Black History Monday - Francis Grimké

Good morning Immanuel. No one so encourages me in the work of gospel peacemaking more than Francis Grimké.

Our Responsibility & Opportunity

We were born into hostility. It’s not unlike being born into a family feud. But the relationship between Blacks and Whites in America, marked by the history of Black slavery and oppression, is a particular kind of hostility. And whatever way we feel about it, the one thing we cannot say now is, “There’s no real problem. And if there is, I didn’t start it. So it’s not my problem.” As Christians, we ought to understand the reality of responsibility better than anyone. We didn’t eat the forbidden fruit, but we’re still born under the curse of sin with a sin nature. Likewise, we didn’t drink the cup of God’s wrath against sin, but we are living under the blessings of new life through faith in Christ. All this because Jesus took responsibility for a mess He didn’t make. Our only choice now is to take ownership of the American environment we inherited and sow the peace that, by God’s grace, will produce a harvest of righteousness for generations to come (James 3:18). No one so encourages me in the work of gospel peacemaking more than Francis Grimké.

More than anyone else, Grimké has shaped the way I think about the relationship between black and white Americans today. Gratefully, the same thing seems to be true of many others as t. There seems to have been a happy rediscovery of Grimké in the last decade. Grimké Seminary launched out of Acts 29 in 2019, is a great example. Notwithstanding these gains, Francis Grimké is still not a household name among American Christians—a problem I hope to help remedy. 

Introducing Francis Grimké

The life of Francis Grimké is an inspiring story. Born to an enslaved mother, Nancy Weston, and a slave-holding father, Henry Grimké, Francis would face and overcome unimaginable challenges. After the death of Henry’s wife, Nancy lived as Henry’s domestic partner. Together, they had Archibald Grimké followed by the birth of Francis Grimké 15 months later.  Soon after, the Grimké family left the city of Charleston to live on Henry’s plantation, where Nancy Weston and her children remained enslaved. When Henry died suddenly of Yellow Fever in 1852, the Grimké family became the legal property of Henry’s eldest son. Although Henry’s will called for Nancy and her sons to be treated as family members, Archibald and Francis were both recalled into servitude. This led to a series of events that are too extraordinary to summarize here. Except to say that Francis barely lived through the Civil War as a valet to a Confederate officer and afterward struggled against all odds to get a degree from Lincoln University. He then parlayed that degree into a graduate degree from America’s flagship seminary at the height of its powers, Princeton Theological Seminary, in the 1870s. Grimke’s high view of Scripture and faith in the ministry of the gospel to bring about reconciliation between Blacks and Whites is largely owing to his time at Princeton. After graduation, he was ordained a Presbyterian minister. His role as a minister and his standing in the Black community of his day brought him into contact with some of the most distinguished Americans of the 19th century.

Because of the breadth of his writing, it’s hard to summarize the importance of Francis Grimké for us today. But if I had to pick two things to spotlight, they would be these. One, Francis Grimké shows us the history of black oppression in America after the Civil War from a theologically Reformed perspective. And two, Grimké displays a gospel-logical approach to the issues of racism and reconciliation that is still relevant today. 

The Post Civil War World of Francis Grimké

One thing I’ve noticed in talking to Christians about the history of Black oppression in America is that the Francis Grimké era is largely missing from our historical calculus. In my own (public school) education in Black History, it was a short step from chattel slavery to the Civil Rights Movement. Therefore, the first thing that struck me about the writings of Francis Grimké is that they are a window into the magnificent world of Christians whose valiant efforts paved the way for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. It’s almost impossible to read Grimké without his evident admiration for these great saints of God rubbing off on you. For instance, listen to how he talks about the great American Abolitionist Frederick Douglas. 

“[Frederick Douglas] is a man who had a soul within him, a big sympathetic heart; a man who knew how to put his great loving arms about those who needed [comfort] . . . a man who possessed all the tenderness of a woman. . .. There are so many apologies for men in the world that it is really refreshing to come in contact with a real man. The old Latins had the true idea of a man when they described him by the term vir, which means strength, force. And the apostle Paul had the same idea when he wrote, “Quit you like men; be strong.” Here was a man, every inch a man, he stood erect in the strength of his own individuality. And that means a great deal. Manhood is a thing to be prized; upon which we should put a high estimate. It is not every day that we are permitted to look upon a man. There are not a great many manly men: and therefore we should make much of this man of whom we are speaking; we should keep his shining example ever before us” (Woodson, The Works of Francis J. Grimké, 1:60).

Grimké says elsewhere of Frederick Douglas that “his simple presence was often more effective than the eloquence of other men” (Ibid., 1:45). And it’s not hard to see why. Every time the great man raised his great arms to speak, the shackle scars on his wrists bore witness to his integrity and determination. Here was a man!  I always admired Frederick Douglas, but I never loved him till I saw him through the eyes of Grimké. And not just Douglass– Helen Pitts, William Lloyd Garrison, George F. T. Cook, Rosetta Lawson, Daniel Alexander Payne, and many more. Black History in the 19^th century is filled with inspiration for us today. Let’s draw upon it! And if you like, Francis J. Grimké is a great way in.  

More and more, I’m hearing from people who are burned out and giving up on the idea of reconciliation that bridges the historical divide between Black and White Americans. That’s understandable. Sowing peace is exhausting work, and some of us have been at it for a long time. But we must not give up. There’s too much at stake—in our churches, homes, country, and future generations. And we have the best reasons for being hopeful. The same reasons, the same Savior, the same Spirit that energized Grimké and Douglas, energizes us today. So I’ll leave with this word from Grimké himself, taken from a sermon on Psalm 27:14, “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart.”

“I am hopeful, because I have faith in the power of the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ to conquer all prejudices, to break down all walls of separation, and to weld together men of all races in one great brotherhood. . . . I have seen white men and women under its regenerating influence lose entirely the caste feeling, to whom the brother in black was as truly a brother as the brother in white. If Christianity were a mere world influence, I would have no such hope; but it is something more than a mere world influence; it is from above; back of it is the mighty power of God” (Ibid., 1:267).

Next week: Grimké’s Gospel-logical Approach to Racism and Reconciliation