Scholarly Person in the US Government past or present - Term Paper Example

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. . 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