The African Holocaust: A Christian Response- Please Reply

During April 27-May 4, there will be a commemoration of the Jewish Holocaust.  People will be remembering the genocide of approximately six million Jews who were exterminated by the Nazi
regime in Germany during World War II.  This occurrence is truly one of the most darkest moments in human history, as we remember how many of our Jewish sisters and brothers were deceived by the regime as they marched towards what would be mass genocide.


As atrocious, brutal, inhumane, and terrible as this was, I raise the question as to why no one commemorates the African Holocaust which is a centuries old occurrence.  Some may argue that the past is the past, but any honest and serious student of history knows that the psychological effects of chattel slavery, accompanied by the impact of continuous institutional, structural, and systemic racism upon the people of African descent around the world has and continues to be devastating. Africa's children ( the global Diaspora) continue to be alienated, brutalized, and marginalized in regards to the deplorable conditions of education, housing, health care, and economic development. Add to this, the large number of Africa's children in the penal institutions in the "land of the free and home of the brave," one wonders what is going on.  I remember when I was working as a chaplain in a prison in upstate New York, when I was talking to one of the correction officers who was discussing the prisoners who had been transported by airplane from New York's La Guardia airport to Watertown, New York to serve short-term jail sentences.  This officer made the comment "That's where they choose to live (meaning New York City)."  His comment reflected naïve assumptions about why Africa's children live in New York City and/or other urban centers of the U.S.A. He was assuming that Africa's children have the same freedom of movement that Europe's children have, and that they have the same opportunity for achievement and "success" as Europe's children have.  He also obviously had the assumptions that Africa's children have more propensity to crime than children of European descent.  Needless to say, I had to correct him on his assumptions.


Why is it that the African Holocaust is not given the same attention and priority as the Jewish Holocaust?  My answer to that would be that it is obvious that Africa's children are still not considered full human beings.  There are many that still believe in the innate inferiority of people
of African descent.  They are considered to be savage and semi-animalistic.  This is why people in "law enforcement" believe that they have the freedom to take it upon themselves to focus primarily on those geographical areas where people of African descent reside, and to treat prisoners of African descent with much more abuse and contempt than what they treat the prisoners of European ancestry with.  And because people of African descent are considered inferior in every way to people of European descent, there is the belief that whatever happens to them was self-inflicted and that it should not be put on a par with whatever happens to people of European descent, including so-called Jewish people.


There are those who will no doubt, argue that to say that the African Holocaust is more intense than that of the Jewish Holocaust is a form of "anti-Semitism."  That notion of course, is not only ridiculous, but also preposterous.  Jewish people are not the only ones of Semitic descent.  Our Arab sisters and brothers are also Semitic.


What then should be a Christian response to the African Holocaust?  I would begin by saying that one must acknowledge the reality that the African Holocaust is much more intense than the Jewish Holocaust in that it is still a present reality.  It is not a thing of the past.  I would also add that in the same way that Christian leaders such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer and others fought to undo the Jewish Holocaust, that those who call themselves followers of Jesus should invest every bit of energy and time possible in undoing the African Holocaust.  Pastor Bonhoeffer was involved in the attempt to have Hitler killed.  When asked how he reconciled his Christian beliefs with his revolutionary and subversive activities, he responded by saying that indeed it was a sin to kill, but that it was even a greater sin to let a madman who was killing millions of innocent people to continue to live.  Bonhoeffer believed that we do not live in a world where we choose between good and evil, but rather in a world where we choose between the lesser of two evils.


How can Christians be involved in dismantling the African Holocaust?  Those who are members of the oppressing community will instruct Africa's children not to resort to armed struggle or any form of physical violence, because these methods, supposedly are incompatible with the Gospel.  They would instruct us to "pray, wait patiently, and write letters to our Congress persons," in order to achieve our liberation from injustice and oppression.  Yet, they would talk out of the other side of their mouths and glorify the armed struggle that the American revolutionaries resorted to in their fight against England in the name of "democracy and freedom."  They would also glorify the armed struggle of Pastor Bonhoeffer to eliminate this brutal dictator named Hitler. While yours truly would not advocate for or promote armed struggle as a first line of recourse, I would submit that it is up to the oppressed community to determine what the appropriate method of self-emancipation should be. In closing, from a theological standpoint, I would say like theologian James Cone, that God is the God of the oppressed, and that God sides not with the mighty, powerful, and rich of this world, but rather according to the biblical witness, with the alienated, brutalized, dehumanized, marginalized, and oppressed.  In Luke's Gospel account, the Magnificat (the song of Mary), we are informed that God has changed the order of things, and that it is no longer "business as usual."  It is a new order of things. God has "flipped the script (ouch!)"


Please share with us your view as to how we as members of the community of faith should deal with the African Holocaust.  I'm sure that you can tell us something that we never thought about before. Whatever you share with us will be "food for thought." I look forward to your response.


In the Name of the Creator, and of the Liberator, and of the Sustainer. Amen


Pastor Juan A. Ayala-Carmona