Faith and race: Allow me to re-introduce Christianity.

Warning: This series will take a deeper look at the conflict between faith and race. I understand this is a very sensitive topic for all. Some parts may be uncomfortable to read but the main goal is to promote conversation and to shed light on the black, Christian perspective. This is for any and everyone to read. I encourage you to read the series (3 parts or more! I haven’t decided) in its entirety because there were many gems dropped and many educational moments. I believe God’s goal is unity and racial reconciliation while still keeping the beauty of diversity.

For these posts, I spoke with my younger brother, Marcus who took some courses during his college years on looking at the religion of Christianity and African American history. This, along with other experiences sparked something in him to dig deeper. I, too, wish to dive deeper and that is why this blog series was birthed. Marcus has been embarking on this personal journey of merging the two: His Christian faith with his black identity. Checkout his book, Timestamps: Musings of an Introverted Black boy which takes an even closer look at his perspective. Both of us are by no means experts on this topic. We are just thinking out loud and mixing our opinions with facts. There is a lot more to learn because even though us humans are complex, our relationships with God and that which he created are that much more complex. So pause. Take a deep breath. Open your heart and mind. And Enjoy!!!!!!

My perspective:

If you’re American like me, then you must either know or try to understand that to be Black and Christian can be a tricky walk. It’s not that Christianity doesn’t agree with my blackness, it is that my identity as an American is not always in agreement with the melanin in my skin. I cannot speak for everyone that looks like me but I can share my angle. I wanted to take a deeper look at why I feel so conflicted at times between my relationship with Christ and my racial identity. I knew the answer was deeper than just my feelings. Sis, if you are reading this and not African American/Black, I encourage you to not check out of this post. Instead, I want you to try and read this blog through the eyes of understanding and empathy.

I did not name the title of this post, “Allow me to re-introduce Christianity” because I feel I am just that powerful to define or change what it means to be a Christian (or as I like to call it, a person following Christ.) I gave the first part this title because I wanted to discuss the complex history of Christianity and the pieces that many Americans do not like to talk about. Enjoy this first part of the interview with my bro. Here we go...

Interview Part One:

Q: In America, faith and race are often touchy subjects on their own but when used together, it can be difficult. The number one thing that comes to mind when I think of the intersection of blackness and Christianity is slavery. Back then, Christianity was often used as a weapon to promote slavery. Tell me your thoughts about it.

A: Many Black people think of Christianity as the white man’s religion because of how it was introduced to our ancestors, through colonialism. Christianity was used as a weapon against the slaves. However, we must understand that Christianity was on the African continent before colonialism in America hundreds of years ago. It was first introduced in Ethiopia. And we have to look at the fact that even though it was introduced to the slaves by their masters, they were able to make the faith their own. It carried them through the most difficult times.

Q. Why do you believe the slaves were able to make Christianity their own?

A: Slaves found liberation through the fact that the God they were taught was not the same as the God they found on their own. They were able to subvert what was oppressing them to liberate them. Basically, Christianity was tied to the lens of white supremacy. It was used to uphold it. Today, as a Black Christian, we have to wrestle with this structure. Christianity was used as a tool for power and control. Put it this way, there are two perspectives: Oppression vs. Liberation. Everyone has different perceptions of God based on their experience (This includes race.) Even though, human intention sometimes involves using Christianity for power and oppression, we must know is NOT God’s intention. Christianity was not meant to be used for control but to free all of us.

Q: That makes sense. So basically, there were almost two separate religions in a way-- the religion for the oppressed and the religion for the oppressor. So knowing this, how can we acknowledge the hurtful history of slavery as a black person while still holding onto our Christianity? Or as a non-Black person, acknowledging how Christianity impacted slavery?

A: Acknowledgement. Even as a black person, we have to recognize the roots of Western Christianity. Because of the history of this country, evangelicalism has been woven into the African American church. We ALL have to accept the fact that we read the texts from different lenses. A white person is going to read the bible in a different way from a black person. It is something we cannot help because racial experience does play a part. In the Bible, there are a lot of spaces with room for interpretation. We will interpret those spaces differently based on our experiences. American christianity, whether we like it or not, is rooted in white supremacy. Why? Because white supremacy is apart of our history. It is a system that has strands that seep into our faith. We have to root out those strands and ask WHAT IS THE CORE of the faith?

Q: Wow, that is powerful. So as pure as our intentions can be, we can still be affected by the messy history of Christianity in America through slavery. It’s not about Christianity itself but how it was introduced to us as a whole. So you mentioned going back to the core of the faith, what is that to you?

A: The weirdest thing about Christianity is that it was a religion for the oppressed that was adopted by the oppressor. Read up on the history but Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire. This was the same empire who crucified Jesus as the enemy of the state. So we all have to ask ourselves, what does it mean for a religion that was for the oppressed adopted by the oppressor who began to shape it to their benefit? Christianity was used as a tool of manipulation for control and power.

Q: That is so interesting. I will read it for myself (And you should too!) but tell me more about what you learned from that history.

A: We have to go way way back when Christianity was a religion for those who were oppressed. Before the religion was called Christianity, it was called “The way.” Those who followed Christ did not have a bible. The gospels were not written yet. They followed based on the teachings by Jesus and they found so much liberation. They witnessed something that changed their perspective. As people living in today’s world, we have to go back to before it was tied to oppressive power, labels, world religion, and empires.

Q. That is so good. We ALL basically have to get back to the intention of the gospel and why Christ died. That is liberation. Since we believe God is all-knowing, he knew how this relationship between faith and race could get messy. Knowing this, why do you believe God created diversity? And why is there such a thing as someone’s “race?”

A: I believe that cultures are something that has differentiated over time. But think about it like this--if something is all the same, there is NO growth in that. Growth happens when you have different people highlighting different aspects of an experience. Different cultures speak to different parts of WHO God is and what life is. IT paints a full picture. There is so much beauty in difference. It is in the gaps between the different groups that we learn more about life in general. If I have my own perspective, there could be something else I am missing out on that I would not have if had another person’s perspective. Our differences promote conversation.

Conclusion of Part One....

I wanted to break up the conversation between my brother and I into "parts" to make it an easy read. I felt this whole series would be refreshing because it gives the black male and female perspective. Honestly, this whole first part was so freeing to me because I began to identify why there has been such a tug of war between faith and race for so long. (This post was about history but the last part will talk about merging the two together.) Faith and race have such a complicated tie but I believe God was and is intentional in his desire for diversity.

My takeaway from this portion is that we don't just have to know the roots but also get back to the foundation of “why we believe what we believe.” This is why it is so key for us to find Christ for ourselves and to ask the TOUGH questions, including about race. And this will lead into the next part of this series, re-introducing Jesus. We may know him as Savior, but have we met him as our Liberator?? Stay tuned for Part 2!