‘Not Today Satan: Satan Tried It’ is a blog series to help us become more aware of how easy it is for us to believe something because it sounds eerily similar to something that is in fact true. This series will show us how our own eagerness to attain status, wealth, power, etc can be easily manipulated that leads us astray. Down a path that becomes increasingly challenging to detach from over time. Which leads to destruction, pain and a battered soul. Free yourself so your soul has peace and joy. And in this case, free yourself from the anger you hold for your ancestors. Use that anger to do what you are able to tear down structures and institutions that uphold racism.
In this blog post, I want to delve into how the Bible was mischaracterized as validity for American slavery. Now we aren’t going to ignore the horrific roles that western Europe played in starting this, I’m looking at you Portugal. However, as a descendent of people who survived American slavery so I could be here typing this blog post to prove they were held under lies is where I’ll focus. And I’ll show the Scriptures they took out of so-called slave Bibles to justify their damaging use of God’s Word to validate a thirst for monetary success & greed at the expense of human life. Oh, that almost sounds like what’s happening today in the pandemic. But I digress. I may touch on that topic another time. So let’s get back to learning about the 3 lies Antebellum slavery claimed from the Bible.
We’re going to first take a look at 2 possible scriptures that may have been used to justify the decisions to steal resources, claim land people lived on that the Bible did NOT give authority for it to be taken and the demonic spirit that spoke too loudly that slavery was okay because it’s referenced in the Bible. What you condone is what you silently agree with. Thus the American church condoned and eventually became part of advancing slavery using God’s Word.
44 Your male and female slaves are to be from the nations around you; you may purchase male and female slaves. 45 You may also purchase them from the aliens residing with you, or from their families living among you—those born in your land. These may become your property. 46 You may leave them to your sons after you to inherit as property; you can make them slaves for life. But concerning your brothers, the Israelites, you must not rule over one another harshly.
Leviticus 25:44- 46 (Christian Standard Bible CSB)
Now this scripture is probably how Europeans justified slavery or even Ephesians 6:5- 9.
5 Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as you would Christ. 6 Don’t work only while being watched, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s will from your heart. 7 Serve with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to people, 8 knowing that whatever good each one does, slave or free, he will receive this back from the Lord. 9 And masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening them, because you know that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.
CSB translation used
They cut off verse 9 for obvious reasons. But if we’re being real honest, old world European civilizations are the ones who created cruelty as a means to amass great wealth. Modern Western European countries built upon that with the U.S. taking things to another detrimental level. God made provisions in Exodus and Deuteronomy for those who would be enslaved to be treated with dignity. And these scriptures show Biblical evidence that the 3 lies Antebellum slavery claimed from the Bible was rooted in anything BUT God. If you start researching the parallels (the 1619 Project is a great place to start), you’ll see that these 3 lies are flourishing today. Yes in 2021. I’ll share some examples.
Humans are not to be
kidnapped and sold
(Exodus 21:16)
16 Whoever kidnaps a person must be put to death, whether he sells him or the person is found in his possession.
CSB translation used
Whoop, well I mean it’s plainly written right there. Kidnapping people is unbiblical. So the fact these Europeans ransacked an entire continent to steal people from their families, homes, communities & cultures all to get a free labor force shows how vividly they twisted the Bible. Now let’s not just say it was Europeans because the Arabs came in and brought Islam which instituted huge changes in Northern, Western and Eastern Africa. I wrote about that in my Lineage Disrupted blog post part of the ‘Lineage of the Black Church’ series.
Now let’s bring this up to today’s time and ways it’s still happening. Let’s look at the migrant crisis happening all over the world. Many people are in situations that are devastating. And they are doing all they can to make their life and the lives of their families better. One way they do this is to migrate to a country they believe has better or more opportunities for them to live. To be able to provide for themselves and their families. Many come across people who say they can help.
In reality these coyotes aka criminals steal the hard earned money of those desperate for a break from their struggles. Then they make these people work in inhumane conditions, take their money & run off, sell women & children to brothels in wealthier nations, take away any I.D. documentation so the person is stuck relying on them, moving people across borders without legitimate authority and so many other ways these criminals are kidnapping (the unlawful transportation, asportation and confinement of a person against their will.) the future these people are doing all they can to reach.
Yes, these people sought them for help but instead they are indebted usually with no escape out. Well Vernetta how does this apply to Black Americans? Well immigration does affect our community. The same horrific practices our ancestors lived through and ones we fight against today also apply to immigrants who come here seeking asylum who also happen to have darker skin. Their futures are being kidnapped while many turn a blind eye.
And when people who can’t directly vent their frustration for those people seeking refuge in the U.S. those people turn their anger towards Black Americans. People they have access to cause harm thus kidnapping us from feeling safe and secure in the country we were born and raised in.
Slaves are not to be abused
(Exodus 21:26-27)
26 “When a man strikes the eye of his male or female slave and destroys it, he must let the slave go free in compensation for his eye. 27 If he knocks out the tooth of his male or female slave, he must let the slave go free in compensation for his tooth.
CSB translation used
We know from books, movies, personal essays, biographies, first-hand accounts written down and oral stories passed down throughout the generations that violence was the first line of defense to keep people who were bought into slavery in submission and thus obedience. Yet, scripture says that if a slave is injured they are to be set free as compensation for the treatment they experienced. We know that didn’t happen in America. Lose their most valuable commodity? I think not. The life of a person in slavery was valuable on paper but not in practice. Sit with that for a moment.
Now let’s bring this up to 2021. I immediately think of the prison system, how law enforcement treats people of color especially Black Americans, the law enforcement officers on horses using their reigns as whips chasing Haitians at the border of Texas who went through hell to get to better opportunities. The long-standing curse of violence being used as an acceptable means of getting people to do what another person wants is ingrained in American culture that no one (and by no one I mean most white people and some people of color) blinks an eye. It’s as if people longing for basic human rights, equality, respect shouldn’t ever dream those things are for them.
There is rarely any compensation for people who are abused. And even less justice. The idea that Black Americans are less than has been indoctrinated into American culture that we’re not seen as productive, contributing citizens. But as remnants of a people who were given freedom without cause.
Fugitive slaves are not to be returned to their
masters
(Deuteronomy 23:15-16)
15 “Do not return a slave to his master when he has escaped from his master to you. 16 Let him live among you wherever he wants within your city gates. Do not mistreat him.
CSB translation used
Slave catchers who are now modern-day law enforcement wouldn’t exist if people abided by this scripture. Let’s just be real honest here. There was big money to be made for poor white men who wanted to feel empowered by becoming slave catchers and returning people to rich white men. I don’t need to go into any more detail as there is more than enough evidence to prove that people were returned or killed if they fought being returned to the people who bought them.
Wait a minute. How does this apply to 2021? I’m so glad you asked.
Let’s talk about redlining for a second. How people of color were forced to live in areas with substandard housing and subpar resources. The thought or even act of a Black family moving into a white neighborhood caused an uproar, backlash, threats of violence and even violence. The thought of a Black family working hard, saving money and purchasing a home to raise their children in was just too much. The white community did everything in their power even creating legislative policy to enforce their beliefs to send Black families back to their “side” of town. Now you’re probably thinking well I’m Black or my neighbor is Black so you’re lying.
If a Black person and a white person were both looking to buy a home, a white person with a lesser credit score, questionable finances and shorter credit history would be given better interest rates, financing and resell value.
But Vernetta again this isn’t telling me how Black Americans are being sent back to their “masters” today. Let me simplify this. To American society and culture a Black person is only good, productive, valuable within our own community. So the moment we step outside of our community to contribute on a wider scale, do more, build something; then policies, practices and people will do whatever is necessary to destroy that dream and hope it sends us back to live, work and be in our own community.
A lot of this boils down to financing such as for a home, car & line of credit for a business, financial resources such as investments in better infrastructure, quality medical care or education options outside of public school and opportunities or lack of opportunities which is a plethora of things.
Since our ancestors fought against their “masters” beliefs and gained freedom then we aren’t entitled to the benefits they fought for us to have is essentially what I’m saying. Because we’re not “worthy” of handling anything without someone telling us what to do. Or how to think.
If there’s one thing I hope you walk away from after reading this blog post, I hope you understand that the legacy of slavery is still strong. That legacy has embedded even subtly into the fabric of every American institution and lives in the minds of more people than you realize who will do whatever it takes to uphold these institutions because the benefits they enjoy are not ones they are readily or eager to share with Black Americans or Black immigrants.
While most Black Americans have this protective status over the fact that only our ancestors and us suffered due to slavery, that’s false. Black people around the world and especially the Western hemisphere have suffered too.
I found this interesting video on what Nigeria’s role in the slave trade was and how it impacts their history today. I hope it shows how slavery no matter where it happened is still greatly impacting the world we live in today. One thing that stuck with me is Europeans called slave ships, cargo ships. And guess what name is still being used to this very day to transport commodities?
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