Racism and Equal Rights
Will Black Churches Change America?
The fight by Black Churches against police injustice is the polar opposite of white evangelism in the Bible Belt
Once again, Black America is leading a movement in America, this time led by its clergy.
In North Carolina, it’s Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, leading the charge against an entire police department for shooting yet another young Black man:
This is a trend across America.
It is the very opposite of where white Christianity is headed, at least in the Bible Belt, which is so full of hypocrisy that it could be a long-running comedy show if it didn’t lead to so much anguish and tragedy.
How powerful is the Black clergy movement, a force that is basically ignored by the white mainstream press? Powerful enough that a Black clergyman took a Senate seat away from a rich white family in Georgia. Of all places.
Powerful enough, just possibly, to change the entire justice system in the United States from one focusing on punishment to one focusing on rehabilitation. Away from police patrols designed to hunt down Black people, and towards a police system geared toward actually solving crimes.
Both of those things alone are pretty fantastic.
But what I am beginning to wonder is what other possibilities lay on the horizon? Will the Black Church, with its emphasis on compassion and civil rights, herald an eventual transformation of white churches, too?
Remember that during the civil war, many white Christian churches led the voices for abolition.
But today, white evangelist churches are collapsing under the weight of their hypocrisy and immorality:
Meanwhile, Black churches fight for justice.
Their influence, eventually, could transform religion in America.
The money changers won’t be happy.
