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During this period several Black institutions were started (including Harlem [later Northeastern] Academy, 1920; Riverside Hospital, 1927: Message Magazine, 1934; Pine Forge Academy, 1946).

Ellen White (center, front) during the time when she advocated the development of the Black work.

In the midst of the Black nationalism of the 1920s, several racial incidents shook the church. They became a catalyst for changes that were to follow. James K. Humphrey, a gifted Black minister and founder of the First Harlem SDA Church, was defrocked by conference officials in 1929, principally on the grounds of insubordination. Humphrey, on the other hand, felt the local conference, and church 1eadership in general, ignored the concerns of its Black constituency and practiced discriminatory actions. The issue came to a head when the First Harlem congregation sided with Humphrey and the conference disfellowshipped the entire church.

Perhaps the most well-known racial incident in the church happened in the Washington, D.C. area. Lucy Byard, a gravely ill Black Adventist woman and longtime member from Brooklyn, was admitted to the Washington Sanitarium (1943). When it was discovered that she was Black, the hospital discharged her. During her transfer to the Freedmens Hospital she became increasingly ill and died shortly thereafter of pneumonia. Such incidents caused Black leadership to press the General Conference to address discrimination and prejudice in the church.

Ten Challenges for Adventist African-Americans

BY DELBERT W. BAKER

These challenges come from interviewing various Adventist African-Americans across the nation. While they are not exhaustive, they are representative.

1. Remember that God does not ask for blind assimilation that disregards ones culture and ethnic background while preferring another. Adventism can coexist with culture. Reaffirm that the Adventist movement is a legacy of a beneficent God to all people. No one group owns it. It is the work of many peoples and cultures. No group is to think or to be treated like a second-class citizen.

2. Pursue education, personal excellence, and above all, a personal relationship with God. In the process, preserve your moral sensitivity at all cost. These are the stepping-stones to increased responsibility and higher trust.

3. Prioritize evangelism over church politics and the business of organized religion.

4. Recognize the strengths of your culture and the strengths of other cultures as well. Affirm, build, and demonstrate true love and appreciation for each other. Build, don't tear down.

5. Manage racial attitudes. Don't assume racism until you know it to be so. When confronted with racism, be committed to following the principles in Matthew 18. Be angry, but don't sin--do something about it. Remember that the secret of Black survival as a people has always rested on spiritual, not secular, weapons.

6. Build bridges of communication between your own culture and other cultures. Practice the best possible communication and conflict-resolution skills.

7. Develop better methods to manage the resources that have been entrusted to Blacks as a people--physically, economically, organizationally. Seek solutions.

8. Utilize the resources of all age groups in the church. And in all the resourcing, do everything to build, not criticize.

9. Develop, invest in, and train leaders for the future. Prepare for tomorrow.

10. Act and pro-act. Consult together, plan wisely, and then execute the plan. Find fresh ways to solve old and new problems. Pray.

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