The informative material approached in this book mirrors an expanding intrigue of African-American history; particularly in the religious expression. Defends the African American’s religious life within their community as an important realm of the overall religious history in the South and the equally important aspect of today’s religious expressions. Insists that if one wanted to know the south, then they must know it 's religious life; generally speaking, students of Southern studies should recognize this Idea. Adds that in the South religious expression was a topic of curiosity or even ridicule, with attention focused on the more extreme aspects of folk religion among those who were illiterate and somewhat cordoned off from major communities.
Reverend Hudgins believed religion was only about keeping the soul pure for the sake of salvation, and this formed his opinions about black people, church, and preforming good deeds. Many people in the Civil Rights Movement were compelled to action because of religion. They thought there was a connection between the message of the gospel and their fight for equality. Other people felt that they were being called by God to protect their local area from the sins of the world, including people who were visiting for the sake of civil rights. Both of these forms of action were based on each group’s interpretation of Christianity.
From the 1880’s into the 1960’s, a majority of American states enforced segregation through Jim Crow laws. In her story, “In My Place,” Charlayne Hunter Gault recounts an experience of hers that describe the horrifying governing principles that people had to follow and live with on a day to day basis. The ending of these principles was a task that required courageous and cunning characteristics as well as a dedicated soul. Throughout her experiences, Ms. Hunter unknowingly began the generation of a movement that would soon lead to the latter years of segregation as well as the Jim Crow laws. Although Charlayne Hunter Gault's experiences were wearisome and problematic, Hunter dramatizes her audiences experience by addressing her “caged bird”
Stewart was part of Boston’s African American middle class and worked as a servant in a clergyman’s home. Before serving as a nurse in Washington, DC during the Civil War, Stewart delivered four speeches, including the lecture at Franklin Hall in 1832. Stewart began her speech with a rhetorical question, “Why sit ye here and die?”, and replies by expressing how the whites are so in control of everything that they determine our life span. Additionally, Stewart asserts references from the Bible to appeal to the similarly religious audience. These references showcase how these prejudice treatments are not appreciated in the Bible.
In Albert Raboteau’s Slave Religion, I expected to read a book dripping with rant-filled commentary. Judging the book solely on its cover, I would not normally pick up –or even read– a book that did not jump out at me from the design on the cover, and this book did not jump out. However, Raboteau’s depiction of the life of the slave did jump out at me. In elementary and high school, teachers briefly touch on the topic of slavery and its role in America, but religion is never touched on with slavery –at least my teachers never taught them together. So finally getting to learn the two side by side, it was fascinating to see how Africans created a version of their own religion of Christianity.
In the book “Killers of the Dream” by Lillian smith there are several ideas that are brought forward that really demonstrate that the author exaggerates the true situation and the state of affairs in the south. In the context of the book, the south was experiencing serious crisis when the whited propagated segregation against the blacks and other low class whites. The paper contains the author’s thesis and a summary of the author’s primary points. Additionally, the paper examines whether the authors account is incomplete, questionable or cases where the account does not make sense. The social profiling that resulted was regrettable and brought serious repercussions to the society in general. The points out the dream of a child being individual
Religion and its relationship to slavery is a contradictive subject, whether it was forced upon slaves or was a form of hope and freedom is still commonly debated about to this day. However, these individuals were devoted Christians in the abolitionist movement who all
Although the roots of this movement date as far back as the 1900s, the legacy of the African American’s role in World War II sparked the catalyst needed to promote the legislation that eventually led to their equality. “On May 17, 1954, The Supreme Court announced its decision in the case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka” (Brinkley 772). This regulation overturned the Supreme Court’s earlier decision in the Plessy V Ferguson case. The separate but equal doctrine was a prime example of domestic policy that did not uphold the government’s constitutional promise to promote the general welfare of society-to include all that fall under the definition of an American citizen. The affliction put on children who had to travel to segregated public schools placed an unequal burden and damage done to those who it pertained to.
Here, Douglass exposes the Christian attempt to wash their hands of any guilt or wrong doing. Overall, Douglass exposes the truth behind this hypocrisy; when these slaveholders use God as a
Douglass is relentless when attacking the church, he states, “The American Church is Guilty” (Douglass 1039). This has a slightly taste of irony, because here Douglass, a colored man, is calling out the most “sacred” body of people. It almost as if he was the master and they were the slave now. Next, the main theme expressed by
Lastly, “the defenders of segregation claimed that African-American students were living with the effects of slavery, and were not able to compete with the white children.” (Benoit, 10) The arguments against segregation
Civil rights has been a very harsh and long fight for those condemned to the title of Black, colored, or negro. Slavery in our country dates back all the way to 1619, where Africans were sold from Africa, to help colonize the new Americas’. Slavery then continued throughout the centuries, until those who were slaves, rose up against the unethical view on slavery. With this, certain people began to push against the ‘lost’ civil rights of the colored people. Two of these people include the well-known civil rights activist and as well as the well-known Stokely Carmichael.
For centuries, Christianity has been used by white supremacists as a tool of oppression against people of color. More recently, Christianity has been used to justify the subjugation of black people through their enslavement and later segregation. Despite this, the black community has often been attracted to Christianity, “the religion of their oppressors,” for numerous reasons, including the hope for liberation (Brown Douglas xii). Black people raised in the Christian tradition have also rejected the religion in recognition of its unjust qualities. The challenge facing black Christians and those who deny white supremacy is whether to have faith in the liberating and positive aspects of Christianity, or to doubt the religious institution in light of its history of oppression.
Khadija Abdulahi God is Able In the book, “Strength to Love” by Martin Luther King Jr, focuses on the problem of racial segregation and discrimination in the United States. King was a leader in the civil rights movement. He used a non-violent tactic from his Christian belief. King argued that the Christian faith is what brings people together and it is key to their freedom.
Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s. A Brief History with Documents written by David Howard-Pitney is a great history book that gives us an entry into two important American thinkers and a tumultuous part of American history. This 207-pages book was published by Bedford/St. Martin’s in Boston, New York on February 20, 2004. David Howard-Pitney worked at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University in 1986, and that made him a specialist on American civil religion and African-American leaders ' thought and rhetoric (208). Another publication of Howard-Pitney is The African-American Jeremiad: Appeals for Justice in America.