Black Liberation Theology in the Civil Rights Era
Black theology, otherwise known as Black liberation theology, refers to a theological perspective that is widely used in Black religious spaces. This perspective originated among African American seminarians and scholars, and church leaders, and has spread globally from its origins in the United States. This school of thought directly contrasts the mainstream perspectives of Protestantism, which typically centers the white anglo-saxon experience. This is best illustrated by the phenomenon of “White Jesus”, which empowers and enables white superiority complexes. Following emancipation, black people were afforded more opportunities to formally study the Bible. Armed with this new knowledge, black religious leaders and intellectuals confronted specific questions regarding God’s role in the black community. The product of these efforts culminated in Black liberation theory, which ideologically dominated the rights movements of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.
One major question of the Black theology stems from the idea of liberation. James Cone, the father of black theology, defines liberation as “freeing someone from imprisonment, slavery, or oppression; release.” In the face of constant violence following the Emancipation Proclamation, Black Americans turned to their religious leaders to explain their strife. Black theology begged the question “How is God functioning in relation to systematic oppression?” From this question, Black theologians developed a perspective of God that highlights God’s heart and compassion for oppressed people. This point of view encouraged people to become and understand the heart of God. James H. Come went on to tell the Historymakers that, “[Religion] not beyond [social condition] 'cause if it's beyond it, it has no concrete reality. The universality comes through the particular; … So you don't skip over blackness to get to some universal something because if you do, all you've embraced is whiteness.”
The origins of Black liberation theology spurs from the question “Where is God in the black experience?” and “How does God show God’s self in the black experience?” This viewpoint is strictly seen through the lens of race and culture, which further dichotomizes one’s perspective of right and wrong. This lens draws the natural conclusion that God is a champion of the least, the last, and the lost. This is evidenced by the Exodus story, the life of Jesus Christ, and the tale of David and Goliath. Furthermore, this conclusion extrapolates that opposing the oppressed is siding with the oppressor; thus earning judgement from God.
The three major groups responsible for the creation and maintenance of this school of thought are Black seminarians, scholars, and church leaders. Seminarians are people who study God’s word for the purpose of doing God’s work. These individuals are held to a higher standard of accountability due to their immense schooling and titles. Seminarians study ancient languages, social issues, the Bible, as well as the religious experience. Many seminarians enter fields as clergy people, teachers, hospice care, and counselling. The second group is composed of scholars such as WEB DuBois and Howard Thurman. Scholars do not necessarily have a devout purpose in God's work, but rather study and utilize that knowledge in their intellectual endeavors. The third group is composed of church leaders such as pastors, deacons, evangelists and trustees. Although they may not have a formal education, these people are still held accountable for who and what they are teaching in religious spaces.
Hailed as the parents of Black liberation theology, James Cone and Jacqueline Grant are responsible to many facets of this perspective. James Cone’s academic approach to reconciliation stressed the need to “make one's view or belief compatible with another.” He believed that Black people should reconcile with themselves, the things that have happened in the past, and events that are currently happening. This reconciliation would allow Black people to create and apply different views and belief systems to events that could potentially happen in the future. One of Jacqueline Grant’s contributions to Black liberation theory is that of womanist theology.
In her book, White Woman's Christ, Black Woman's Jesus, Grant asserts that the white person's image of Christ can not be the Black woman’s image as well. This is supported by the fact that the black woman’s experience is blatantly different from every other lived identity. Grant further explains the ways in which black women are overly oppressed due to the intersection of her race and her gender. This unique perspective is echoed in later Black women theologians such as Rev. Dr. Elaine Frank, who spoke to Historymakers about the impact of the intersection of race and gender in the AME tradition. She says, “We are not afraid to talk about spousal abuse. We talk about rape, incest, things that brothers have never touched. I think that the women preachers, the woman preacher, has brought to the forefront some issues that were pushed to the back in our writing, in our preaching, in our programming.… we had classes on things like childlessness, raising children, overcoming divorce, getting rid of the anger, getting rid of the bitterness.”
It is apparent that Black liberation theology was developed and adapted by people who took pride and care in their self determination. The likes of Cone and Grant, in addition to countless seminarians, scholars, and church leaders worked tirelessly to cultivate a religious experience for their communities. The Black liberation theory answers the questions that tax oppressed people all over the world, and it is evident that its ability to empathize is what made it so easy to adapt in the Civil Rights Era.
