RICHMOND — On Sunday, June 3, Henry Victor Langford, 88, received a resolution of praise and approval from the General Assembly at the Hermitage United Methodist Home in north Richmond, where he lives.
After passionately endorsing the Supreme Court's 1954 school desegregation decision in Brown v. Board of Education, parishioners, politicians and many others made life unbearable for Langford. He was dismissed five years later in 1959 from his pastorate at Shockoe Baptist Church in Chatham.
“It's hard to describe the feeling of leaving Shockoe,” said Langford. “For awhile I just couldn't believe it happened; but it did. My wife was the heroine of the whole thing. Not only was she beautiful, but she was as good as she was good-looking. She held our family together and kept our heads high.
DON LONG
Henry Langford thanked members of the General Assembly, who presented a reso-
lution in his honor earlier this month.
“I regret leaving the way I did, but I felt it coming on for years. People used to say to me, ‘Well, you didn't have to do it.' That's like saying Martin Luther King didn't have to deliver his sermon upon the steps of the Lincoln Memorial or Patrick Henry didn't have to demand liberty at St. John's Church or Moses didn't have to go to Pharaoh and shout, ‘Let my people go!' I had to do it,” said Langford.
Sponsored by Del. Franklin P. Hall, D-Richmond, and state Sen. Benjamin J. Lambert III, D-Richmond, the House Joint Resolution commends Langford for living “an exemplary life of courage and conviction,” along with “his commitment to justice and equality for all citizens of the Commonwealth.”
Langford was determined to treat all people equal by supporting school desegregation, even if doing so would force him to live a long, turbulent life of service.
“It was and still is the Christian thing to do. It's fair, right, true, just, democratic and American. All men are created equal, including women,” said Langford.
Langford believes that a person's individual interpretation of the law should fall somewhat under his or her religious beliefs, but not entirely.
“The Bible is a great book, but a book on religion and religion only. We can learn from the Bible, world history and the acts of justice, Congress and all the nations. We need to study it all in order to come to correct and fair conclusions, which is what I tried to do,” he said.
Langford stood by the foundations that established our nation and has no hard feelings toward his former congregation.
“I have nothing but love and appreciation for the people down there in Shockoe. It was the political leaders of the county who had to have a scapegoat. It took them five years to persuade my members that I was an embarrassment to the community; they had to have someone to wipe their dirty feet on. Every single time they'd see members of my congregation they'd say to them, ‘Why don't you just kick him out? He's just a n—– lover!” I couldn't do anything about it because it became a general feeling in the county. I couldn't get another Baptist church to call on me because very few would accept a pastor with my reputation.”
After leaving the ministry, Langford's heart led him to work with the Alcohol and Drug Education Council of Virginia Churches. He remained loyal to the council for 21 years, eight as associate director and 13 as executive director. He was also a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, enabling him to stay active in the military after his chaplain duty during World War II.
Growing up in a world full of bigotry and segregation, Langford always stood tall and proud in his armor of morality and never once faltered to the unconstitutionality of those around him.
“It doesn't make any difference what your social, economic, or evangelical status is; the main issue is whether or not a person is right or wrong. I thought I was right then and I still think I was right now,” said Langford.