God is Not a White Man

🇺🇸 I never read the book, but I heard a sermon this weekend by a British-Nigerian woman who is the author. I agree with her - God is not a white man.

God is not a man at all. God is not a human being. God is neither male nor female. God is not white or black. In my opinion, God is best referred to as the universe, because God created everything in the universe and everything in the universe is a part of God.

But that was not her point. The priest went on to talk about slavery, the horrors enslaved people experienced, and her negative experiences living in a white-majority society. But she only spoke of the horrible white people of the USA who enslaved black Africans. She failed to mention the black people who enslaved black people, the Asian people who enslaved blacks, whites, Arabs, and Asians, or the Arabs who enslaved blacks, whites, and others.

She also failed to mention that slavery never existed in large parts of the USA, or that many black people in the USA were not slaves. Chicago, my hometown, was founded by a free black man in a state where slavery never existed and slavery was never tolerated. We are very proud of the historic role our city and state played in ending slavery in other states where slavery did exist.

The most horrifying thing about her sermon is that she neglected to mention all of the people who are still enslaved today in other parts of the world. She spoke of her experience in a white-majority society, that ended slavery long ago, as negative, but made no mention of the horrible experiences of those still enslaved today in many black-majority, Arab-majority, and Asian-majority nations. I find that very disheartening. I also find it insincere. The fact that she chose to live in the white-majority society of London, UK, rather than the black-majority society of Nigeria, speaks volumes.

I think if she truly cared about the horrors of slavery and the horrific experiences of enslaved people, she would be focused on ending slavery in every part of the world, and she would have more positive things to say about the nations that have already done so. There is no white-majority nation anywhere in the world today that still practices slavery, except Russia. Slavery has been abolished in every white-majority nation, with Russia being the only exception. The same is not true of many black-majority, Arab-majority or Asian-majority nations. Slavery still exists in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, and it even exists in some Latin American nations. Most white-majority nations, however, have liberated all people of all races. We have created free and open societies, providing equal rights for all human beings regardless of race, and that makes me proud to be white.

The priest stated that Nigerians are proud people, and I would like to say so are Americans. We are very proud of our liberal democracy, of our free and open society, and of our equal rights for all people. We are proud of the fact that we ended slavery long ago, and that we continue to free enslaved people in other parts of the world. We are proud that many Nigerians, and others around the world, have chosen our wonderful nation for their home. Although the USA is not perfect, we have created one of the best societies in the world.

xo