Blacks and Religion in the United States

When black slaves arrived from Africa, they were not Christian. Today, American African-Americans may well be among the most fervent Christians in the United States. The charismatic leaders of Black American Christians- from Frederick Douglass and Thurgood Marshall (who preached but where not ordained ministers) to Martin Luther Kind, Ralph Abernathy and Jesse Jackson, among others, have been the spearheads of finding affirmative action and greater equality for all American blacks. This is proof that churches play a vital role in African American culture, and not just as houses of worship. They also stand at the center of the political, educational and social lives of black Americans. What is different about black theology? It is “due exclusively to the failure of white religionists to relate the gospel of Jesus to the pain of being black in a white racist society.” (Cone 1970 23) “For nearly three hundred years, enslaved houseworkers had been listening to their owners’ prayers and Bible readings….they were able to interpret their own inexplicable situation and give themselves reasons to stay alive.” (Proctor 1995 4) Slaves and the blacks who were freed during and after the Civil War literally had nothing but faith to sustain them. “They fixed their trust in God and began the journey up the road to equality.” (Proctor 1995 6)

From earliest times to the Emancipation Proclamation, Negro slaves (when they were permitted to do so) worshipped with their masters in the masters’ churches. Since most of the whites were Baptist in the South, this was the beginning of the large percentage of African Americans who began, and continue, to consider themselves “Southern Baptists. While worshiping together was often permitted, “some Negro preachers led in the organization of separate churches, so they could sing their own hymns, offer their own prayers, and give expression to their feelings of sadness or joy uninhibited by the overshadowring presence of their white masters.” (Armstrong 1979 237)

While today most African Americans seem to belong to the general segment known as the Southern Baptists, the first African Baptist church began this trend, in Richmond VA, in 1838 when “the pastor and members of the First Baptist Church of that city debated its growing difficulty: what to do about its large and expanding Negro membership.” (Armstrong 1979 241) The pastor of this church gathered some black parishioners together, and raised about $8,000 to buy a building and convert it into the First African Baptist Church.

Perhaps one of the reasons so many African Americans today consider themselves as Southern Baptists is because it is a far more orthodox and conservative branch of Christianity. In fact, some have called it “The Catholic Church of the South”.(Barnhart 1986 1) The African American churches are far more united in principle than their white counterparts, who are claiming and counter-claiming the “legitimacy” of conservative vs. liberal interpretations of the Bible, for one. While there is a legal need for a separation of Church and State in the U.S., African American religious leaders are far more involved in political not merely theological activities. Of course the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., still stands foremost in this category. Yet, while there are critics who claim he left no theological legacy, his supporters acknowledge King as “a theologian who worked within the tradition of the Black church….King’s dream grew out of the spirituality of the Afro-American tradition”. (Erskine 1994 3)

As the Evangelicals (a far more orthodox and restrictive) grow in numbers in the U.S., some African Americans are creating their own congregations. Also, some Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah’s Witnessesare attracting a small but devout number of American blacks.

As was indicated earlier, with the social prejudice that many American blacks face in society as a whole, the church represents the social center, and even educational facilities in those areas where black children are forced to attend inferior public schools. However, the overall activism of black theologians has Ebony Magazine list “among the 100 most influential Black Americans…(were) seven Baptist clergymen and one woman who was a Baptist.” (Armstrong 1979 252)

CITATIONS:
Armstrong, O.K. and Armstrong, M: (1979) The Baptists in America Garden City NY: Doubleday-Jubilee Books )

Barnhart, J.E.: (1986) The Southern Baptist Holy War Austin TX: TexasMonthly Press

Cone, J. H. (1970) Liberation Philadelphia PA: J.P. Lippincott & Co.

Erskine, N.L. (1994): King Among the Theologians Cleveland OH: The Pilgrim Press

Proctor, S. D. (1995): The Substance of Things Hoped For New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons