Religion in African American History

Abstract

Dynamic and creative exchanges among different religions, including indigenous traditions, Protestant and Catholic Christianity, and Islam, all with developing theologies and institutions, fostered substantial collective religious and cultural identities within African American communities in the United States. The New World enslavement of diverse African peoples and the cultural encounter with Europeans and Native Americans produced distinctive religious perspectives that aided individuals and communities in persevering under the dehumanization of slavery and oppression. As African Americans embraced Christianity beginning in the 18th century, especially after 1770, they gathered in independent church communities and created larger denominational structures such as the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and the National Baptist Convention. These churches and denominations became significant arenas for spiritual support, educational opportunity, economic development, and political activism. Black religious institutions served as contexts in which African Americans made meaning of the experience of enslavement, interpreted their relationship to Africa, and charted a vision for a collective future. The early 20th century saw the emergence of new religious opportunities as increasing numbers of African Americans turned to Holiness and Pentecostal churches, drawn by the focus on baptism in the Holy Spirit and enthusiastic worship that sometimes involved speaking in tongues. The Great Migration of southern blacks to southern and northern cities fostered the development of a variety of religious options outside of Christianity. Groups such as the Moorish Science Temple and the Nation of Islam, whose leaders taught that Islam was the true religion of people of African descent, and congregations of Ethiopian Hebrews promoting Judaism as the heritage of black people, were founded in this period. Early-20th-century African American religion was also marked by significant cultural developments as ministers, musicians, actors, and other performers turned to new media, such as radio, records, and film, to contribute to religious life. In the post–World War II era, religious contexts supported the emergence of the modern Civil Rights movement. Black religious leaders emerged as prominent spokespeople for the cause and others as vocal critics of the goal of racial integration, as in the case of the Nation of Islam and religious advocates of Black Power. The second half of the 20th century and the early 21st-first century saw new religious diversity as a result of immigration and cultural transformations within African American Christianity with the rise of megachurches and televangelism.

Analysis of Religious Bias among Christian Students in Science

“…Seventy-five percent of Black Americans are Protestant, and report religion to be an important part of their lives, 59 percent of whom specifically worship in historically Black Churches (Masci, Mohamed, and Smith 2018;Pew 2009c;Pew 2015). For many Black Americans, participation in communities of faith serves a vital role in providing social, psychological, and educational support (Ellison, Musick, and Henderson 2008;Taylor, Chatters, and Levin 2003;Weisenfeld 2015). For Black scientists (approximately 7.2 percent of the STEM workforce; National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics 2021), 64 percent are Christians or part of other religious traditions (15 percent), such as Islam (Barnes et al 2021b;Ecklund 2021).…”

Relationships between the Religious Backgrounds and Evolution Acceptance of Black and Hispanic Biology Students

“…Indeed, longitudinal data have revealed that religious involvement among African American individuals moderates the effects of racism on psychological distress (Ellison et al, 2008). This importance of religion to the lives of Black/African Americans has been documented for at least 40 years (Taylor et al, 1996(Taylor et al, , 2003, but can partially be traced back to enslaved Africans in the United States who were often not able to practice the traditions of their native religious cultures (Weisenfeld, 2015). Enslaved Africans and their African American children created robust and unique Christian religious cultures that helped them endure their dehumanization and oppression (Weisenfeld, 2015; Grendler et al, n.d.).…”

“…, 1996 , 2003 ), but can partially be traced back to enslaved Africans in the United States who were often not able to practice the traditions of their native religious cultures ( Weisenfeld, 2015 ). Enslaved Africans and their African American children created robust and unique Christian religious cultures that helped them endure their dehumanization and oppression ( Weisenfeld, 2015 ; Grendler et al. , n.d.).…”

“…, n.d.). After the Civil War, Christian religion was closely associated with the education and social mobilization of African Americans, because Christian organizations helped to establish churches and educational institutions among African Americans ( Weisenfeld, 2015 ). Therefore, it is important that mentors and instructors in biology recognize the value of religion in the lives of their students.…”

“Queering” African American religious history

“…In “African Americans and Religion,” for instance, Sylvester Johnson () cites African American minister David Ruggles' as having condemned “the system of concubinage” during American slavery, thus speaking to the heart of Black religious resistance to what Johnson describes as “slavery's sexual regime.” Yet, while historians of slavery and the early United States have discussed sexual violence and planters' illicit sexual activity, there is much potential for a project on the intersections of consensual sex and African American religions in the early United States. Judith Weisenfeld () similarly contends that “scholars are only beginning to attend to questions of gender and sexuality in African American religious history in ways that reflect the complex contributions that religious beliefs and practices have made to the construction of gender and sexual identity.” I would argue that the inverse has also not been fully explored, specifically how early American constructions of race, gender, and sexuality shaped African American religions, such that African American religious actors articulated sexual ethics that were also in response to the threat of white supremacist violence.…”