AND A Delivered at the Bishops' Council, Baltimore, Md., February 13, 1920 Bethel A. £ M. E. Church % Rev. JOHN A. GREGG, Presides Edward Waters CollejH Jacksonville, Florida. iwurd W attTi College Print {jl} AFRICA AND A WAY OUT Delivered at the Bishops' Council, Baltimore, Md., February 13, 1920 Bethel A. M. E. Church —By- Rev. JOHN A, GREGG, President Edward Waters College Jacksonville, Florida. Edward Waters College Print FOREWORD In presenting this lecture to the Church in this form, I do so because a number who heard me deliver it asked me for copies, and several have wanted to know about some of the pprtions I was compelled to leave out because of the lack of time. I am sure that all who read this address will be con vinced that a very carefully planned program for our missionary work, and especially in South Africa, is of the utmost im¬ portance to the Church. Having been interested in Africa all my life, I somehow feel Divinely called to- that special work, and should the Church see fit to send me there I shall give it my most care¬ ful and prayerful service. John A. Gregg. Rev. JOHN A. GREGG, M. A., D. D. President Edward Waters College JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA The unanimous choice of the Delegates of Florida as Connectional Candidate for the Bishopric of the A.M.E. Church, St. Louis, Missouri, May 1920. The subject, "Africa And A Way Out" has two possible interpretations. One, that we are trying to find how best we can get away from our obligation to Africa, the father¬ land, and leave the work that we have so nobly started there. But God forbid that the cnurch of Allen should ever give such a thought one moment's place, for she has never been a quitter. Aiways she has stood tor expansion and advance¬ ment. Conceived in a spirit of manhood and born of Necessity, this church has always stood out as an exponent for the noblest and best for the black man, both at home and abroad I once heard a prominent minister of our church say, "It is wonderful the amount of success upon which the A. M. E. Church has stumbled." I have even thought at times that he was right, but in my more sober moments and careful con¬ siderations 1 have plainly seen that afterall.it has been God's hand which has guided the destinies of of this great church, and I believe that adown the years He will, continue to lead us, until our motto shall be accepted by all men, "God our father, Christ our Redeemer, and man our Brother." God has always had men in times of stress to lead forth His people, and that has been no less true of the A. M. E. Church. When our people, in their worship of God, had been humiliated beyond endurance, it was then that lie put it in the heart of Richard Allen to begin the organization which has become the greatest force among Negroes today. When in his blinded gropings for more and better light, the Negro felt his great lack, it was then that God put it into the heart of Daniel A. Payne to start a movevent toward Christian education which in the years has given us a host of well informed men and women whose efforts have been felt in every part of the world. When there was need for strong and rugged men to bat¬ tle the way through the maze of uncertainty and doubt, and comes in for the proper amount of respect and esteem give the Church standing before the tribunals of the land, God gave us a Turner, a Grant, a Gaines and others of that type. To place the Church upon the firm foundation upon which she rests today, reaping the benefits of learning and ridding her Churches of dept, God gave us this mighty galary of Bishops who occupy the bench today. I am sure my friends, that the great A. M. E. Church Is divinely called to do a mighty work for God, and "A Way "Out," when applied to her has never meant, does not me^n now and never will mean a way out of difficulties by the back door. No, the subject given me for discussion tonight does not mean that our Church which has set her hands to the plow as regards our missonary work shall ever turn back, or in the cover of darkness shall ''fold her tents like the Arabs and silently steal away." No, it means that we shall face these problems and solve them—solve them as a Hurst has solved the intricate problems of Florida, making the land of "sun¬ shine, flowers and perpetual youth" the cynosure of all eyes in African Methodism; solve them as a Sampson Brooks has solved the problems faciner a debt ridden and discouraged congregation, putting new life, vigor and determination into them and giving, in less than a auadrennium, this magnify cent structure free from debt; solve them as every Bishop, Presiding elder, Pastor and Layman has solved the problem which has faced him throughout the whole scope of African Methodism. , It was no blind chanc n that led Mr.McAdoo and his Jubi¬ lee Singeres into South Africa awaking in the breast of the natives a desire to know more about his kith and kin in America, and the wonderful A. M. E. Church of which the singers were always speaking; it was no blind chance that caused the African to send his emissaries here and emplore our Church to come to him; it was no blind chance which sent out the rugged Turner, the big hearted Coppin, the eru¬ dite Smith/ the suave Perrick, the diplomatic Johnson —6— the evangelistic Beckett; it was no blind chance which sent a Smith, a Grant, a Shaffer, a Heard and a Ross to the rich fields of West Africa. And since African Methodism has undertaken this mighty task in Africa, please God, she will do her work there as she has always done it, with decision, dispatch and credit. AFRICA! AFRICA! How that word has always thril- ed me,since as a boy of six in my father's home, I first heard it on the lips of a returned missionary! And to him who really has vision, what wonderful possibilities it opens up to the African Methodist Church! What an opportunity for con¬ secrated, albeit sacrificial service! Never would I have been satisfied without the privilege of going to that far off country I have never been quite able to describe my feeling as our ship neared the shores of Africa and gave me my first glimpse of the Fatherland. When our boat finally tied up at Cape Town and I was permitted to place my feet upon the soil of the land that has been my constant dream for more than twenty years, I felt as I think the crusaders must have felt when at last they reached Jerusalem. How eagerly I set myself to studying the people ana their customs; how I nosed out the conditions under which they were living ; how I stored away information concerning our Church and its activities under these new settings; how willingly I gave myself over to the task that was laid before me! That I did my work well, those under whom I served, those who went over afterward and. even the delegates to the General Conferences since my return, have told the Church. In studying the people of Africa, I found many points in common between colored people here and the Native Afri¬ can., When we speak of the Native in Africa we mean one .of -the three classes of colored people there. I saw "colored people" for want of a better term.) ~ i - The first are the Colonial Colored people, or Africanders •as they- &re generally called, although the word Africander rin its stricts sense designates the people of European ex- traction born in South Africa as well as the colored people . These colored people arethe result of the mixing of theBoer§ _7— and the Hottentot stock, and they very much resemble thecol- ored people of America. Those in the western province gener¬ ally speak Colonial Dutch, while those in the eastern province speak Colonial Dutch, while those in the eastern province speak, for the most part, English, conducting their religious services in those languages respectively. The second class is made up of Malays who originally came from the Island of Malisia, and were at one time slaves to theBoers. Theykept their racial identity quite pure because of the fact that they are Mohammedans and the Moham¬ medan religion, you know, does not allow its devotees to m- temarry with those of an other faith. The Malays, like the Jews, are very thrifty and good bargainers. They have little shops everywhere and some of them commodious stores. Many of them are peddlers and the early morning hours, when one would wish to sleep, are made hideous by the blare of the fish horn, and the stentorian voices of the criers of wares or the sellers of wood. The Native forms the third class of these darker peoples. He is the unadulterated, the simon pure, the real African, and in this brief address I shall speak principally of him be¬ fore pointing a way out for our Church in that wonderful coutrny. One can only treat this subject hurridly in the limit¬ ed time allotted me, and for that reason I shall speak partic¬ ularly of S.Africa, which after all is the gateway to that great continent. South Africa was the pawn in the great war game just closed in Europe. It is around South Africa that the dreams of Cecil Rhodes, Jameson, the ex-kaiser of Ger¬ many and other Euronean diplomats have centered for the last half a century. Plans have been laid for a Cape to Cairo railroad; for the development of Africa's rich mineral re¬ sources ; the making of it an outlet for European congestion, and hence our Church will find its largest possibilities there. Most of the Native peoples of South Africa have been classed under the one head, the Bantu races, much as the American Red Man is .called the Indian. Like the Indians, too, they were originally divided into nations and tribes seme of which are the Zulus, the Basutos, the Barotses, the Bech- lianas, the Mxosis, the Pondos, the Fingos, the Timuus, the Griquas, the Hottentots, and the Bushmen. The Hot¬ tentots do not strictly come under the Bantu races, for they well nigh form a race of themselves. The origin of these peoples is little known. Some say they are a part of the early Egyptian stock which migrated South, forming a distinct class unto themselves. Others say they were driven out by the invasions of the early Egyp¬ tians and forced southward, spreading out over Africa like a fan. Be that as it may, the careful observer notes a gradual gradation from the Bushman at the extreme south, to the Egyptian at the extreme north. This gradation is not one of color as the average American mind would suppose, but rather one of features. As a usual thing the Native is very clannish. He believes that God's greatest piece of work was an African black man, and that his tribe is the best of all the Africans. His chief is the very best chief, and his headman is the embodiment of all that a headman should be. He thinks that his family is about the best in the tribe, and he, if he be the head of the family, represents about all the goodness of his family — a very good trait if not carried too far. Women with him do not, as a general thing, amount to much, but of all the women in the world his women are the best, go into his hut and you will find, if he be a Mxosi, that his carvings are particularly Mxosi; if he be a Bushman, his paintings depict scenes from Bushman life; if he be a Basuto his folk lore deals with the doings of Basuto warriors or tells of the wit and the charm of the Basuto maid. A member of one tribe will scarcely ever prove faithless to another member of the same tribe, but on the other hand he will not hesitate to take the advantage of members of other tribes or races. I said there are many points in common between the African in Africa and his brother in America. The Native is very superstitious, even after long contact with civiliza¬ tion. Long before the missionaries had ever gone to Africa, he Relieved in a great and supreme Being of some Jrind. This —*9— Being was good and would do him no harm, and he therefore paid but little attention : o him. There were myriads of evil beings which, however, were constantly interfering with the affairs of men, hence he must plan some way to appease them. Now he himself being mortal, could not get into direct touch with these evil spirits. His loved ones, however, who had lived in the flesh, were by these ties bound to him even after death. In the other world they had become spir- -its. The Native then tried to keep the good will of the depart¬ ed ancestors and was always offering sacrifices to them in order that they might turn from him the wrath of the evil spirits.What is generally thought to be ancestral worship is not really ancestral worship at all, but sacrifice made through the ancestors to the evil spirits. The great respect with which we regard our dead here is an outgrowth of the awe and veneration with which the Native regards his departed. If a Native wants every one to speak well of him, he has but to die, for he knows that the Natives will come for miles around to pay their respects to him, and attend his funeral, whether he be a friend or a mere acquaintance. All Natives, so far as I could learn, bury their dead, and the scene around the grave side is indeed an impressive and touching one. All show feelings of the utmost respect, and after the last rites have been performed, the last v. orcl said, and the body lowered into the earth, every one steps forward and drops a handfull of dirt into the open grave. So solemn and so earnest are they, that at one such funeral, I too step¬ ped forward and threw my handfull of dirt into the grave. They had some vague idea of a place of punishment af¬ ter death for the bad people, and a place of joy for the good, but they say very little about either place more than that one's domestic animals will share this home with him. After his death the Native's personal effects are destroyed and ins hut either burned or torn down. It is thought that he may need them in the other world. The Native is a firm believer in amulets and charms. —10— He will wear a necklace made from the long hairs taken from the end of a live cow's tail as a general charm, much as some of our people wear a rabbit's foot. Just as our mothers used to hang about our necks a bag of assoioedity, the Native mother hangs about her baby's neck reeza seeds to keep away convulsions. A Native carries upon his person a leopard's tooth and fear? nothing for rha: makes him brave A piece of mooti wood is carried for the same reason that some here carry a potato or a buckeye. I could go on to con¬ siderable length and tell you many more things about the Native, his customs and manner of living, but lest you be come weary, I shall pass on to something about their schools and churches and then present my "way out." In South Africa there is no public school system such as we have here in America. Private schools, parochial schools and colleges are subsidized on what is called the "pound for pound" system; that is, when such schools have reached a certain state of efficiency, follow out a certain system of in¬ struction, and whose teachers hold certain grade certificates, they may be subsidized if the government inspector passes favorably upon them. One pound sterling or about five dol¬ lars, is given for every pound sterling that the school repre¬ sents. The pastor, rector or priest of every church is the "head¬ master" or principal of the school of his church or parish, while any one who desires may open a private school. All these schools are eagerly attended, for the Native and Color¬ ed people are wide awake to educational possibilities, and the supply of schools is far short of the demand. There is one school that is entirely under the wing of the government, and that is the University of South Africa,but it is not public for it is not open to Native or Colored people. As I have said, these people are anxious for schools and will make great sacrifices and send their children long dis¬ tances for school advantages. Chiefs and headmen are striv¬ ing to get teachers to come to them in their own territories to teach their children. Out there, the leaders of the races Native, Colored and Malay—are preaching and urging ed- -11- ucation as never before, and there is an awakening all over South Africa, less in extent perhaps, but fully as sweeping as was the great Renaissance in the fifteenth century. Mr. Tango Jabavu, editor of the "Imvo," one of the leading Native news papers of South Africa, saw a great light and gave utterance to his vision when he said, "The Native wants three things: 1st, Education; 2nd, more Education; 3rd, better Education." No truancy law is necessary for the darker races in South Africa, for all flock eagerly to school. The one con¬ cern on the part of those who would like to see all receive education is the lack of accomodation. As I said before, the Native believes that the greatest piece of work from the hands of the Creator is an African black man. He knows, however, that his educational advantages are limited, and he feels that if he prepares himself and keeps in touch with God, that Ethiopia will have begun to stretch forth her hands unto God. It is marvelous how readily the children learn. It is no uncommon thing to see a boy who speaks two or three languages readily. We had one boy with us, Simon Maley- be, a Basuto, who acted as our interpreter and who spoke six or seven languages fluently. Even the Euro' pean has been struck with the rapidity with which the Native acquires knowledge, but he has misled himself into believing that the Native is capable of learning only up to a certain standard. - He says that the Native is like a parrot which "picks up" a few things but is incapable of learning much. The average European opinion concerning the educa¬ tion of the Native is summed up by Miss Violet R. Mark- ham in her recent book, "The New Era in South Africa," when she says: "It is but another indication of that painful waking to higher possibilities of life, unaccompanied by any qualities which bring such possibilities within practical r^ach, which inevitably troubles a black race sooner or later a result of its juxtiposition with European civilization. To the black man, indeed, the path of knowledge would appear to be wholly a path of pain. It leads him within sight of —12— heights from the ascent of which his mental disabilities would seem to forever bar him. Little wonder that sucn a realization raises within him a spirit of impotent revolt, or angry rebellion against the natural limitations of his limitations which education makes only too plain to him." My observations in the school room, and out of it have led me to believe that the Native is capable of higher as well as elementary education. All the natives whom I know who were sent to American and European schools of higher learning, have been able to acquit themselves as well as the av¬ erage American and European studerts. I find them good m mathematics, languages, sciences and history. They do not do so well in grammar, a fact which one readily under¬ stands when he realizes that they are trying to make a lan¬ guage, not their own, the vehicle of expression. Tribal feelings in South Africa are very strong, a fact which militates against the best growth and development of the Native. These tribal antipathies are being slowly but surely eradicated through contact in the school rodms and churches. The ultimate "stretching forth of Ethiopia's hands" will be consumated when all tribes are brought to see their common interests and unite for their common weal. I have seen friendship spring up between students of diff¬ erent tribes which gave every promise of being lasting A great central College such as bishop Coppin originally designed Bethel Institute to be, or such as the Fannie J. Coppin school fosterd by bishop Johnson, will do more to break down these tribal hatreds than anything else. The fact that the pastor of the church is /the "headmas¬ ter" of the parochial school will mean much to the church in the years to come. It is a well known fact that the child has a high regard and great respect for his teacher, and where the teacher and preacher are one, the preacher comes in for the proper amount of respect and esteem that are justly due him, and which are so wanting in this country. So I say that the parochial schools, which, by the way, are absolutely necessary now, are, in the years to come, going to —13— prove a great boon to the Church and may finally end in giv¬ ing strength to the African branch of our church that will be sadly lacking here. The fact too that these schools are rather cosmopolitan in the nature, gives a wider range of in¬ terest to our work there. Especially is this true of the cities, for there I have found Colored, Native, Malays, Jews and Whites in attendance. Naturally, coming in contact with our ministers day by day, ar.'d hearing always :"!or, of the good than of the evil ab :ut ou-: ihuroh, these children will grow- up with love for the school and a deeper regard for the church under whose wings the school has its being. And if these schools are properly fostered and encouraged, they will form a bulwark for the Church that will serve it well at some future time Out in South Africa one hears much of the "Ethiopian Movement." To the America mind, this is at first hard to understand. It is hard for us to realize that one nation which rules another by force must be constantly on the alert lest the nation ruled should turn the tables and become the ruler. Living in a country so large that all the people have plenty of room, without being forced to acquire more terri¬ tory for a part of a congested population, we cannot quite grasp the significance of the night and day struggle of Eu¬ ropean countries for colonial possessions. And the nation that thus possesses itself to these colonies, many times—nay for the most part—against the will of the people thus govern¬ ed, has continually to watch every movement (even though it n~ay govern wisely and well) that it may not develop into a storm which might sweep everything before it. Such a condition certainly obtains in South Africa. One has only to land there to feel the tenseness of the situation in the very atmosphere. Not having forgotten that life- and-death struggle both with the Zulus and Boers, the Eng¬ lish naturally do not intend to give the Native or anyone else an opportunity to bring about another Afghanistan. I say we cannot understand the Englishman's fear of us, especially when we are exercising nothing more than relig¬ ious effort. But all of Great Britian's Afghanistan trou- -14- bles came about through a religious propoganda, and per¬ haps she has some grounds for her fears and to question our motives. That the English have entirely misjudged as goes with¬ out saying. It has never been the purpose of our Church to in any way enter into the political life of South Africa other than as religious activity does and should. It has only been our intention to go to those who are our brothers and lead them to better and higher living. We only wish to teach the Na¬ tive that he has a soul to save, a mind to develop and a life to make. We only wish to teach him that he is a man and should bear a man's burdens and be fitted for a man's reward. If he has not the light we wish to give it to him; if he has no ambition for the highest and best in his Christian and social development we wish to inspire him. Our one and only aim is to teach him that God is his Father, Christ his Redeemer and man his brother. Any strivings on the part of the Native to rise above the station of a mere menial, are looked upon by the rulers of the country as efforts to raise himself to a position where he can overthrow the government. The following words from the pen of Miss Markham bear out the truth of that state¬ ment :— "A strange leven is at present working among the educated Kaffirs throughout the country, a lev- en to which the affairs of the Ethiopian Church bear emphatic testimony. A struggle for suprem¬ acy between Boer and Briton has for a long time held the field to the exclusion of all other isssues in South Africa; but impossible, pitiful even though it may seem to us, slowly and in the shadow of the greater conflict, a new idea is taking possession of the black man's mind—Africa for the Africans. It is a dream, a mad dream, the realization of which is impossible; but it is a delusion which may bring strange events in its train." That our Church and people are given the credit of intro¬ ducing—and if not actually introducing, then surrounding -1&- with condidtions for rapid growth—this "strange leven", which the Englishman professes to beleive is the real cause of Native unrest, is no veiled assertion, for this same lady voices the sentiment of the Britons when she says that, fe passed, and of those who st^H- look in love across the void, is the talisman that shall wo<£ her to her greatest and noblest endeavors, and couple her upV with the revivifying fires of a second century African Metn-i odi'Sm that'shall make her-reach the very higest possibijiij ties of her destiirv. - ■ ' '' s 't'lf.