Enslaved church members built and financed the churches that then excluded them
Evidence
It’s not hard to imagine the soul-crushing experience of an African American slave member whose family members were sold to purchase the land and materials for the church; who was forced to work on its construction and then later required to attend worship services, listening to paternalistic admonishments from a white preacher while sitting in one of the rear pews his own hands had built. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 595
Categorization
- SEED: The image of a slave forced to sit in pews he built while his family was sold to fund the church building is a vivid point for an essay on the material foundations of white religious institutions.
- recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
- XREF: connects to: Black and white church members brought different fears to a lynching memorial visit — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 601; A Macon Baptist church financed operations partly through selling slaves — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 591; Racist theological ideas sanctioned and made American slavery acceptable to Christian churches — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The…, 20 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- White churches historically functioned as agents upholding racist social structures
#corroborates(0.85) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 1055 - Racist theological ideas sanctioned and made American slavery acceptable to Christian churches
#expands(0.78) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 20 - Racist ideas softened slavery’s religious scruples to preserve enslaver interests
#qualifies(0.72) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 105