Southern Religion Summary

Wright’s memoir, Black Boy, is a phenomenal commentary on the negative aspects of the Jim Crow South and the Black Community at that. He especially criticizes religion, and how it can be used to threaten and contain its followers. Even today this can be the case, and id does not end at religious practices: education and other social norms can be wielded as means to control its

Richard Kaplan also said, “the theological belief in the potential mutability, indeed perfectibility, of people also encouraged a reforming attitude toward social institutions. Humanity and earthly society were not inherently sinful and, thus, could and should be reformed.” With the new quantity of religious people, the belief that there should no longer be sinful or unjust things grew tremendously. With this belief, people began to believe that things that needed to be reformed, should be reformed. The Second Great Awakening sparked a nationwide wave of reform movements that had a huge impact on American society throughout the 19th century.

The Manifest Destiny was the expansion of the United States allowing it to stretch from coast to coast. Americans believed that they were fated by God to expand the nation and make the United States more stronger. The Manifest Destiny was believed to be fated by God because many things were easily handed to the Americans such as winning against the United Kingdom in the War of 1812 , taking over Spain without any big conflict and lastly, the Louisiana Purchase by Thomas Jefferson. Both, Jefferson and the Manifest Destiny, took action to make the United States more

The ideas constructed by the Puritans were not simply a principal starting point for American culture because they were the first in the country, but because they offered distinct ways of thinking that are still deep-seated in our culture today. Although many of the ideas of Puritans have evolved or vanished over time, it is important to give credit to the Puritan writers and thinkers such as John Winthrop and John Cotton who offered ideas that were new at the time and that stayed with the American consciousness—culturally, socially, and politically. “John Winthrop's legacy can be seen primarily in the fields of government, commerce, and religion. It was religion that would most impact John's life; his religion would ultimately impact the

He successfully uses the three rhetorical appeals, allegory, and repetition to get his point across. His speech definitely shows the South it could be capable of amazing success, if the Whites and the African American realize they need each

From reading the textbook, it can be surmised that the “Black Sacred Cosmos” is the African-American religious worldview and its spiritual rebirth to Christianity as shaped by its heritage through slavery, emancipation, segregation, and other social injustices used to withhold societal and religious freedom from African-Americans in America, in which the whole universe/cosmos is viewed as sacred. The ultimate goal in this, as it related to the church, was the personal conversion of those who were not “saved,” to coming to know God and accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In this worldview African American Christians Afro-centrically define nuances and emphasis of their theological views.

Movements involved the songs described the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Movement. Designed as uprisings to political, economic, and social stances toward the ideal of separatism. Separatism as an idea for both movements because of lack of civil rights based off US history, blacks who descendants of slaves could not possess equal opportunities as their white counterparts. Black Americans from the 1970s and onward still lived in a type of enslavement where the oppression lies within their own history robbed from them. Common, Tupac Shakur, and Dead Prez with The Last Poets described those two movements depicting the representations in their music to their legacy of Black Power to the black people of today.

“We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society” (“Famous Angela Davis quotes - We have to talk about ….). Angela Davis no longer accepted the philosophies or ideas she could not modify within others, but worked to change the beliefs she could no longer accept. Davis aimed for her voice to be heard, so that her perspectives would perceive and taken into account by society. Davis is best known as a profound African-American educator, extremist for civil rights, and other advocate of other social issues. She realized about racial prejudice from her experiences with discrimination growing up in Birmingham, Alabama.

Poetry Analyzation: Both Cowper and Poe have very distinct writing styles and techniques, as Cowper writes poetry that revolves around religion and Poe differs with essays that involve many imaginative and dark aspects, such as a theme of death. In one of his poems “The Negro’s Complaint” , Cowper demonstrates his writing skills through a controversial poem that brings god and slavery together. This poem was used as an act of conscience, because of the guilt he felt for the “sin” of using African-Americans as pawns of slavery by his people. Cowper made this poem to give those who are not heard, a voice, and to raise awareness for those who cannot riot or protest for their own freedom, hoping to result with putting reality into the conscience of slave owners.

Dykema also takes mention of various social stances such as where black people live. “Social responsibility,” first of all, is precisely what the racist ‘leading white citizens’ of this Southern town desired from him, the responsibility of keeping himself in a submissive and segregated place” (Dykema 167). He mentions how, due to societal norms, blacks should be kept in segregated places. Lastly, Dykema critiques Ellison’s work by saying the most important part of society in order to move past its conservative segregated past is faith. “As Ellison envisions it, living as a true American requires faith- faith of equality and democracy when they are most out of reach, in the possibility of coming together when segregation predominates, in humans”

Being a highly educated civil rights activist, a fellow minister, and the President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, King declared his knowledge and experience as proof that he had the authority to speak on the issues. He strategically used biblical and historical references to expose the reality that segregation, injustice, and racism still strongly existed in Birmingham. Though it was an open letter to all Americans, his intended audience was the eight white clergymen. He presented them with concise reasoning for why they too should take action, or face the dilemma of being immorally incorrect in their beliefs.

Their eyes could be focused on vital things of life and the life to come, yet they continue to walk down the path that whties have led us to. Another issue that arises from slavery and Willie Lynch’s speech is self-hatred. Many African Americans have grown to hate “skin that they are in”. This causes them to continuously strive to be something that they are not. All blacks should be happy with what they are instead of conforming into the caucasian way of life.

He composed the book "Up from Slavery". Du Bois trusted that scholastic instruction was more imperative that exchange training. He said that accepting modern instruction would keep African-Americans caught in lower social and financial classes. Du Bois needed African-Americans urged to succeed in human expressions and sciences. Du Bois urged African-Americans to request equivalent rights.

During the civil rights era, the black church stood as a foundation for the African American community. It was a safe haven for those who felt like they didn’t have a voice outside of the church. The black church used to be a political atmosphere especially for those advocating black rights. It gave blacks the pedestal to vocalize the issues in the community and in the world to the oppressed. This was during a time when African Americans received no respect and were placed at the feet of injustice by the American society.

Dehumanization had been apparent for many centuries through numerous civilizations. Egyptians used slaves to build the pyramids working days at a tie under the blistering sun. In ancient Greece, the upper classes used slaves as entertainment, fighting exotic beasts to the death. These cultures all used slaves and kept them under control by dehumanization. Although terrible, the United States followed in the footsteps of these other powerful civilizations using slaves to propel their own economy.