In his state convention address of 1854, Bishop of the Diocese of New Jersey, the Rt. Rev. George Washington Doane had the following to say about the fledgling Black congregation of St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Newark (the first Black church in the Diocese):
On Wednesday, 26 April, I laid the corner stone of St. Philip's (African) Church, in the City Newark, and made an Address. There were present the Rev. Messrs. Joshua Smith, the Rector elect, Rosé, Lowell, Hoffman, Doane, Leach, (of the Diocese Missouri,) and Berry, (of the Cape Palmas Mission.) It was with peculiar pleasure, that I laid this corner stone. These poor, and simple-hearted, people have clung, for years, through great discouragements, to their pious purpose, of building a House, where they may worship God, together. I trust, they will now be able to accomplish it. I have great confidence in the prudent zeal of their Minister, that they will. I commend them to the good will of their more favoured brethren. I claim for them, as a debt, the generous consideration of those, by whose forefathers, their fathers were brought to this country, without their own consent, and greatly to their hindrance.[1]
Mingled with a somewhat paternalistic sentiment toward the “simple-hearted” members of this Black congregation, Doane acknowledges White privilege, referring to the White Christians of the Diocese as the “more favoured brethren.” What is more, he clearly states what should be done about this privilege and the gulf between it and the poverty of his Black brethren. He calls for reparations: “I claim for them,” that is, the Black parishioners of St. Philip’s, “as a debt,” which is to say, something owed. He calls for this “consideration,” i.e. reparations, due to the state of poverty of these Black Christians resulting from the enslavement of their forebears. The reparations are due not because of the actions of the present generation of White Christians, but because of those of their “forefathers.” Doane claims this debt for the descendants of those whose “fathers were brought to this country, without their own consent, and greatly to their hindrance.” It is from the current generation of Whites that the debt is claimed and to the current generation of Blacks that the debt is owed.
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| Figure 1: G.W. Doane, bishop of New Jersey (NYPL Hades-256141-431158), Scan by NYPL, modified, CC0 1.0 |
Doane’s convention address shows an awareness of 1) White privilege, and 2) the need for reparations for slavery to repair the presently-felt negative effects of the sins of previous generations. As such, it is clear that these concerns are not modern inventions. The Episcopal Bishop of New Jersey recognized these issues 169 years ago and insisted that their ongoing presence required remediation. In subsequent convention addresses he repeatedly implores his White Episcopalian brethren to support St. Philip’s financially.[2] Modern acknowledgments of White privilege and the need for reparations, though at times deploying different language, align closely in structure and content with Bishop Doane’s statement. The dramatic discrepancies in household wealth between White and Black households that persist to this day[3] suggest that the conditions that once drew Doane’s pastoral concern have not yet been repaired, and still require redress.
Jolyon G. R. Pruszinski, Ph.D.
Reparations Commission Research Historian
Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey
[1] The Rt. Rev. George Washington Doane, D.D., LL.D., Diocese of New Jersey: The Episcopal Address, to the Seventy-First Annual Convention, in Grace Church, Newark, Wednesday, May 31, 1854 (Burlington: Printed at the Gazette Office, 1854), 14.
[2] See The Rt. Rev. George Washington Doane, D.D., LL.D., Diocese of New Jersey: The Episcopal Address, The Twenty-Third, to the Seventy Second Annual Convention; in St. Mary’s Church, Burlington, Wednesday, May 30, 1855 (Burlington: Printed at the Gazette Office, 1855), 26; The Rt. Rev. George Washington Doane, D.D., LL.D., Diocese of New Jersey: The Episcopal Address, The Twenty-Fourth, to the Seventy Third Annual Convention, in Trinity Church, Newark, Wednesday, May 28, 1856 (Burlington: Samuel C. Atkinson, Printer, 1856), 17-18; Diocese of New Jersey, Journal of Proceedings of the Seventy-Fifth Annual Convention in Trinity Church, Newark, on Wednesday, 26 May, 1858 (Burlington: Franklin Ferguson, Printer, Broad Street, 1858), 22.
[3] In 2019 the average White household was approximately 700% wealthier ($983,400) than the average Black household ($142,500). See Neil Bhutta, Andrew C. Chang, Lisa J. Dettling, and Joanne W. Hsu, "Disparities in Wealth by Race and Ethnicity in the 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances," FEDS Notes (Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2020), https://doi.org/10.17016/2380-7172.2797(last accessed October 4, 2023).
