Revisiting a Delicate Issue

This blog is a follow up to a blog I wrote last May. That original blog can be found here.


In Black Hebrew Israelite thought great dependency is placed on the hardships faced by African Americans from the time of slavery until the present. They believe that these hardships are part of the divine curses that were foretold in the Hebrew Scriptures to befall the children of Israel.

The idea is to look at the horrors of the Middle Passage (Slave Trade), slavery, Jim Crowe, current statistics on prison occupation, broken families, death and disease rate, and say that these are all the result of disobedience to Israel’s God.

The error here, I believe; is using these hardships to self impose an identity that is owned by another people group altogether. The very people group (the Jewish people) who’s own history attests to the divine curses written in the Hebrew Scripture.

There is grave error in examining the culture, scripture, and history of the Jewish people (Biblical and Extra Biblical) and self imposing an identity of belonging to this global community/ social people group while simultaneously denouncing the authenticity of that same people group.

Essentially saying, “I will take the scriptures, and culture, that has defined and been with People A for several millennia, and claim it as the scripture, culture, and history of my People B, because People A, are liars, and they aren’t really the true People A”

I stated it before; as an African American I became uncomfortable over time being a part of a religious community that did this.

The Jewish people have continuity in existence in a shared-global community, with a shared historical memory. This is reality.

African Americans, however do not. This also is reality.

What is the heart of the issue here though? Look into the many origins of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, answers are most certainly found there.

I personally believe the heart of the issue is the need for the Black Hebrew Israelite community to take hold of something grand, and historic in place of an uncertain history. But one need not place their hope in such an unstable foundation.

It is true that millions of captive people from various African ethnic groups in West, Central, and South Africa now have descendants all over the Western Hemisphere and the world. It is true that our shared bondage and history is horrific.


Yet our hope as a people group is not in claiming Israelite identity but rather in seeking Israel’s God.

Sin, is at the heart of a lot of the personally inflicted hardships we face as a people. And as far as all of the injustices and oppressions of the past, that too will be dealt with by Israel’s God. As Israel’s King will come to right the wrongs of countless suffering of all people throughout time.

The beauty of the story and struggle of the Jewish people is that God’s enduring promises to them affect all of mankind. And He brings the Nations near to Him through them. There is hope still.

Thank you for your time reader. Take care. Peace.