BLACK THEOLOGY: A SURVIVING MEAN TO BLACKNESS AND DARKNESS OF AFRICA FROM SLAVERY

ALLEN TIMILEHIN OLATUNDE

APRIL 2012

INTRODUCTION

Africa, as a continent of the black and the dark in complexion, has passed through a lot of hatred, dehumanization, prejudices and treatment like the inferior even at the level of gospel propagation by the white. Africa is nations of subject of debate by the theologians and scholars on her existence and resources. This is Africa in its immensity, the second continent in size on the globe (Booth 1). Africa is a land of chilly plateaus, snow-clad mountains, extensive jungles, humid coastal regions and hot sands. There is, of course, rich soil in abundance in many parts of Africa and enough rainfall to make everything grow profusely. Sometimes there is altogether too much rain so that tropical rain forest takes over. However, poor soil and dry climate leave millions of hard-working people undernourished and poverty stricken. The riches of the mineral resources, found in amazing varieties and amounts all over the continent, supply the world with the economic stability of gold, the fused strength of manganese with iron, the beauty and hard cutting edge of diamonds, the healing power of radium (Booth 2).

Many Africans live from hand to mouth in bare existence and know only a dreary substandard life, but not all the people live like this. Africa is a continent of exploding populations and areas of rapid social change. In spite of changes already made, millions of Africans awaits health, education, and a community fellowship (Booth 5). Booth also notes that Africa stands out as the last major area of the world where colonialism continues. More than colonialism, however, is involved. The excessive use by the white man of Africa’s resources is a violation of human freedom. One African leader has said, “The African is determined, through constitutional means to secure an effective voice in government, in this there can be no compromises” (13).

Theology has not given the African the chance to voice their interest on the issue of human right and slavery when the white only write and interpret the gospel to dehumanize the blacks in the world. This paper will address the impact of Black Theology on the slavery and prejudice White Theology placed on Africa generally and blacks in the world.

CONCEPT OF BLACK THEOLOGY

James Cone is the founder of black liberation theology. In an interview with Terry Gross, Cone explains the movement, which has roots in 1960s civil-rights activism and draws inspiration from both the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, as "mainly a theology that sees God as concerned with the poor and the weak" Black liberation theology originated on July 31, 1966, when 51 black pastors bought a full page ad in the New York Times and demanded a more aggressive approach to eradicating racism. They echoed the demands of the black power movement, but the new crusade found its source of inspiration in the Bible. "God's presence in the world is best depicted through God's involvement in the struggle for justice," says Anthony Pinn, who teaches philosophy and religion at Rice University in Houston. "God is so intimately connected to the community that suffers, that God becomes a part of that community" (Hagerty http://www.npr.org).

Christian theology is theology of liberation. It is a rational study of the being of God in the world in light of the existential situation of an oppressed community, relating the forces of liberation to the essence of the gospel, which is Jesus Christ. This means that its sole reason for existence is to put into ordered speech the meaning of God’s activity in the world (Cone 1). A clear definition of black theology was first given formulation in 1969 by the National Committee of Black Church Men in the midst of the civil-rights movement:

Black theology is a theology of black liberation. It seeks to plumb the black condition in the light of God's revelation in Jesus Christ; so that the black community can see that the gospel is commensurate with the achievements of black humanity. Black theology is a theology of 'blackness.' It is the affirmation of black humanity that emancipates black people from White racism, thus providing authentic freedom for both white and black people. It affirms the humanity of white people in that it says 'No' to the encroachment of white oppression (Bradley http://www.acton.org)

Black theology refers to a variety of Black theologies which have as their base the liberation of the marginalized, especially the injustice done towards Blacks in American and South African contexts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_theology). Black theology can be linked with African theology as it talks about situation church in Africa. The proposed African Theology is to be distinguished from the Black Theology which is found in the United States and Southern Africa. Although Black Theology claims some affinity with Africa, all African theologians do not share to the same degree the emphasis of Black Theology (Kato 47). Black Theology has been described in these words:

We know that Israel was a black nation and that descendants of the original black Jews are in Israel, Africa, and the Mediterranean area today. The Bible was written by black Jews. The Old Testament is the history of black Jews. The first three gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, tell the story of Jesus, retaining some of the original material which establishes the simple fact that Jesus built upon the Old Testament. Jesus was a black Messiah. He came to free the black people from the oppression of the white Gentiles. We know this now to be a fact. Our religion, our preaching, our teachings all come from the Old Testament, for we are God’s Chosen people (Albert 111).

Idowu believes that Church in Africa, and Nigeria in particular, had come into being ‘with prefabricated theology, liturgies, and traditions’, and now bears little, if any, real relation to the indigenous beliefs and practices of the people to which it was brought (Sawyerr 9-10). Nolan also notes from South Africa shore that the gospel that first came to our shores with Dutch and then British colonization was a gospel that justified and legitimized colonialism, imperialism, and European superiority. Despite their barbaric methods and attitudes, the colonizers firmly believed that what they were bringing to this part of the world was message of Jesus Christ… in late times the so-called English Churches (Anglican, Methodist, Congregationalist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Catholic) would comment regularly and in the name of the gospel on the policies of successive white governments; while the white Dutch Reformed Churches were deeply involved from the start in the politics of the Afrikaner (1).

BLACKNESS OF AFRICA

Fanon in his novel, titled, “Black Skins, White Masks” writes out emphatically the status and situation of black in the face of white.

“Dirty nigger!” Or simply, “Look, a Negro!” “Look, a Negro!” It was an external stimulus that flicked over me as I passed by. I made a tight smile. “Look, a Negro!” It was true. It amused me. “Look, a Negro!” The circle was a drawing a bit tighter. I made no secret of my amusement. “Mama, see the Negro! I’m frightened!”

The white man killed my father because my father was proud. The white man raped my mother because my mother was beautiful. The white man wore out my brother in the hot sun of the roads because my brother was strong, Then the white man came to me, his hands red with blood spat his contempt into my black face. Out of his tyrant’s voice: “Hey boy, a basin, a towel, water” (http://www.amazon.com/Black-White-Masks-Frantz-Fanon).

The term black people are used in some socially-based systems of racial classification for humans of a dark-skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups represented in a particular social context. Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class and socio-economic status also play a role, so that relatively dark-skinned people can be classified as white if they fulfill other social criteria of "whiteness" and relatively light-skinned people can be classified as black if they fulfill the social criteria for "blackness" in a particular setting (Sutton 1992). Virginia Commonwealth University Library, 2008 also explains that as a biological phenotype being "black" is often associated with the very dark skin colors of some people who are classified as "black". But, particularly in the United States, the racial or ethnic classification also refers to people with all possible kinds of skin pigmentation from the darkest through to the very lightest skin colors, including albinos, if they are believed by others to have African ancestry, or to exhibit cultural traits associated with being "African-American". As a result, in the United States the term "black people" is not an indicator of skin color but of socially based racial classification (2008). Africa is this huge continent which brought about curiosity and imagination not only in ordinary people but also in the heads of the scientists. In this context we find more and more Europeans travelling through Africa with different interests such as "discoveries", explorations and the cruel slavery trade. The narratives of these travels were read with great interest by the people who wanted to know something more about the situation and reality in Africa. The imagery was of a "wild Africa" where men/women were identified with wild animals and, in many cases, were not seen as humankind but, compared to the standard of European "Civilization", as savage, inferior creatures (Conteúdo, http://www.nosrevla.com).

The concept of blackness in the United States has been describedas the degree to which one associates themselves with mainstream African-American culture and values. To a certain extent, this concept is not so much about race but more about culture and behavior. Blackness can be contrasted with "acting white," where black Americans are said to behave with assumed characteristics of stereotypical white Americans, with regard to fashion, dialect, taste in music, (Edler, http://www.kent.edu) and possibly, from the perspective of a significant number of Black youth, academic achievement. In 1837 the painter and theorist Jacques Nicolas Paillot de Montabert wrote:

White is the symbol of Divinity or God; Black is the symbol of the evil spirit or the demon. White is the symbol of light . . . Black is the symbol of darkness and darkness expresses all evils. White is the emblem of harmony; Black is the emblem of chaos. White signifies supreme beauty; Black ugliness. White signifies perfection; Black signifies vice. White is the symbol of innocence; Black, that of guilt, sin, and moral degradation. White, a positive color, indicates happiness; Black, a negative color, indicates misfortune. The battle between good and evil is symbolically expressed by the opposition of white and black (Goldenberg 2003).

The black experience is existence in system of white racism. The black person knows that a ghetto is the white way of saying that blacks are subhuman and fit only to live with rats. The black experience is police departments adding more recruits and buying more guns to provide “law and order,” which means making a city safe for its white population (Cone 24). Blackness of Africa was seen in different perspectives and this motivates the position and low esteem of African in the world. African and Negroes in the world suffer inferiority because of his colour.

DARKNESS OF AFRICA

Darkness as a term may connote the heart of darkness. Or the uncivilized behavior of black man makes him crude and rough. Africa in cultural and socio-religious perspective might be viewed as dark due to mystics and mystery in approach to culture and values. The look of mystics in many cultural activities makes Africa gloomy in burial rite, coronation, religious rite, marriage and others. Pre-slavery period was silent time when norms were appreciated but the arrival of colonization that brought civilization poses darkness of what white could not understand. Christianity with colonization came to Africa in the nineteenth century after about a millennium. At the same time Christianity came back to Africa, Europeans had colonized Africa and paved the way for Europe to gain sociopolitical and economic control of Africa (Aben 2). Many of the ideas about mission in Africa at that time included the thought of a cursed people who needed "salvation" which could be brought only through the Christian Europeans, but this European view was much more concerned with the economic possibilities of having cheaper labour to develop its economy (Conteúdo, http://www.nosrevla.com). The colour of skin has nothing to do with darkness in Africa. Africa has dark world of power and evil but it is not limited to Africa alone. Also the cultural symbols, instruments and heritage in music and art, that crossed the Atlantic (Ohadike xii) made the white to observe in their perspective that African are dark in knowledge, social expression and theology.

Africa was immediately viewed as a "dark continent" in the sense of the dark skin colour of its people and in the sense that it was in the darkness of pre-civilization. In the religious field this darkness could mean that Africa was separated from the benefits of the Christian faith, remaining in a "darkness of evil" through superstitions and devil worship. These views and interpretations of the different brought several consequences to Africa which affected directly the life of its people. The image of an inferior people with a dark skin played an important role in the idea of slavery and fed the minds of the people with the possibility of a slavery system which could bring about an opportunity for cheap workers for the development of Western civilization. It also presented the idea of "saving" Africa from the darkness in which its people were involved. Quickly it became a key point to keep the slavery system, and an ideological issue involving political and economic approaches. Every part of society was involved in the process of emphasizing the inferiority and needs of "salvation" for Africa (Conteúdo, http://www.nosrevla.com).

SLAVERY PERSPECTIVES ABOUT AFRICA

Africa was a "perfect" place where the European ideas could be spread and the process of enslavement could be a reality. The process of denying Africa and its people of their humankind had the objective of making the process of enslavement easier.  "Africans deserved to be enslaved because they were without rational souls, were sinful, were black; that enslaving them was indeed an act of humanity, that God brought them to America to save much people alive; black man was deprived of his liberty, of the fruit of his labours, of his dignity, of delights of family life, of his identity and manhood in order to make him acquainted with the gentle Jesus" (Conteúdo, http://www.nosrevla.com).

The missionary movement in Africa had not an interest only in propagating the Gospel of Jesus Christ but also in making an effort to bring "civilization" through the annihilation of the "savage" attitudes in the life of the African people and to help keep an idea of inferiority. Slavery was recognized institution all over the world (Freeman 2003). The slave trade had two cruel aspects. The first was that the Africans were taken from their families, friends, countries, and cultures. The other was that they were taken to a country where they were supposed to work without freedom and be considered as inferior creatures and not human beings (Conteúdo, http://www.nosrevla.com). Slaves were employed by Kings, Chiefs, and wealthy people in their houses as domestic servants. A man's economic and social status was assessed by the number of slaves he possessed. This type of slavery was known as domestic slavery. Usually, many of these slaves were captives of war. But many of the slave owners on learning that European slave merchants were besieging Badagry with goods such as iron bars, cotton, wool, linen, whiskey, gin, metal wares, and assorted wines in exchange for slaves, wasted no time to bring their domestic slaves to Badagry with the hope of exchanging them for the listed items. It was confessed that the prospects of Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade fueled into tribal wars in Yorubaland as the kings and slaves who had taken part of the European slave merchants' offer, went all out to wage war on the other towns and villages with the sole aim of getting slaves to be exchanged for wine and guns" (Freeman 2003). All these increased the chances of slavery in Africa.

Williams notes the ordeal of African slaves on his online article that enslaved people lived with the perpetual possibility of separation through the sale of one or more family members. Slave-owners’ wealth lay largely in the people they owned; therefore, they frequently sold and or purchased people as finances warranted. A multitude of scenarios brought about sale. An enslaved person could be sold as part of an estate when his owner died, or because the owner needed to liquidate assets to pay off debts, or because the owner thought the enslaved person was a troublemaker. A father might be sold away by his owner while the mother and children remained behind, or the mother and children might be sold. (http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org).

The biblical text about God's curse which has been used in regard to blacks is found in the book of Genesis 9. 18 - 28. This text deals with Noah's sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. After the flood Ham had looked on his father's nakedness when Noah was drunk and lying in his tent, but the two other sons had covered their father without seeing his nakedness. When Noah awoke he knew what had happened and cursed Canaan, son of Ham with the following words: "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers" (v 25). To the other sons Noah said: "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave." (v 26-27).

Conteúdo notes this perspective that it is true that the text really does mention slavery as a curse upon Canaan; the text implies slavery in a relation which can be a symbolic relation where each son of Noah can mean descendants or successors or maybe nations. There are no doubts about the question of slavery in the text. The problem with the use of this text to support the slavery system and on which to base the argument that blacks are descendants of Canaan (or Ham) is the fact that the text says nothing about skin colour. It is certain that a new interpretation for the text was given. It seems as if the theologians were re-writing the text in the following way: ‘Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers and his skin will be black and every black has to be a slave' (http://www.nosrevla.com).  This issue brought about Black Theology in which the black is viewed as Bible sees and what God has for the oppressed. Oppression and slavery with prejudice make black Christian less privilege to gospel and benefit of faith in God of all. This give dichotomy in creation that white is made superior to Negroes at all level. Bowen writes that, "It is not wise, however, to commit the common mistake of supposing that our form of civilization is the exemplar for the whole earth. It is not the best form for ourselves, and is not adapted to Africa at all" (38).

BLACK THEOLOGY: SURVIVING MEAN FOR LIBERATION

There is need to understand that black theology is Christian theology because it centers on Jesus Christ. There can be no Christian theology which does not have Jesus Christ as its point of departure… Black theology is a theology arising from identification with the oppressed black community and seeks to interpret the gospel of Jesus Christ in the light of the liberation of that community; it is Christian theology (Cone 5-6). The brief review of developments over the past decade supports the argument that while black theology leaves much to be desired at the congregational level, it has not failed to have influence in some other important sectors of the church. In any case, the celebration of the twentieth anniversary a black Theology liberation gives all of us an opportunity to reassess the history of the black theology movement, do an audit on racism religion toady, and ask ourselves why both black and white congregations have not been more interested in the critical issues raised by African American religious thinker, male and female (Cone 162).

Need to establish strong emphasis on scripture as the only equilibrium of all races by applying Black theology on homiletic in the church. “Jesus says my mission is to eradicate poverty and to bring about freedom and liberation for the oppressed," Hopkins says. "And most Christian pastors in America skip over that part of the book" (Hagerty http://www.npr.org). The issue of colour and status need to be neglected. The emphasis on African personality, authentic, and humane concern almost to the neglect of the spiritual needs of man is one aspect of similarity between Black theology and African theology. The two systems also give little or no significance to the Biblical fact of individual salvation (Kato 49).

If the content of the gospel is liberation, human existence must be explained as “being in freedom,” which means rebellion against every form of slavery, the suppression of everything creative. “A slave,” writes LeRoi Jones, “cannot be a man” (60). To be human is to be free, and to be free is to be human. The concreteness of human existence reveals that human beings are not (fully) human when their creativity is enslaved by alien powers. To be (fully) human is to be separated from everything that is evil, everything that is against the “extension of the limits of humanity” (Petrovic 127).

Jones points out those white theologians have emphasized that God as creator is a testament about the divine-human relationship; they have not pointed out the political implications of this theological truth for blacks. God as creator has not been related to the oppressed in society (75). If creation “involves a bringing into existence of something that did not exist before,” (Kaufmann 140) then to say God is creator means that my being finds its source in God. I am black because God is black! God as creator is the ground of my blackness (being), the point of reference for meaning and purpose in the universe (Jone 75).

CONCLUSION

Black theology is an eye opener for Africans to know, understand and interpret scriptures in African context as means to free the oppressed and still identify the love and care of the same God as the creator of all things including the African. Slavery and prejudice had caused inferiority to African yet the understanding of theology in the light of liberation in black theology makes our world better and appreciated. White theologian never accept universality of God on creation, nevertheless, black theology establishes the fact that “divine-human relationship” is also for the blacks on the continent.

WORKS CITED

Aben, A. Tersur. African Christian Theology: Illusion and Reality. Plateau, Jos: ACTS, 2008.

 Albert, B. Cleage, Jr. The Black Messiah. New York: Sheed and Word, 1969.

 Booth, Newell S. This is Africa South of the Sahara. New York: Friendship Press, 1945.

Bowen, T. J. Central Africa: Adventures and Missionary Labors in Several Countries in the Interior of Africa from 1849 to 1856. Charleston: Southern Baptist Publication Society, 1857.

Bradley, Anthony B. The Marxist Roots of Black Liberation Theology, April 1, 2008. http://www.acton.org/pub/commentary/2008/04/02/marxist-roots-black-liberation-theology. It was accessed on 8th March 2012 by 12.19am.

Cone, James H. A Black Theology of Liberation. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2003.

Edler, Melissa. Acting White. Kent State Magazine, Spring, 2007.

http://www.kent.edu/Magazine/Spring2007/ActingWhite.cfm. It was accessed on 8th March 2012 by 12.22am.

Fanon, Frantz. The Fact of Blackness. 1952. http://www.amazon.com/Black-White-Masks-Frantz-Fanon/dp/0802150845/ref=nosim/?tag=chickenajourn-20. It was accessed on 8th March 2012 by 12.17am.

Goldenberg, David M. The Curse of Ham: Race and Slavery in Early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003.

Hagerty, Barbara Bradley. A Closer Look at Black Liberation Theology. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89236116. It was accessed on 8th March 2012 by 12.24am.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_theology. It was 8th March 2012 by 1.09pm.

Jones, LeRoi. Blues People. New York: William Morrow and Co, 1963.

Kato, Byang. H. Theological Pitfalls in Africa. Kisumu, Kenya: Evangel Publishing House, 1975.

Kaufmann. Systematic Theology: A Historicist Perspective. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1968.

Nolan, Albert. God in South Africa: The Challenge of the Gospel. London: CIIR, 1988.

Ohadike, Don C. Sacred Drums of Liberation: Religious and Music of Resistance in Africa and the Diaspora. Asmara, Eritrea: Africa World Press, 2007.

Petrovic, Gajo. Marx in the Mid-Twentieth Century. New York: Doubleday and Co, 1967.

Sawyer, Harry. What is African Theology? A Reader in African Christian Theology. John parratt, ed.  SPCK International Study Guide 23 (ADVANCED). Great Britain: SPCK, 1987.

Sutton, Charyn D. Pass It On: Outreach to Minority Communities, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America.1992.

Virginia Commonwealth University Library. Gillfield Baptist Church, Petersburg, Virginia. 2008.