It is surprising that Black Christians all over
the world have not made a categorical statement denouncing the use of “black”
for Satan and “white” for Jesus Christ, God, the angels and the apostles.
Sometimes Jesus is even given blue eyes and golden hair, and you are left
wondering how someone born in Israel 2,000 years ago would look like a
European. If God had made Jesus Christ different in looks from other Israelites
(as they were called then) before sending Him to be born by a Jewish woman,
such a transformation of complexion and looks is not recorded in the Bible.
You are also left wondering how Lucifer (which
means “shining one” or “morning star”), who was described as “the son of the
morning” because of his dazzling nature, could be black, when it is not
recorded anywhere in the Bible that after he was kicked out of heaven, he was
turned black as a punishment. If Satan was not turned black, why then make him
black and influence the world’s perception?
In truth, as the BBC showed in a
recreation of Jesus Christ, given that He was born in the Middle East, He
should not look any bit European as we have been made to believe. He should
have a complexion that is darker than what is popularly associated with Him as
well as black hair. But because the Europeans, through the Romans, were in
control of the world for many centuries after the birth of Christianity, they
transformed Satan into a black being to suit their concept of the Black race as
evil and inferior, and made Jesus a White to suit their concept of the Whites
as the superior and divine race. Regrettably, that racial injustice and
falsehood have been sustained and promoted as the norm by even Blacks.
Painfully, this derogatory perception of Blacks was what justified the use of
Blacks as slaves and the subsequent racial discrimination.
In addition, this demonisation of the Black race
has continued in other forms, albeit subtle. For example, in Europe and North
America, it is regarded as fatism to describe someone as “fat.” You are advised
to call them “big” or “plus size.” It is regarded as sexism for you to use
“mankind” to describe the human race or to use “policeman” instead of “police
officer,” or “chairman” instead of “chairperson” or “chair.” In the Western
world, when you are dealing with a woman, you must watch your words carefully
or feminists would brand you a sexist and make life miserable for you. It is
the same with the Jews. If you make any joke against the Jews or the Holocaust,
the whole Jewish race, supported by human rights advocates and sympathisers,
would go up in arms. You would be hounded for antisemitism and threatened with
boycott of anything you are associated with until you apologise.
What about the Black race? Yes, if you make a
direct racial statement against Blacks in the West, you would come under
attack. But ironically, the same Blacks still allow the dictionary to be
littered with anti-Black words and expressions like “black sheep, blackleg,
blackmail, blacklist, black lie, black book, black spot, black head, the Black
Death, black September, the Dark Continent, dark-hearted, etc.” Perhaps the
only phrase with “black” in it that has a positive meaning is the “black belt,”
probably because it came from Japanese martial arts, rather than from Europe or
North America.
Surprisingly, Africans and especially the Blacks
in the United States have not strongly campaigned for the categorisation of
these words as racist and derogatory. Some would say that they are just “mere
words” with no racial connotation. No, they are not. If you call a man “a mad
man,” the way you would treat him would be different if you had called him “a
mentally challenged person.” In the same vein, your mental reaction to someone
you call a “cripple” would be different from one whom you call “physically
challenged.” When you describe someone as crippled or disabled, you treat the
person with pity or disdain because you believe the person is not as good as
you are; but if you describe the person as “physically challenged,” you show
empathy and treat the person like yourself.
Words have force. They help to show our
attitude and feelings towards people or things. They affect our response to
people or things. Three people may visit someone’s residence with each
describing it as “house,” “edifice,” and “shack.” These three words describe a
building, but they also depict each person’s feelings towards the building.
For those who think that it does not matter
whether black or white is used to describe some words, can they tell us why we
don’t have “whitemail” or “whitelist,” as negative? Why is a “white lie”
positive? Why is “blue blood” used for royalty when no human being has blue
blood? That shows that these “black” words were consciously coined by people
who had no regard for the Black race. Now that we live in a world of rights and
respect for all races, they should be marked as racist words in the dictionary,
and not allowed to be used anymore in sane speeches or writings.
The danger in the continued use of these racist
words and concepts is that they help to form the attitude of other races
against people of the Black race. Therefore, just as “negro” and “nigger” were
rebelled against, these “black” words need to be discontinued.
It is sad that Blacks have adopted these words
and assimilated them as normal. It is unfortunate that Black artists and
publishers have also accepted the colour of the devil as black. Interestingly,
I have seen a film in which the devil and the angels were all white. The film
still passed its message. My point is that if the devil is made black, then let
other Bible characters be made black too; if brown, let others be brown;
and if white, let all of them be white.
In the same manner, Blacks must desist from using
black for mourning. In our village, they cover caskets with black cloth and
many African learned friends don black clothes during burial ceremonies. The
practice used to be that for celebratory events like wedding, baptism,
confirmation, and Holy Communion, Christians were advised to wear white, but
for burial, it was black. Happily, many people are resisting that racist
undertone. Death is not black; it has nothing to do with black. When people
die, they don’t turn black. When people are sad, they don’t turn black. When
people are angry or wicked, their heart does not turn black. Only those who
have smoked for long may have darkened lungs and hearts.
Therefore, we must not allow, or help to promote,
this racial profiling, no matter how subtle or unintended it may appear.
William Shakespeare said that a rose will smell nice, no matter the name it is
called. So, mourning will still be gloomy if we choose red or grey for it.
People who are bereaved will not start jubilating because they are not wearing
black. Lucifer will still be the devil if he was painted red or grey. Black is
not evil. Black is just a colour among other colours. And it is the colour of a
people.
