Black Christianity is different from White Christianity…
Shouldn’t be…but it is. It’s the reality created by the sin of White supremacy. But more than simple conjecture…beyond simply throwing out some charged statement, what is the basis of this claim? What makes this claim undeniable?
“Slaves be obedient to your masters…” That’s the legacy many of us think belongs to Black Christianity. And when – even in 2018 – I see Black Christians celebrating America’s Founding Fathers with religious devotion, I can’t help but think:
We’re still being obedient…
But is that a true accounting of Black Christianity?
Is Black Christianity really the docile faith that White supremacy gave us…or is there something more?
Growing up in the Caribbean, I could never vibe with the weakheart identity of the Black Church. It was completely foreign to the Caribbean experience.
Partly because most of the Caribbean was either liberated by revolt or has an undeniable legacy of revolt. Partly because the prevalence of Black leadership and the absence of White overseers changes your whole perspective.
It’s why, when I was in seminary, I felt free to challenge and criticize White supremacy in the seminary curriculum and on campus. Being from a Caribbean Diocese, I didn’t have to worry that I wouldn’t be ordained because I had pissed off White folk…
Nevertheless, that dynamic of fear is prevalent in the US…
Even the Black Church, at some level – if you get up high enough, answers to the Whites society. Black Christianity in America seems to have a responsibility to uphold White supremacy – if only to “protect” the faithful from White tyranny.
The result is obedience to our (former) slave masters…
But years ago I came across a priest who showed me something entirely different about Black Christianity…about the faith of African people in America. And what he shared completely transformed the way I viewed the Black Church – historically and in the present.
It’s transformed the way I embrace the Christian faith.
And because it’s so incredibly revealing, I had to share it with you in this episode.
After you check it out, hop over to the Facebook group and engage the discussion. And if you aren’t yet a member of the group…
What do you think of Fr. Alexii’s view of the African Christian Faith? And how does that reframe your understanding of – and witness to – Christianity?
Resources for this Episode:
- Wade in the River: The Story of the African Christian Faith
- Black Power: Our God-Given Call to Make America Great
- The Brotherhood of St. Moses the Black
