Scholarly Person in the US Government - Term Paper Example

Scholarly Person in the US Government - Alexander Crummell Introduction Alexander Crummell was born of a slave father and free mother in New York City in 1819. He was educated at the New York African Free School, but later found it quite difficult to gain access into University for his higher education because he was confronted with discrimination. He was ordained a minister at the young age of 25 but once again faced discrimination with the United States white clergy. Therefore, he migrated to England and completed his degree at Queens College in Cambridge. Today, Alexander Crummell (1819 – 1898) is regarded and respected as one of 19th centuries leading black intellectuals, whose long and turbulent career as an orator, teacher, writer and minister would always be remembered in the pages of history. As a Missionary Alexander Crummell was an ordained missionary in Liberia (1853 – 1872) belonging to the Episcopal Church. His eventful life as a missionary spanned over twenty years there, once again he faced discrimination because of his race and background. His primary aim as a Christian minister was to ‘civilize’ the African race by encouraging them to embrace Christianity and replace their native customs, beliefs and religious practices they followed. Keeping this in mind Alexander Crummell founded the church and a school in Washington DC in a bid to bring about a revolutionary change among the African people. As a Religious Leader Alexander Crummell’s tryst with Africa had many dimensions to it. He believed that every race on the Earth had a purpose and so did the African race too. Crummell had unshakable belief of the divine purpose of the African race. His key concern was man’s march to perfection through civilization. He did not believe nor respect the cultural practices of the Africans and strived hard to bring them closer to civilization through Christianity and constantly emphasized the fact of Christian redemption for the African race. Crummell’s philosophy that was based on a Christian – centered outlook, viewed negroes as a suffering race surrounded by darkness and in his opinion the darkness can be lifted by making them civilized. He referred to the darkness that enveloped them as ‘devil worship’, ‘great evils’ and ‘human sacrifice’. His aim was to initiate the African people towards civilization by removing the scales of ignorance from their eyes and bringing them into the light of religious enlightenment. However, Crummell’s hopes and dreams for the Negro race were never reconciled or satisfied with his philosophy of ‘civilizationism’. As a Black Nationalist He is considered to be one of the most authoritative figures as far as Black Nationalism is concerned. Being a religious minister of the Episcopal Church he very strongly detested and protested against the ignorant subjugation of the Negro’s against their white counterparts and struggled hard to bring about a Black nationalistic change in the belief and attitudes of the Africans. Crummell’s common lament was “What the Negro needs is Civilization.” By civilization he did not mean the literal term of the word but a clear mind which is free from false heathen thoughts and beliefs. Civilization to him also meant personal responsibility, family development and social obligation to society. Crummell’s religious and puritanical ideologies of the human race and in particular for the Africans, served to pave the path for reshaping and reinventing of European racial theories creating a huge impact on great thinkers of his day. Though Crummellian philosophy is looked upon by many scholars as an antecedent, yet it is highly criticized from many angles. The chief reason being that Crummell lived in a very different time period when compared to the scholars of today. His Political Ideologies Even though Crummell claimed that he was not interested in politics and had no political ambitions whatsoever, yet, it is evident that he hoped to influence society by making use of his intellectualism and political philosophy. He deeply nurtured a desire to become a scholarly statesman someday and have a career steeped in politics. His philosophical ideas and political prowess are quite evident through his writings and speeches that he delivered in Liberia as well as in other countries to which he traveled. Some of the books that contained and revealed his cultural outlook and political ideologies are ‘God and the Nation’ (1854) which exposed his theocratic concepts of the state. In his writings on ‘The English Language in Liberia’ (1860) his Anglo-centric biases were revealed. His Christian Black Nationalist ideologies and sentiments were clearly exposed in his books titled ‘The Progress of Civilization along the West Coast of Africa’ (1861) and ‘The Relations and Duty of Free colored men in America to Africa.’ Alexander Crummell always envisioned himself as the founding father and his ideologies are very evidently expressed in the Constitution of African Civilization Society in 1861 which was drawn up by American black nationalists. Crummell’s Domestic Life Crummell had many a stormy marriage and the death of a few of his children did not seem to help the situation. His wife and children alienated themselves from him because of his detached nature. Being frustrated at not being able to satisfy his ambitions as a scholar and intellectual leader he embraced the discipline of church hierarchy and continued doing missionary work among the African Americans. His Last Days In 1871 Crummell’s career in Liberia ended when the first coup led by the Robert faction took place and President Edward James Roye got assassinated. Fearing that he too might become a target, he fled from the country. His writings and speeches always supported the black audiences until he died at Red bank, New Jersey. References Crummell Alexander, “Civilization as a Collateral and Indispensable Instrumentality in Planting the Christian Church in Africa” (Atlanta, GA: Gammon Theological Seminary, 1896) Celebrating Alexander Crummell www.nathanielturner.com/celebratingalexandercrummell.htm Crummell Alexander www.libarts.uco.edu/.../2/1333AlexanderCrummellII.htm Moses, Alexander Crummell: A Study of Civilization and Discontent. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Rigsby, Pioneer, 64.98; Crummell, “The Progress of Civilization along the West Coast of Africa,” in Moses,Classical Black Nationalism, 185. West Cornel, See West, “Black Strivings in a Twilight Civilization,” The Cornel West Reader: New York: Basic Civitas Books, 1999. Read More