The Way Out: Christianity, Politics, and the Future of the African-American Community

By Ted Williams III

The African-American community represents a paradox of sorts. While collective success has been achieved in many areas, African-Americans still disproportionately suffer from a variety of social ills. The residual effects from years of slavery and exclusion from the major institutions of American life are still trenchant. Yet, there is hope. As we move forward into a new millennium, our greatest answers can be found by exploring the past. The Christian faith has served as a sustaining force that has been the backbone of this community for generations. This faith, along with a holistic commitment to family, political participation, education, and entrepreneurship, are the key to its future.
The Way Out tackles this issue with a mature voice that represents a juxtaposition of faith and public policy. It rejects the culture of partisan gridlock, racial division, and religious cynicism by fostering a fresh and pluralistic discourse about the greatest solutions for our most pressing civic challenges. From the experienced policymaker to the common citizen wanting to make a difference, The Way Out provides tangible solutions through which we can all find ways to engage. It stands firmly at the intersection of religion, race, politics, and culture to light a clear path forward.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Release date: Aug 8, 2014
• ISBN: 9781630874797

Ted Williams III

Ted Williams III teaches Political Science at Kennedy-King College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago. He is the host of PBS-WYCC television's The Professors and has provided political commentary for a variety of local and national television news outlets in addition to a host of periodicals. He holds degrees in Public Policy Studies from the University of Chicago and Rutgers University. He is a theater producer and minister and lives in Chicago with his wife Roslyn and their three beautiful children, Gabrielle, Amaris, and Ted IV. You can read more at www.tedwilliamsthethird.com

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The Way Out

Christianity, Politics, and the Future of the African-American Community

Ted Williams III

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The Way Out

Christianity, Politics, and the Future of the African American Community

Copyright © 2014 Ted Williams III. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

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To Roslyn, Gabrielle, Amaris, and Theodore IV

You give me the strength to fight for a better world.

This is written in the hope that our future can be much brighter.

Acknowledgments

This book is dedicated primarily to my amazing wife. Thank you, Roslyn, for bearing with me and sharing the load during the arduous process of writing this book. You truly are the wind beneath my wings. I love you with all of my heart. Thank you also to the wonderful members of my family who laid the foundation for my life. Mom and Dad, you guys provided the launching pad for everything I currently am. I thank you for your love, sacrifices, and hard work. You have given me a tremendous model for my life and family.

Thank you to my grandparents who have gone on to glory, Theodore Sr., Eliza, and LC. Your example was the foundation for what we all have today. Thank you especially to my grandmother Shirley, who is still with us. You are the greatest example of love and family I have ever seen. We all wish for many more years with you!

Thank you also to my brother Brandon. Since the day you were born, you have made me strive to be a great example for you. Thanks for being my best friend all these years.

Thank you to all of my aunts, uncles, cousins and extended family. I treasure the times we spend together and appreciate you tremendously. Thank you for inspiring me, encouraging me, bearing with my growth in life, and showing me the kind of love that many don’t have. You have shaped me in ways you cannot imagine.

Thank you to my new family, Renee, Ronald, Ronnie, and all of our cousins, aunts, etc. Thanks for extending your love and support to my family. I greatly appreciate you.

To my amazing church family at The Way Christian Ministries. The work that we do is the most important in the world. I thank God for your support, love, and faithfulness. Let’s continue to change the world for Him!

To my TORN the Musical and 3rd Dimension artistic family with whom I have produced and performed for years. Your talent amazes me. Thanks for allowing me to share the stage with you!

To my colleagues at WYCC and the City Colleges of Chicago. You keep me on my toes and continue to challenge me intellectually. It is an honor to serve with you.

To all of my fellow political activists in Chicago and around the nation. You inspire me to continue to fight for justice in our world.

To the wonderful scholars at Kennedy-King College, Chicago State University, Upward Bound, New Life Celebration Christian Academy, the Dance Gallery, and the host of artistic programs in which I have worked. Your energy, passion, and zeal for learning have inspired me in ways you cannot imagine. You are the fuel for this work and the reason I am optimistic about our future. Continue to believe that our world can be different and it will. I hope this book will inspire and direct you to move forward as agents of change in your lives and careers. Thank you for motivating me.

To the three children my wife and God have blessed me to have, Gabrielle, Amaris, and Theodore IV. You are the reason for my hope in the future. Remember that the greatest accomplishment that you can have in your life is to know that you made a difference for someone else. Daddy loves you guys!

And lastly, I thank God, without whom none of this would be possible.

Preface

In 1 619 twenty African slaves arrived in Jamestown, Virginia, aboard a Dutch ship. They were brought to America as human chattel to fuel a burgeoning economy that eventually would become the greatest in the world. For these men and women, the years that followed would be nothing short of incredible in terms of both the pain and the progress that would be experienced. The story of the African American is one replete with the anguish of discrimination and slavery coupled with the power of faith. This is evidenced by a devotion to God that empowered them to triumph over the evil institution of slavery and to win a variety of major social victories over the course of just a few hundred years.

Yet this story is not simple by any means. After arriving in a culture that valued them solely for the labor they provided, this group would experience some of the worst physical and mental oppression known to man. Laws would establish a system of slavery, oppression, Jim Crow segregation, and discrimination that would isolate this group from the American mainstream for centuries. At the heart of much of this inhumane treatment was the Christian faith that the Puritans and Pilgrims brought from Europe. So while American leaders extolled the virtues of Christianity and its implications for this new nation, these same leaders used that religion to systematically oppress and exterminate millions of people. How? Their understanding of humankind’s equality as found in the biblical scriptures along with the writings of men like Thomas Jefferson could not possibly have included groups like the Africans or Native Americans. America created and bought into a story of racial identity that made it impossible for these people to be considered fully equal human beings. Furthermore, Americans found great justification for these positions in their beloved Bible as they read the stories of Ham, and scriptures that directed Christians to be patient and loving in the face of slavery and oppression. Christianity seemed like the perfect religion to support this bifurcated class system. As they passed this religion on to their African slaves, these slaves embraced its message willingly. Rather than desire social justice as fully equal human beings, the slaves were encouraged to wait on heaven for their salvation. Consequently, the system continued, relatively unchallenged, for the next two hundred years.

So the obvious question is: Should the oppressed group have rejected the religion of their oppressor? And more importantly, should twenty-first-century African Americans do the same?

My conclusion may surprise most. After all of the destruction on this community in the name of Christianity and racial superiority, the Christian faith still represents the greatest hope for the elevation of both the African American people and this nation as a whole.

It was through the horrors of slavery that African people connected with the God of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Currently, African Americans embrace Christianity at higher levels than any group in this nation. The civil rights movement, the faith that allowed the slaves to survive, and the current prevalence of religion in the African American community are all examples of Christianity’s lasting social impact.

Yet the African American community today represents a paradox of sorts. As an African American, a Christian, and a political commentator, this challenge has been a source of great concern for most of my life. While we retain a great spiritual tradition and culture, our collective lifestyles, leadership, and political focus fails to reflect this tradition. Consequently we find ourselves, like the rest of America, facing a severe spiritual crisis. While close to 40 percent of children in the United States are raised without a father, for African Americans this number has reached catastrophic proportions at just under 70 percent.¹ Furthermore, while American divorce rates, abortion rates, and incarceration rates are the highest in the world, African Americans hold the unenviable distinction of leading the nation in all of these categories. Yet we still find our churches filled every week by people praying and searching for direction. And while many take this fact to be an indictment against Christianity, I look at it as a great opportunity for moral and social elevation. The moral crisis facing this nation is grave. Unfortunately this crisis has had a more significant impact on the African American community than most. America must embrace a comprehensive plan for transformation that is biblical, political, and sociological, and offers solutions that put responsibility equally on the individual, the faith community, and civil society. These solutions must be individual and collective, requiring both institutional involvement and personal responsibility. Yet at the core there must be an understanding of the moral and spiritual direction found, historically, in the church and faith tradition. This reclamation of a transformative faith and an understanding of the answers it provides is the greatest need of the hour.

The more I watch our nation’s political leaders attempt to solve our greatest crises, the more convinced I am of the social relevance of biblical tenets. Along with the spiritual elevation that is possible only through the church experience, African American leadership must recognize its political opportunities as well. Both the Democrat and Republican parties must be held accountable for responding to the core needs of this diverse community. It is time for a new agenda, one that re-evaluates old methods of problem solving and reinstitutes the role of faith at the center of an overall social agenda. Future generations require this focus.

There is a billboard in my grandmother’s neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago that I have seen my entire life. Every time I drive to her home, I am reminded of God’s call for both myself and my community. The billboard simply says, Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people (Prov 14:34, KJV).

Truly, if America is going to survive as a nation, it must be through a commitment to moral principles and public policies that reflect God’s purposes. This is especially true of African Americans. An innovative, faith-based, and holistic approach to political and social engagement is critical for our future. It is for this reason that I write this work to all Americans as a path of light to transform suffering communities.

1. Population Reference Bureau, analysis of data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Census

2000

Supplementary Survey,

2001

Supplementary Survey,

2002

–

2011

American Community Survey.

1

African Americans and Christianity

A Shared Narrative

I