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."
Freedom and Liberation
Dwight Hopkins, a professor at the University of
Chicago Divinity School, says black liberation theology
often portrays Jesus as a brown-skinned revolutionary.
He cites the words of Mary in the Magnificat — also
known as the "Song of Mary" — in which she says God
intends to bring down the mighty and raise the lowly.
Hopkins also notes that in the book of Matthew, Jesus
says the path to heaven is to feed the hungry, clothe
the naked, visit the sick and the prisoners. And the
central text for black liberation theology can be found
in Chapter 4 of Luke's gospel, where Jesus outlines the
purpose of his ministry.
"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."
Hopkins attends Trinity United Church of Christ,
where Rev. Wright just retired as pastor. In the
now-famous sermon from 2003, Wright said black people's
troubles are a result of racism that still exists in
America, crying out, "No, no, no, not God bless America!
God damn America — that's in the Bible — for killing
innocent people."
According to Hopkins, that was theological wordplay —
because the word "damn" is straight out of the Bible and
has a specific meaning in the original Hebrew.
"It means a sacred condemnation by God to a wayward
nation who has strayed from issues of justice, strayed
from issues of peace, strayed from issues of
reconciliation," Hopkins says.
A Loud, Passionate, Physical Affair
Anthony Pinn of Rice University acknowledges that
black liberation preaching often sounds angry. But he
says the anger does not advocate violence but is instead
channeled into constructive routes. Trinity UCC, he
notes, has 70 ministries that help the poor, the
unemployed, those with AIDS or those in prison. Pinn
says the words can be jarring to the untrained ear, but
they're still valid.
"Folks, including myself, may be taken aback by the
inflammatory nature of the rhetoric, but I don't think
very many of us would deny that there is a fundamental
truth: Racism is a problem in the United States," Pinn
says.
Black liberation preaching can be a loud, passionate,
physical affair. Linda Thomas, who teaches at the
Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, says the whole
point of it is to challenge the powerful and to raise
questions for society to think about. Thomas says if
white people are surprised by the rhetoric, it's because
most have never visited a black church.
"I think that many black people would know what white
worship is like," Thomas says. "Why is it that white
people don't know what black worship is about? And I
think that is because there is this centrality with
white culture that says we don't have to know about
that."
Obama presents himself as uniquely situated to bridge
those two cultures because of his biracial heritage. In
his speech on race Tuesday, the presidential hopeful
said he could no more disown his controversial pastor
than he could disown his white grandmother.
"These people are a part of me. And they are part of
America, this country that I love," Obama said.
He denounced the harshness of Wright's words — not because they were false, he said, but because they did not acknowledge the strides that the U.S. has made in the fight against racism. Obama said his own candidacy shows how far the country has come.