The Imposing Preacher: Samuel DeWitt Proctor and Black Public Faith

6 Creating a Genuine Community

6 Creating a Genuine Community A Black Christian Vision for Transforming American Public Space The notion and construction of a “genuine community” was Samuel DeWitt Proctor’s remedy to the racial crisis in the United States. The nation’s glaring social disparities were the product of centuries of racist practices, he believed. He envisioned a world in which justice and fairness prevailed. And he believed that the United States could achieve community. He saw it in his own life. Moments of kind, collegial relationships across racial lines were a glimpse of genuine community to Proctor. He knew that real community was possible, and he committed to working for it. Proctor, like other black religious intellectuals of the liberal tradition, resolved that America’s citizens needed to become a community. These black Christian thinkers understood “beloved” or “genuine” community to be a moral-spiritual human existence that embraces and celebrates personhood through racial and ethnic inclusiveness, economic equity, and social justice for the world’s residents. Proctor differed, however, from liberal black religious intellectuals in this tradition by emphasizing faith as the impetus of genuine community’s creation. This faith lay primarily in God’s dealings in human history and in persons’ potential to make community possible. In this way, Proctor pushed for a public faith that expressed his hope in social progress and in the inherent good of humanity. His biography proved to him that progress was possible, even inevitable. He was among a cadre of significant black religious thinkers who also held forth a definition of community as a remedy for the cultural crisis of twentieth-century America.1 As with many thinkers, Proctor nuanced his concept of creating community as he matured. At the beginning of his public ministry, from about the 1950s to the 1970s, Proctor touted education as the catalyst for creating 179 community in America. That idea remained constant for him. Government officials, the president and legislators, who could enact policies to eliminate racism, became the agents for change in this model. They were in positions of power to affect the state of affairs in America. After years of public service, however, Proctor saw how powerless these same persons could be without the moral support of the American public. This insight led him to revise his thoughts on the creation of community. The latter portion of Proctor’s career, from the 1980s to 1997, marked a shift in focus. He placed more responsibility on the vocation of the minister. The minister, he argued, could herald the message of moral and spiritual regeneration and nurture the development of community. Preachers, especially black preachers, Proctor insisted, had the unique opportunity to fight racism by moral-spiritual suasion. Built into the gospel was the message of community that could change the ethical tilt of the United States. For Proctor, the rationale was simple. The nation’s principles were consistent with the ethics and teachings of Jesus. Proctor, informed by the black Christian tradition and the liberal theological view of humanity, affirmed the inherent dignity and worth assigned by God to every person. The nation’s founding documents did the same, in theory. He saw, therefore, the pursuit of genuine community as the logical end in the social progress of humanity. Reaching genuine community meant that the United States would wage war against racism, poverty, and the conditions that create them. Defining Genuine Community Genuine community is the idea that guided Proctor’s beliefs about change in American society. It is the conclusion of his theological principles of humanity and the objective of his public faith. His definition of community consists of three interrelated components. The first of these components is the affirmation of the personhood of all humanity. Every person is a part of the family of God. The second concept is the removal of arbitrary impediments for persons to attain full status in society. A third component is the moral obligation of the “haves” to the disadvantaged members of society). Proctor understood that these interrelated parts would not come without effort. A moral framework needed to be in place before genuine community could exist. Proctor believed that genuine community requires the choice of persons to yield to an interdependent existence that affirms the accountability of each person to all humanity. Four decades of Proctor’s thoughts and writings went into understanding the meaning of community. A sermon he presented at the 1954 American Baptist Churches convention in Minneapolis displays the sprouts of this 180 | The Imposing Preacher...