Slavery and Spirituality

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Abstract

able goes on to say, that the Africans established their own autonomous family structure, life-style and general sense of well-being within the constraints of their bondage. Perhaps this family identity is a throwback to African tradition. The children of my father’s brother were considered to be my brothers and sisters rather than first cousins as in our American tradition. This is also reflective of the notion of supporting the common good of the community. Belief in an Almighty encouraged slaves to help one another endure its inhumane treatment.Marable further points out that white slave masters supported a proslavery interpretation of religion: one in which God had given whites the authority to rule over blacks and that blacks were obligated by God to submit to whites’ brutality. Imam W Deen Mohanned, 21st century Muslim American leader, draws one’s attention to the image of a white man brutally fastened to a cross. This image given to Blacks during slavery left a permanent, indelible mark on their psyche and perpetuated the master-slave relationship.Through a study of one hundred slave narrative books and pamphlets, Marable supports the argument that blacks were aware of their master’s selfish perspective of religion. Rather than submit to their hypocritical interpretation, the bondmen drew strength from the examples of Moses and Jesus. The former metaphorically represents efforts to free the slaves from bondage by the Union Army for example and the latter empowered them with strength to forbear whatever befell them. The C

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hristian image of the suffering of Christ gave the slave a religion of resistance and increased their spirituality. It gave them the strength to endure inhuman treatment at the hands of their masters. Faith in an Almighty, superior to the slave master’s depiction of His divine endorsement of the slave system, gave the bondmen a spirit of resistance and self-determination. Slave narratives tell of God’s guidance of runaways to safety and ways to oppose man’s inhumanity to man.Just as belief in an Almighty provided African slaves with strength to endure inhuman conditions during their bondage, the same faith is needed today to fight against the non-spiritual influences that confront our communities. The overall tendency to relegate religion to a segment of our lives rather than its focal points has led to feelings of helplessness. When one feels that their human condition is beyond their ability to handle, behaviour such as suicide and mass murder are the inevitable outcome.As discussed in the previous section, the African had internalized a spirituality in his/her motherland based upon the awareness of a Superior Creator. Their circumstances in slavery did not lessen that faith but in fact strengthened it. Spirituality provided a cornerstone that enables people held in bondage to suffer and patiently forbear, resist and look forward to divine intervention. Was spirituality still an important aspect of the Black man’s social structure after The Emancipation Proclamation? This is the topic of the next section.</article></body>

Spirituality: Cornerstone of African American Education — Chapter 3

Highlighting the work of Jean Paul Sartre and others, Manning Marable delves into the “The Meaning of Faith in the Black Mind in Slavery”. Although the slave’s life was totally subjected to the whims of his master, the bondman was able to define his spirituality in a way that provided sufficient individual strength to withstand the inhuman condition to which he was subjected. Although the master dehumanized his slaves and looked at them as less than human, the slaves resisted this identity imposed upon them and relied on their collective religious inheritance to retain their human dignity. There was a collective racial pride shared by all that defied the slave master’s indoctrination.

Marable uses the work of Eugene D. Genovese to articulate the spirituality of African people as they struggled to maintain their humanity in the inhuman chattel slavery system. He points out that faith and belief in salvation created a characteristic spirit of self integrity and collective self-worth during bondage among the Blacks. Defying the daily brutality of slavery life, Marable goes on to say, that the Africans established their own autonomous family structure, life-style and general sense of well-being within the constraints of their bondage. Perhaps this family identity is a throwback to African tradition. The children of my father’s brother were considered to be my brothers and sisters rather than first cousins as in our American tradition. This is also reflective of the notion of supporting the common good of the community. Belief in an Almighty encouraged slaves to help one another endure its inhumane treatment.

Marable further points out that white slave masters supported a proslavery interpretation of religion: one in which God had given whites the authority to rule over blacks and that blacks were obligated by God to submit to whites’ brutality. Imam W Deen Mohanned, 21st century Muslim American leader, draws one’s attention to the image of a white man brutally fastened to a cross. This image given to Blacks during slavery left a permanent, indelible mark on their psyche and perpetuated the master-slave relationship.

Through a study of one hundred slave narrative books and pamphlets, Marable supports the argument that blacks were aware of their master’s selfish perspective of religion. Rather than submit to their hypocritical interpretation, the bondmen drew strength from the examples of Moses and Jesus. The former metaphorically represents efforts to free the slaves from bondage by the Union Army for example and the latter empowered them with strength to forbear whatever befell them. The Christian image of the suffering of Christ gave the slave a religion of resistance and increased their spirituality. It gave them the strength to endure inhuman treatment at the hands of their masters. Faith in an Almighty, superior to the slave master’s depiction of His divine endorsement of the slave system, gave the bondmen a spirit of resistance and self-determination. Slave narratives tell of God’s guidance of runaways to safety and ways to oppose man’s inhumanity to man.

Just as belief in an Almighty provided African slaves with strength to endure inhuman conditions during their bondage, the same faith is needed today to fight against the non-spiritual influences that confront our communities. The overall tendency to relegate religion to a segment of our lives rather than its focal points has led to feelings of helplessness. When one feels that their human condition is beyond their ability to handle, behaviour such as suicide and mass murder are the inevitable outcome.

As discussed in the previous section, the African had internalized a spirituality in his/her motherland based upon the awareness of a Superior Creator. Their circumstances in slavery did not lessen that faith but in fact strengthened it. Spirituality provided a cornerstone that enables people held in bondage to suffer and patiently forbear, resist and look forward to divine intervention. Was spirituality still an important aspect of the Black man’s social structure after The Emancipation Proclamation? This is the topic of the next section.