African American Religion

People generally agree that the religious life of African American forms the foundation of their community life. However, in the 1770s, less than 1% of African Americans were connected to a church. Was the church/ Christianity force upon African Americans while enslaved? Scholars estimated that about 30% of African Americans that came to the United States as slaves were Muslims while 70% practiced indigenous forms of worship. Today, in the 21st century, more than 87% of African Americans identify as Christian and claims that religion plays a major role in their everyday life. African Americans should rethink Christianity in their community, such as how was Christianity introduced to them, does Christianity help the African American community,

As the Christian religion spread throughout the African American population, so did the rise of courageous African American leaders that were inspired by their faith. Leaders like Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King Jr. and many more emerged to stand up and fight for freedom and righteousness. But was it because of their faith in Christianity that they stood up and fought, or was it really because they just got tired of living in oppression? Many parishioners, people who belong to or attend church, were convinced to become leaders and activists not in spite of their religion but because of the

So, what if African American people were never introduced to Christianity? How would that have shaped their community? Would African Americans still be enslaved or still be living without equal rights? Or is Christianity now crippling the African American community from advancing? These questions are the questions that always goes unanswered. The "what if" questions; the hard questions that needs to be answered. If African Americans were never introduced to Christianity then maybe things would have been better or at least different. African Americans would probably have a more closer relationship to Africa and probably would still have many of their African traditions. But, even without the influence of the Christian religion, would the centuries of enslavement still have welt away the aspects of the African culture from the African Americans? The answer is unknown but many scholar believe that even without Christianity the African culture would have ended with the hundreds of years of enslavement and oppression. Some people would even go as far into believing that without the Christian religion then African Americans would still be enslaved and/or would still be living without equal rights, because Christianity not only gave African Americans hope but the empowerment to make change. However, people forget the vast history of countries, empires, and even people who fought against oppression, slavery, and tyranny without the Christian religion but with the knowing of right