I don't know what most white people in this country feel,

but I can only include what they feel from the state of their institutions.

Now, this is the evidence.

You want me to make an act of faith, risking myself, my wife, my woman, my sister, my children, on some idealism which you assure me

in America, which I have never seen.

Welcome back to Black History for White People, a podcast where we educate, resource, and challenge

white people about black history.

I'm Brad, and on today's show are my co-host,

Katina and Garron. Today's topic is the Southern Baptist Convention. This is part one of two

episodes, so make sure that when you are finished with this one, you listen to the second part.

In this episode, we walk through early American church history, some of the founders of evangelicalism, some church actions, and the beginnings of the actual convention.

We hope you enjoy the discussion.

Okay, Garen, before we talk about the actual Southern Baptist Convention, tell us about the history leading up to all of these events. Paint the picture for us.

The Southern Baptist Convention broke off of the existing Baptist Church in 1845, but they didn't just cease to be Baptist.

So really to talk about their story, you have to go back further than just when they

broke away. And so we're going to really start by just talking about the complicity of the church

and racism going back to the beginning of America. And then we're going to kind of trace those

threads through to the Southern Baptist Convention and its formation and go all the way to the present.

So that's the goal of this

episode. Cool. So at the very beginning of the founding of America, slaves were not even seen

to have souls. It was the common view that slaves couldn't even or shouldn't even be

evangelized because they were not seen as possessing souls that were capable of learning.

...