So What?
The presence
of religion in the life of an African-American person is an experience unique to
those who can claim it. Never before has
a group of people been supplanted from their land, transported across the world
to a place where they are no longer considered human, given a new language,
traded as cattle, murdered, raped, freed, and prosecuted all without losing
faith.
How could
faith not be a part of everyday life when it was the only thing that kept a
people alive? For a people who were
unwanted, religion was a way to see beauty in themselves. This beauty is now reflected in every aspect
of life. Music and dance offer an
artistic way to praise Jesus for some, while a respect for life can be a way to
honor God for others. Even artists who
make a living describing debauchery and hedonism still, somehow, find a way to
praise the Lord in the end. Religion is
not only a way of life in the African-American community, it is a part of an
identity that has been molded over centuries of experiences.
Without
faith in something better, it is possible that African-Americans may have never
made it to where they are now. Religion
was the fuel that powered the underground railroad, the light that eliminated
the shadow of Jim Crow, and continues to be a beacon of hope for a people that
had every reason to lose faith. Faith
has not been lost, and it never will.