Black supremacy explained

Black supremacy or black supremacism is a racial supremacist belief which maintains that black people are inherently superior to people of other races.

Historical usage

Black supremacy was advocated by Jamaican preacher Leonard Howell in the 1935 Rastafari movement tract The Promised Key.^[1] Howell's use of "Black Supremacy" had both religious and political implications. Politically, as a direct counterpoint to white supremacy, and the failure of white governments to protect black people, he advocated the destruction of white governments.^[2] Howell had drawn upon as an influence the work of the earlier proto-Rastafari preacher Fitz Balintine Pettersburg, in particular the latter's book The Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy.^[3]

The Associated Press described the teachings of the Nation of Islam (NOI) as having been black supremacist until 1975, when W. Deen Mohammed succeeded Elijah Muhammad (his father) as its leader.^[4] Elijah Muhammad's black-supremacist doctrine acted as a counter to the supremacist paradigm established and controlled by white supremacy.^{[5] [6]} The SPLC described the group as having a "theology of innate black superiority over whites – a belief system vehemently and consistently rejected by mainstream Muslims".^[7]

Groups associated with black supremacist views

Several fringe groups have been described as either holding or promoting black supremacist beliefs. A source described by historian David Mark Chalmers as being "the most extensive source on right-wing extremism" is the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an American nonprofit organization that monitors hate groups and extremists in the United States.^{[8] [9]} Authors of the SPLC's quarterly Intelligence Reports have described the following groups as holding black supremacist views:

• The Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ (ICGJC), which is headquartered in New York City, was described in 2008 by the SPLC as an American "black supremacist sect" and part of the growing "black supremacist wing of the Hebrew Israelite movement". The ICGJC accepts the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha as inspired Scripture and has an apocalyptic view of the end of the world.^[10]
• The Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge (ISUPK), based in the Upper Darby Township of Philadelphia.^[11]
• The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious organization founded by Wallace Fard Muhammad in the United States in 1930. They have been described by the SPLC as having "a theology of innate black superiority over whites".^[12] SPLC cites the NOI leaders' "deeply racist, antisemitic and anti-LGBT rhetoric" as reasons for the organization being categorized as a hate group.
• The Nation of Yahweh is a religious group based in the United States described as black supremacist by the SPLC. It is an offshoot of the Black Hebrew Israelite line of thought. It was founded by American Yahweh ben Yahweh (born Hulon Mitchell Jr.), whose name means "God the Son of God" in Hebrew. The Nation of Yahweh grew rapidly throughout the 1980s and at its height had headquarters in Miami, Florida, and temples in 22 states,^[13] ben Yahweh was imprisoned for 11 years for his links to nearly two dozen murders, and later released on restrictive parole.^[14]
• The United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors was founded by the American Dwight York, who has been described by the SPLC as advocating the belief that black people are superior to white people. The SPLC reported that York's teachings included the belief that "whites are 'devils', devoid of both heart and soul, their color the result of leprosy and genetic inferiority".^[15] The SPLC described the Nuwaubianism belief system as "mix[ing] black supremacist ideas with worship of the Egyptians and their pyramids, a belief in UFOs and various conspiracy theories related to the Illuminati and the Bilderbergers".^[16]

Opposition from Martin Luther King Jr.

During speeches given at the Freedom Rally in Cobo Hall on June 23, 1963,^[17] at Oberlin College in June 1965,^[18] and at the Southern Methodist University on March 17, 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. said:^{[19] [20] [21]}

See also

• Afrocentrism
• Black nationalism
• Black pride
• Black separatism
• Melanin theory
• Racial formation theory

Notes and References

1. Sellers. Allison Paige. 2015. The 'Black Man's Bible': The Holy Piby, Garveyism, and Black Supremacy in the Interwar Years. Journal of Africana Religions. 3. 3. 325–342. 10.5325/jafrireli.3.3.0325. 10.5325/jafrireli.3.3.0325. 141594246. JSTOR.
2. Book: Bogues . Anthony . Black Heretics, Black Prophets: Radical Political Intellectuals . 2003 . Psychology Press . 978-0-415-94325-3 . 164 . en . 22 December 2022.
3. Book: Charles Price. Becoming Rasta: Origins of Rastafari Identity in Jamaica. 2009. NYU Press. 978-0-8147-6768-9. 48–49.
4. News: Former Nation of Islam leader dies at 74. September 9, 2008. March 1, 2019. MSNBC. Associated Press.
5. Book: Vincent . Rickey . Party Music: The Inside Story of the Black Panthers' Band and How Black Power Transformed Soul Music . 2013 . Chicago Review Press . 978-1-61374-495-6 . 180 . en . 22 December 2022.
6. Book: Perry . Theresa . Teaching Malcolm X . 1996 . Psychology Press . 978-0-415-91155-9 . 143 . en . 22 December 2022.
7. Web site: Nation of Islam. Southern Poverty Law Center. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20191011080634/https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. 2019-10-11. 2019-10-16.
8. Book: David Mark Chalmers . David Mark Chalmers . [{{Google books|tlvs7498TJMC|plainurl=y|page=188}} Backfire: How the Ku Klux Klan Helped the Civil Rights Movement ]. . 2003 . 0-7425-2311-X . 188.
9. Book: Brett A. Barnett . [{{Google books|iuQSNj5NxioC|plainurl=y|page=20}} Untangling the web of hate: are online "hate sites" deserving of First Amendment Protection? ]. . 2007 . 978-1-934043-91-2 . 20.
10. Web site: Racist Black Hebrew Israelites Becoming More Militant . Intelligence Report . . August 29, 2008 . May 29, 2016.
11. Web site: 'General Yahanna' Discusses Black Supremacist Hebrew Israelites . Intelligence Report . . August 29, 2008 . July 9, 2016.
12. Web site: Nation Of Islam Southern Poverty Law Center. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20210331042910/https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/nation-islam. March 31, 2021. March 31, 2021. Southern Poverty Law Center.
13. Web site: Mark Potok . Popularity and Populism . Intelligence Report . Southern Poverty Law Center . November 29, 2001 . July 9, 2016.
14. Web site: Associated Press . 6 October 2006 . Cult Leader Linked To Beheadings Asks To 'Die With Dignity' . https://web.archive.org/web/20061011215618/http://edition.cnn.com/2006/LAW/10/06/cult.leader.ap/index.html . 11 October 2006 . 2022-12-22 . CNN.
15. Web site: Bob Moser . United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors Meets Its Match in Georgia . Intelligence Report . Southern Poverty Law Center . September 20, 2002 . July 9, 2016.
16. Web site: Nuwaubian Nation of Moors . Southern Poverty Law Center . 5 March 2019 . en.
17. Web site: 13 January 2015. Address at the Freedom Rally in Cobo Hall. 2020-06-15 . King Papers Project . Stanford University Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. en.
18. Web site: Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution. 2020-06-15. Electronic Oberlin Group.
19. Web site: Civil Rights Leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Speaks on the DePauw Campus . 2022-05-10 . DePauw University . en.
20. Web site: Transcript of Dr. Martin Luther King's speech at SMU on March 17, 1966. 2020-06-15. Southern Methodist University.
21. Book: Ogbar, Jeffrey O. G. . Black Power: Radical Politics and African American Identity . 2019-03-19 . JHU Press . 978-1-4214-2976-2 . en.