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TechnoratiWith one of the top presidential contenders vying to be the first African American in the White House, many are curious if black religious voters will coalesce behind him because of his shared race.
Pamela G. Wilson, former journalist and author of the new book Finding Soul Brothers: Dismantling Black Christian Racialism,”, spoke to The Christian Post to give her input on black unity versus faith in the African American community.
CP: You talk in your book about black religious leaders who endorse black candidates at the sacrifice of their moral values as taught in the Bible, such as on the issue of abortion. What is the reason behind their willingness to make such concessions?
Wilson: A lot of black Christians will pretty much ignore that issue because they don’t want to face the contradiction between their faith and who they are voting for. People won’t even talk about it and that’s a problem because most of the time you will find that people are supporting a candidate based on how they feel they will advance the African American race.
I heard many people come straight out and say, “I don’t believe in abortion but people have the right to choose.” Well to me that doesn’t make any sense. You say you don’t believe in somebody committing murder but then it’s ok for someone to commit murder.
I’m saying that if you are a Christian you should make yourself align with people who believe and support the Bible on these important issues.
CP: Why is it that statistically African Americans have been shown to be highly religious and widely against gay ‘marriage’ and abortion, but then vote for a candidate that supports such rights?
Wilson: I think one of the things in the black community is there has always been more of a stigma about being gay than having an abortion because people really believe that abortion is not a black issue. I had very educated black people tell me that black people don’t really have abortion, they just have children out of wedlock and that’s just not true.
There are many studies that say black women are three times as likely as white women to have an abortion. That 10 million black babies have been aborted since 1973, and more people have died that way than AIDS, cancer, heart disease and tragic accident combined. The reason I think African Americans are not rallying in masses behind abortion is because they think it doesn’t affect them.
But they think the issue of gay would affect their community because they have seen it affect them in some way. But I believe this, when people become more educated about what the Bible says about it (abortion) – because life is clearly recognized at conception – I believe that trend will be changed.
CP: Can you address in more detail why black Christians vote against their values?
Wilson: Here’s why. It all goes back to black unity. If you go back to things that are most important to a particular voting demographic, like African Americans, the things that are most important to them are issues of affirmative action, civil rights, equality in the United States and all these different things that they believe they have fought for for so many years.
This is what is very odd about it - it’s like a knee-jerk thing - even people who have achieved a great measure of success, who are professionals who live in half-million-dollar houses are still doing the same thing and saying, “We got to fight for rights!”
I’m not saying racism doesn’t exist and there is no discrimination, but we have come away from where people had to rally behind someone because you needed them to support you so you can have fairness in the United States.
I feel people are stuck in that and it’s hard to get out of it and people have said time and time again, “Well somebody told me to vote this way because they’re there for black people,” and without even thinking about it.
That’s where in my book I said we have to stop this. I can understand a non-Christian black American doing that, but when it comes down to an African American Christian, I think they are doing it for the same reason the rest of the secular black people do it -because it is a racial unity thing.Continue »
