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It is with both pleasure and delight that I am able to introduce "African-American Religion" by Albert J. Raboteau. Professor Raboteau's book provides a substantive introduction for those eager for an understanding of African-American Religious experience as well as for those with an interest in bringing this topic to the classroom. Though broad in topic, "African-American Religion" is comprehensive both culturally and historically. While popular culture often views diverse American ethnic groups through a monochrome lens, the scholar approaching this particular subject will quickly find her or his horizons opened to the multi- layered tones and textures which gather together to make a uniquely American experience of religion. Like all American stories, the African-American Religious narrative is a unique blend of cultures and continents. As we take an initial look at what will eventually be the formative experience for at least fourteen percent of our nation's population, Raboteau calls our attention to both the cultural diversity of the African continent from which the slaves were taken and to the varied points of view defining the white, at times religious, slave owners. Whether Wolof, Serer, Yoruba, or Congolese, the reader comes to understand how Africans were inspired to reject a theology of white superiority, while they simultaneously incorporated religious rituals such as the ring shout, rhythmic patterns of musical and oratorical cadence, and the identification of Christian Saints with regional gods of rain or war. While one might assume that white response to this religious expression would be universal in its condemnation and repression, the reader finds instead distinct ambivalence and differences. While some whites were opposed to any religious instruction or expression, others understood religion to be a helpful tool in the continued repression of the African. Still others were compelled by their faith to bring an end to slavery and to work toward the moral and spiritual rejuvenation of the slave. In moving from these initial beginnings, Raboteau takes the reader through the next two-and-a-half centuries of African-American Religious experience, and is surprisingly able to include such contemporary events as the million man march on Washington in 1997. For the reader, it is the inclusion of a variety of points of view that makes this book an exceptionally good teaching tool. Whether the subject is African American Catholics, the birth of Pentecostalism and the Azusa Street Revival, or the Moorish Science Movement or the Nation of Islam, we are treated to many different samples which together form African-American religion. Each of these topics could provide a platform for an entire day's discussion. Perhaps most helpful for the student and for the teacher is that "African-American Religion" is able to make the connection between the sense of individual piety so familiar to the mainstream Protestant religious experience and the presence of religion in the larger public square. Too often, we are taught to understand our own sense of spirituality as unrelated to the role we as individuals play in society, when for African-Americans it was this larger society that demanded a significant response both as an actor and as a foil through which one was able to define one's sense of self and one's relationship to God. In Raboteau's book, the civil rights movement is not so much an anomaly where one sees the intersection of religion and social policy, as it is a movement built upon the historical interaction of our nation's ethnic and racial groups. If there is a problem with "African-American Religion," it would be that as a book it attempts to include the broad understanding of the African-American's religious experience. Without suggesting any part should be omitted, it is possible even for the experienced scholar to get lost in the wide array of material presented. This is the nature of introductory overviews. However, one should never fault an author for assuming the competency of the reader. The challenge is for the teacher to ensure all the students are equal to the task. If "African-American Religion" is to be viewed as a challenge, then it is a challenge from which both the teacher and the student will reap rewards seven fold. © 2000 Michael Reinke and RSiSS
Religion in American Life Return to Oxford's Religion in American Life Series
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