The Church Must Unhitch Itself From W.E.B. DuBois' Problem of the Color Line, Part 8

Gospel Light Society Podcasts

TEXT: Acts 17:26-28 In 1784, in an effort to ease tension between Indians and whites in Virginia, Patrick Henry (of 'give me liberty or give me death' fame) proposed intermarriage. The eloquent orator stipulated that when white males or females married Indians, the couples would receive ten pounds immediately and five pounds more at the birth of each child. They would also be recipients of tax breaks and free education for their male children up to age twenty-one. With Patrick Henry's persuasiveness the bill passed its first and second readings. However, by the time of the third reading, Henry had been elected governor, and without his overt participation, the bill ultimately failed. Some have wondered how racial tensions throughout the history of our country would have been affected if this proposal had been approved.