Description:

African American




Oklahoma WPA Slave Narratives: "Give the Black Man A Chance"

 

1p printed document entitled "Give the Black Man a Chance," composed by Rev. William L. Bethel, Pastor Emeritus of Bethany Presbyterian Church of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The leaflet contains five biblical quotes and a 4-stanza poem meant to inspire racial equality. It ends by recalling the Golden Rule, and by giving an invocation. Expected paper folds and wrinkles. Light overall toning and isolated foxing, else very good to near fine. Pencil inscribed verso. 4.375" x 6.875".

 

In part:

 

"'GIVE THE BLACK MAN A CHANCE

 

'Fleecy looks and black complexion

Cannot forfeit nature's claim;

Skins may differ but affection

Dwells in white and black the same.

 

Deem our nation brutes no longer,

Till some reason ye shall find

Worthier of regard and stronger

Than the colour of our kind.

 

Slaves of gold, whose sordid dealings

Tarnish all your boasted powers,

Prove that you have human feelings,

Ere you proudly question ours!

 

Shall we, whose souls are lighted

With wisdom from on high,

Shall we to men benighted,

The lamp of life deny?'"

 

William L. Bethel's life story, as well as this rhyming poem, were recorded around 1936, when the 92-year-old ex-slave was interviewed by representatives of the Works Progress Administration. (His story is fully reproduced in The WPA Oklahoma Slave Narratives, eds. T. Lindsay Baker and Julie P. Baker, Norman, Oklahoma, University of Oklahoma Press, 1996, p. 55-59.)

 

Bethel had been born a slave in North Carolina in 1844, and built Confederate breastworks during the Civil War. After emancipation, he pursued a higher education and graduated from Lincoln University in Chester County, Pennsylvania in 1882. He served as the pastor of various North Carolina-based Presbyterian congregations before moving to then Oklahoma Territory in 1901. Six years later, he received the rights to establish the Bethany Presbyterian Church in Oklahoma City.

 


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