Is It the Jesus of White Supremacy or the Jesus of Black Liberation?

Used with permission from Orbis Books (orbisbooks.com)

TO ITS CREDIT, the Black church seeks to instill a sense of “somebodyness” through positive reinforcement in conversion. But it seeks to do so without deeply immersing the convert in the true history of his/her culture. Consequently, the Black church falls prey to the universalism of the white church by naïvely thinking that one can be a true child of God while possessed of a deformed racial self-image. In so doing, the static conservatism of the Black church is at odds with freedom movements and prophetic leaders who are able to judge rightly that the freedom of Blacks cannot come through a rejection of one’s history, whether intentional or not.

So when a Black convert proudly proclaims, “I have had an encounter with Jesus,” the retort has to be, “Which Jesus?” Is it the Jesus of white supremacy or the Jesus of Black liberation? The former has promoted Black second-class citizenship, but the latter has proclaimed freedom for Blacks. The former has not been the cure for Black people who have come from the holds of slave ships to their current standing. The latter has come in the truth of the history of African life and is the human embodiment of Black liberation. Such a truth has not come through spirited worship services and spine tingling singing and preaching but through an affirmation of Black people being free Christians and proud Africans. It has also come through a liberating conscience given by God to never tire of deconstructing white theories about Black bodies.

This is why the learning of African/Black history is crucial for a healthy Black self-image—one that does not emerge from white theologians. Black people are able to opt out of being a Christian but not being Black. Black history precedes Black people wherever they go and has been presented negatively in a world ruled by white privilege. But given the liberating message of biblical revelation, those Black people who have maintained their Christian affiliation must make their way through these two poles (Black and Christian), and both must be affirming in their liberating essence, not intertwined in racist pedagogy. In other words, both must be given positive virtue in their initial presentation. There must be a liberating worldview in Christian faith, and there must also be a humanizing treatment of African/Black culture. It is the Black way of saying that white scholars and theologians do not have the last say in how Black people view faith and how they view their blackness. To be Black and Christian demands both.

For this to happen, the conversion process must reorient the thinking that Christian life lies in how well one performs liturgical customs or how well one sings or preaches. Furthermore, the convert must understand that the “apprenticeship” of faith demands a commitment to transforming Christian practice to reflect its liberating essence and to declare to Black people that, where their condition is concerned, the God of Black liberation is not neutral.