Lecture on the African American Experience
Dr. I. W. B. Bowen of Atlanta addresses the First Methodist Church regarding the progress and social challenges of the Black community.
At the First Methodist church last night Dr. I. W. B. Bowen of Atlanta, Ga., lectured on 'What the Church and State Have Done for the Negro.' Dr. Bowen told how these two forces had taken the black man out of slavery and taught him the sacredness of the marriage vow and the principles of morality. The state gave the negro the ballot and made him a citizen. The church gave him the Bible and made a Christian of him. America, Dr. Bowen said, was not necessarily a white man's country, as some claimed, but it was set for the teaching and uplifting of all nationalities who come to its shores.
“America, Dr. Bowen said, was not necessarily a white man's country, as some claimed, but it was set for the teaching and uplifting of all nationalities.”
This reflects the complex and often paternalistic rhetoric of the era's Black leaders engaging with white religious institutions. It highlights the struggle for recognition of Black citizenship in a Pacific Northwest where the demographic and political landscape was rapidly shifting.
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