Witness for Truth, Decency and Justice

William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879) was an abolitionist, a journalist, and a social reformer. He was editor of The Liberator, an abolitionist newspaper.  He has alway been one of my heroes from the past. As a newspaper columnist he wrote what was called “The Black List,” in which he wrote a series of short “blogs” about “the barbarities of slavery.”  These stories reported on the  kidnappings, murders, and whippings of slaves.  He wrote a scathing report on Francis Todd who was shipping slaves from Baltimore, Maryland to New Orleans.  Although the United States had prohibited slave trade from Africa in 1807, Todd’s shipment of slaves within the bounds of the U.S. was perfectly legal. 

The State of Maryland brought criminal charges against Garrison for libel (fake news, I suppose) and found him guilty.  He was ordered to pay a fine of  $50 plus court costs.  Garrison refused to pay the fine and was sentenced to six months jail-time.  He was in jail for about seven weeks before a wealthy abolitionist donated money for the fine.  I’ve always admired Garrison for his unapologetic commitment to the anti-slavery movement and for his courage to face the costs of that commitment.  He was an authentic journalist.

Miss Beatrice Smith, my 8th grade Sunday school teacher, first introduced me to William Garrison.  She told her class that his “witness” (not only for the emancipation of slaves, but also for the rights of women) was the kind of courageous witness that we, as Christians, were to make in the world.  

Here is sample of Garrison’s witness to truth.  “I am aware that many object to the severity of my language; but is there not cause for severity?  I will be as harsh as truth, and as uncompromising as justice.  On this subject (slavery), I do not wish to think, or to speak, or write, with moderation.  No! no!  Tell a man whose house is on fire to give a moderate alarm; tell him to moderately rescue his wife from the hands of the ravisher; tell the mother to gradually extricate her babe from the fire into which it has fallen; —but urge me not to use moderation in a cause like the present.  I am in earnest—I will not equivocate—I will not excuse—I will not retreat a single inch—and I will be heard.”  

Do we, as the American people, or we who claim to be disciples of Christ, have the guts to make such a witness for truth, decency and justice in our time?