In “African-Americans, Exodus, and the American Israel”, Raboteau discusses the story of Exodus and how it has been used to represent two contradictory ideologies in America. White Christian settlers saw themselves as the New Israel; they were leaving behind the crown, crossing the ocean to a new world, much like the crossing of the Red Sea into the Promised Land. Like Exodus, God gave them the right to possess this new land. Raboteau describes how at first, White Christian settlers saw America’s land and destiny as an exchange with God. In return for the land, they had to keep God and what he symbolized; justice, generosity, affection…etc in the forefront. However, after the American Revolution, there was a split from this ideology to one that placed the focus not so much on God, but rather on the Individual. The story of Exodus was then being used to justify colonization and enslavement, in the name of perfecting the nation.
While White Christians were using Exodus to justify taking other people’s land and freedom. African slaves were adapting the story of Exodus from the religion that was forced upon them, and tailored it to their own situation. It became a way to make sense of their …show more content…
The people whom Winthrop addressed long ago took possession of their Promised Land; the people whom King addressed still wait to enter theirs”(62). It’s been almost fifty years since MLK’s Mountain top speech and his death and we are still searching for our promised land. Slavery was abolished but African Americans have never been truly free in this country. Slavery has simply been replaced by other systems of oppression such as, Jim Crow, the establishment of the ghettos, and the prison system. America might be the land of milk and honey for some, but it’s definitely Egypt for
While White Christians were using Exodus to justify taking other people’s land and freedom. African slaves were adapting the story of Exodus from the religion that was forced upon them, and tailored it to their own situation. It became a way to make sense of their …show more content…
The people whom Winthrop addressed long ago took possession of their Promised Land; the people whom King addressed still wait to enter theirs”(62). It’s been almost fifty years since MLK’s Mountain top speech and his death and we are still searching for our promised land. Slavery was abolished but African Americans have never been truly free in this country. Slavery has simply been replaced by other systems of oppression such as, Jim Crow, the establishment of the ghettos, and the prison system. America might be the land of milk and honey for some, but it’s definitely Egypt for