Bishop Brock: What if there had been no slavery?

Bishop Dwane Brock
·2 min read

I am proud to be an American and I laud the extraordinary ideals of democracy and equality toward all ethnicities. However, I am seriously perplexed over what some have boasted about and called "American exceptionalism." Not that I subscribe to the demented and perverted views of anarchy — not at all. I just question this seemly unbridled rhetoric that embraces the philosophy of “quintessential America,” but leaves no room for sociological accountability or even moral responsibility.

We are Americans and we thank God for the American way of life, ever evolving and hopefully, perpetually getting better. Now that those pious platitudes have been stated, I often ponder over diverse perspectives within our historical chronology. In other words, I dream and yes, I fantasize and hope and even expect. Some say my dreams are inundated with caverns of naivety. I think not. For dreams sometimes can be sparks of prophetic truths.

Let me explain: What if there were no slavery — where a people from a distant land came over to this country against their will; but where other ethnicities came over seeking asylum? What if there were no slaves, but Black people who came over proudly heeding the beckoning call of Lady Liberty, “Give me your tired, your poor, your hungry.”

A white mob attacked Greenwood, a district of Tulsa, Okla., home to about 10,000 people. Successful entrepreneurs who had turned the 35-block area into Tulsa's "Black Wall Street" were left with nothing. Estimated hundreds of the Black community's residents were dead and injured.
A white mob attacked Greenwood, a district of Tulsa, Okla., home to about 10,000 people. Successful entrepreneurs who had turned the 35-block area into Tulsa's "Black Wall Street" were left with nothing. Estimated hundreds of the Black community's residents were dead and injured.

What if there were no slaves? Where would the American economy be? What if there was no slavery? Who would have picked the cotton and harvested the sugar cane? What if President Abraham Lincoln was not assassinated and he was able to actually deliver on the promise of giving each Black family assaulted and dehumanized by slavery 40 acres and a mule, creating at least a pipeline for generational wealth that other ethnicities had opportunities to take advantage of? What if the Black Wall Street of Tulsa, Oklahoma — once the economic capital of Black America — was never bombed and destroyed, and its Black professionals, business owners, teachers, and millionaires had the opportunity to spread their philosophy of economic self-help to other impoverished communities across American?

More:Destroying ‘Black Wall Street’: An illustrated history of the Tulsa Race Massacre

What if there was no need for the Emancipation Proclamation, the Bill of Rights, the Voting Rights Act, or segregation? What if Black men like Doris Miller, a cook who shot down the first Japanese plane at Pearl Harbor, were able to enlist in the United States military — proudly and legally. Then there would be no need for Black history months, diversity and inclusion committees, diversity and inclusion officers, Juneteenth celebrations, Black Lives Matter organizations, and so forth.

So, maybe my dreaming has some validity to it. Maybe my dreams join the hallowed dreams of King. No, not Martin this time, but a street prophet named Rodney, who asked , “Can we all just get along?”

The Most Rev. Dwane Brock is bishop of the Victory Christian Center Cathedral in Erie.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Dwane Brock: What would our history be if there had been no slavery?