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| 15 1 Black Theology Anthony B. Pinn Historical Backdrop The history of the United States involves the interplay of religion and political developments at numerous levels. From the religious rationale for the slave trade and the projection of the North American colonies as a “city on a hill,” selected by God for political dominance and economic greatness, through 20th-century appeals to religion by politicians and the political participation of religious figures, the rhetoric of the United States has involved a certain religious ethos and has given some shape to the ethical and moral sensibilities in play during the development of this nation and its self-understanding. In the case of African Americans, this synergy between religion and political forces has not always produced healthy life options and the ability to exercise “freedom” within the various venues of life. Rather, from the first arrival of Africans as indentured servants to their enslavement for better than three centuries, religion has often served as a mechanism by which to justify and sanction discriminatory patterns and practices. Colonists in the early years of European presence in North America often argued that Africans were properly used as chattel slaves in that biblical proclamations of their inferiority were merely played out through enslavement. To justify this stance, and maintain the illusion of proper Christian conduct, they often appealed to the story of Ham (Genesis), where Canaan, the son of Ham, is cursed because Ham saw his father (Noah) naked. The story goes, Ham sees his father drunk and naked and tells his brothers, who in turn cover their father. Upon awaking, Noah learns of his exposed state and Ham’s viewing of him in that condition and punishes Ham’s son, whose descendants are to become servants. Exegetes of the Hebrew Bible (or “Old Testament” as it is commonly called), who supported the institution of slavery, argued that modern Africans were the descendents of Ham and Canaan and therefore were slaves in keeping with the scriptural mandate. Others combined this Hebrew Bible account of servitude as divinely sanctioned with “New Testa- 16 | Anthony B. Pinn ment” proclamations concerning the need for slaves to be obedient to earthly masters as unto God, as well as the recommendation by the Apostle Paul that a slave, in the epistle to Philemon, return to his master. In either case, historical context and the nature of social arrangements during the biblical period were overlooked, and religious commitment and biblical proclamations were used to justify sociopolitical discrimination based on race. Even after the formal end of slavery during the 19th century, religious commitment usually tied to interpretations of sacred texts was used to justify continued patterns of discrimination such as formal and informal mechanisms of race-based restrictions on citizenship and civic opportunities in the form of what are commonly called “Jim Crow” and “Jane Crow” regulations that restricted certain services (e.g., the best sections of public transportation ; public facilities such as diners and parks). White ministers and their churches often worked hand in hand with politicians to safeguard race-based discrimination, proclaiming on Sundays the moral and ethical “rightness” of separation of the races and the superiority of white Americans. Hate-based organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan, which monitored and worked to preserve the dominance of white Americans, considered themselves to be maintaining the Christian faith through their practices of intimidation and destruction. In fact, they did not see their activities as terroristic, nor did they understand themselves as doing harm. Rather, they thought of themselves as fighting off chaos and living out the best of the Christian tradition. Groups such as the Ku Klux Klan represent an extreme. Yet, it was consistently the case that religion was used as a way of sanctioning discriminatory practices in the United States. Nonetheless, it would be false to conclude that an appeal to religion as justification for oppressive ideas and actions went without challenge. To the contrary, many African Americans (and white Americans) countered such arguments with a different reading of scripture and a different understanding of Christianity, one that made justice and equality the benchmark of Christian faith and conduct. During the early years of Black churches, for instance, ministers such as Richard Allen (the first bishop of the oldest African American denomination—the African Methodist Episcopal Church) argued in the 1700s for an end to slavery and the proper treatment of African Americans as children of God. Bishop Allen’s rhetoric was rather moderate in tone, but...

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