Black Baptists formed a racially bounded imagined community claiming sovereign autonomy from white control

Evidence

Benedict Anderson defines nation as “an imagined political community—and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign.” For black Baptists, the “imagined community” was racially bounded and its sovereignty was perceived as free of white control—hence black denominational hegemony. — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 1076

Categorization

• XREF: Applies Anderson’s imagined-community concept to the black Baptist denominational public sphere, a core move of this book’s framework chapter. — connects to: Northern Baptist missionaries imposed culturally chauvinist worship norms on black congregations — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 544; White Baptist exclusion over slavery drove black Baptists to form their own national convention — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 44; The 1895 National Baptist Convention marked the peak of race-conscious institutional organizing. — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent: The Women’s…, 56 (+8 more)
• DEFINE: Clarifies how the author adapts Anderson’s notion of imagined community to a racially bounded denominational sovereignty.

Broader Connections

• The National Baptist Convention asserted autonomous control of black racial life #expands (0.92) — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 327
• Denied inclusion within white institutions deepened black Baptist separatism #qualifies (0.78) — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 247
• Black Baptist women actively promoted racial separatism and self-reliance #exemplifies (0.75) — Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Righteous Discontent, 331