“And this, Helga decided, was what ailed the whole Negro race in America, this fatuous belief in the white man’s God, this childlike trust in full compensation for all woes and privations in “kingdom come.”Sary Jones’s absolute conviction, “In de nex’ worl’ we’sall recompnse’,” came back to her. And ten million souls were as sure of it as was Sary. How the white man’s God must laugh at the great joke he had played on them! Bound them to slavery, then to poverty and insult, and made them bear it unresistingly, uncomplainingly almost, by sweet promises of mansions in the sky by and by.”
The relationship between Christianity and slavery is a close one. Many Christian slave owners used biblical stories, such as “The Curse of Ham” to justify enslaving Africans (Evans). Despite Christianity being the religion of their cruel masters, many slaves embraced the religion with open arms which made them more subdued (DuBois 162). Although many slaves became subdued, some became hopeful. Being able to relate to the plight of the Hebrews in the Bible, many had hopes that one day, they too would have a Moses (Reddie).
Work Cited
“Of the Faith of the Fathers.” The Souls of Black Folk, by W.E.B. DuBois, Penguin Books, 1996, p. 162.
Evans, Tony. “Are Black People Cursed? The Curse of Ham – Resources.”Eternal Perspective Ministries, Eternal Perspective Ministries, 18 Jan. 2010, www.epm.org/resources/2010/Jan/18/are-black-people-cursed-curse-ham/.
Reddie, Richard. “Religions – Christianity: Atlantic Slave Trade and Abolition.”BBC, BBC, 29 Jan. 2007, www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/history/slavery_1.shtml.
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