to 1876
Reconstruction – 2000 African-Americans elected to public office in the south in ten years; 2 Senators, 16 Representatives, 1 Governor
72 years from when the last one left office to the next time an African-American was elected

19. Post Civil War – Negative Factors
Sharecropping and tenant farming
Black Codes
Convict Leasing

20. 13th Amendment
“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

21. Convict Leasing
From 1874 to 1877, Alabama’s prison population tripled. 90% of new convicts were black
Percentage of Alabama’s total state revenue from convict leasing: 1846 – 10%; 1889 – 73%
1873 – 25% of leased convicts died

22. Post Civil War – Negative Factors
Sharecropping and tenant farming
Black Codes
Convict Leasing
Racial Terror / Lynchings

23. Racial Terror / Lynchings
Ratio of black victims to white victims: 1882 – 4 to 1; after 1900 – 17 to 1
Between 1880 and 1930, two black southerners died at the hands of a white mob every week

24. Post Civil War – Negative Factors
Sharecropping and tenant farming
Black Codes
Convict Leasing
Racial Terror / Lynchings
Jim Crow / Segregation

25. Plessy vs. Ferguson, 1896, dissent
Our constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful…It is therefore to be regretted that this high tribunal…has reached the conclusion that it is competent for a state to regulate the enjoyment by citizens of their civil rights solely upon the basis of race.

26. Plessy vs. Ferguson, 1896, dissent
In my opinion, the judgment this day rendered will, in time, prove to be quite as pernicious as the decision made by this tribunal in the Dred Scott Case.

27. 1932-1933 South Carolina school district expenditures…
From Charles Houston’s research and video…
“Expenditures for whites: $10,147,556
Expenditures for negroes: $1,366,379”

28. South Carolina – Isaac Woodard
1946, veteran with an honorable discharge, returning home

29. The Great Migration
Between 1910 and 1970, 6,000,000 African-Americans left the South for the North and West

30. Post Civil Rights – Negative Factors
Mass Incarceration

32. Going to Jail or Prison, Lifetime Chance
White men: 1 in 17
Black men: 1 in 3

34. Some Historical Data and Perspective

41. Current Issues: Racism
Overt Racism – Active (Example: White Supremacy)
Overt Racism – Passive / Reactionary
Structural and Systemic Racism

42. Current Issues Term: “White Privilege” Term: “Intersectionality”
Poverty

43. Thoughts for Grace Church
Overt racism as a discipleship issue
Systemic / structural racism as a discipleship issue
Unique geographic and historical context
Unique opportunities because of size and footprint in the upstate