Dunbar, 'An Ante-Bellum Sermon' pg 1041

Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem ‘An Ante-Bellum Sermon’ was very eye opening for me. It made me stop and ponder on the truthfulness of what he was saying in this poem. The fact that he wrote it with hindsight makes it even more powerful. Moses, in the form of the Civil War, did come and free them from their slavery. He knew this when he wrote this poem. It was like he was putting himself in this situation, knowing the outcome, and trying to get others to see that there will always be a light at the end of the tunnel. You just have to endure the walk until you get there, and when you do, it will all be worth it.
Though he was addressing the slaves in this poem, I believe he was talking to every ‘man’, telling them that the Lord WILL come and save those that are in bondage. Whatever bondage they were in, the Lord would send a Savior. For the scriptures themselves talks against slavery, and inequality. He warns that the Lord will not tolerate such abominations; that all men are equal in His eyes. To call yourself a Christian, you need to head the warning. Christians are suppose be God fearing and obedient.
This was done in a very clever and careful way. Dunbar made sure to say, “Dat I ‘m still a-preachin’ ancient, I aint talkin’ ‘bout to-day…Dat I ‘m talkin’ ‘bout ouah freedom In a Bilbleistic way”. He knew that if he came out and directly said these things at this time, there would be consequences in the form of punishment. However, through his subliminal warning to the white people, (I also think he was talking to the Harlem Renaissance leaders who criticized him for selling out to the ‘white audience’) he was uplifting his own race. He was telling them to have patience, to look to the future, for it will not always be as bad as it was. Things could and would get better.
I thought that it was interesting that Dunbar wrote this as an ante-bellum poem. He, himself, was not a slave, but he was, however, one generation away from slavery. He did see firsthand, the cost of what slavery had done to ‘his’ people. He knew that they would have a long road ahead of them. He knew that even he would have to endure this long road to equality; not knowing when this road would fully come to an end, but believing that there would be an end to inequality.
I think Dunbar’s purpose to this ante-bellum was to make people see that things could and will get better if you endure and trust in the fact that the Lord will send a ‘Moses’ to your rescue. It will not happen overnight, but it will happen. You must stand up and believe in who you are. You must never allow anyone to bring you down because of your skin color, or your beliefs. In the same sense, you, yourself, should never bring someone else down because of their skin color or beliefs.