Why Playing the Standard Race Card in the Definition of Black Pacifism is Counter Revolutionary or Does Black Pacifism Equal Social Suicide

©1999 revised © 2005 M. Bennett Hooper

In this the latter days of the 20^th century the Black Church stands once again at the crossroads; faced with the choice of liberating the people or hanging onto a withering status quo. A status quo reflected in the actions of many Black religious and lay leaders who choose not to rock any boats.



The Black Church when answering the Pan African call for identification of Christ as a Revolutionary Black Messiah say Christ’s color is irrelevant. The Pan African response

Is yes the color of Christ is irrelevant in a Christian World. We do not live in a Christian Country, a Christian City, a Christian neighborhood, or a Christian Family. The world in which we live is guided by a value system which promotes the acquisition of power and privilege in direct proportion to the absence of melanin in one’s skin tone and or whom a group of people elevate God and their doctrinal and ritualistic differences. In many quarters of the world the acquisition of power and privilege is tied to caste and or tribal birth.

Pacifists by nature and action are not inclined to be bold but rather humble and meek. They are directed to be mentally colorless if Black so as not to be perceived as threatening in non-black dominated societies. This mental colorlessness takes on the action of the denial of and destruction of an historically and culturally correct Black value system. In no place is this better achieved than in the Black Church in its’ most visible abdication of responsibility for the education of Black children.

We knock at the doors of the Black Church in rage, in anger, but most of all in love. The Black Church was our haven in times past during the many storms of our existence. We could measure every aspect of our lives by the direction our churches of old gave us. The Black Church historically gave us the courage to make our rows one more week. When we were enslaved the Black Church first promised a better life in heaven than our enslaved earth bound physical reality. In later years the Black ministry developed a social conscience that dealt with events on the ground while you’re still around. Religion was given life which is what religion should be about anyway with adoration and worship of God as the first directive of life.

What many seem to forget and scripture reminds us is that though God is almighty and all powerful God is not alone in heaven. John the revelator speaks of 24 thrones surrounding the throne of God whom they call the Eternal Living One.* It was the elders who told a crying John of the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David who had proved himself worthy to open the scroll of God, and break the seals because that same Lion bought with his blood people from every nation as gifts for God. This is said to say this, God never intended to exist alone.* (Revelations 4:4, 4:9-10) If God intended to exist alone there would be no creation and no universe, no planets, no people, nothing. Just as there are elders in John’s revelation in heaven there must be earthly counterparts.

Our earthly elders must begin to speak in new and bold voices unafraid to speak truth and unafraid to live truthfully. Turning the other cheek while someone is blowing off your head is not only redundant it is downright stupid. If someone bludgeons you across the head with a bat for no reason tell them to kill you and that you forgive them and then fight like hell for your life. Defend yourself, we are not saying run out and start fighting people like animals, this is a parable for mental exercise. Fight those things which are killing us, drugs, violence, AIDS, malediction,, and ignorance at every level. We are whether we accept it or not our brothers keepers and until we care for and assist each other first, we have no time to care for and assist the stranger in our midst. This is the war I think the parable addresses.

We have been programmed to love everything and everybody except our own Black selves. We still have not learned that those who seek to oppress us have no vested interest in validating those thing about us which are good. We end up with images which are projected worldwide as savages in a quote civilized society. The projected images are those of thugs, gangsters, killers, dope fiends, and AIDS infecting, irresponsibly multiplying, sub-human creatures.

We are not Bebe’s kids, it does not matter that this image is incorrect for the majority of our people, however, what does matter is how we are being displayed on the world stage. We are being set up to be shut up and the sad part is we are helping to do it to ourselves through the commission of social suicide. Black denial is Black death. We must reconnect spiritually first and then pick up the mantle for a better future for our progeny.

If we relegate our children to the role of buzzards they just might begin to eat us before we die and we will have earned our fate.