Unfolding the “Angry Black Man”
HOT BUTTON! Hopefully as you can see by now, I love addressing the elephants in the room. No use pretending they aren’t there, right? One of the oldest and to some puzzling complexes is that of “the angry black man” or “angry black woman”. Beneath the troubled emotions is always a story. A story that many times isn’t acknowledged or validated which is a recipe for unbridled negative emotion.
While this won’t answer every question or depict every situation, I hope that through this article you might be enlightened to truths you may never have been able to comprehend. Going back over a century, I would like to briefly describe the enslavement tactics that to this day still impact much of the black community just by virtue of generational bondages associated with history of Negro Americans.
Slavery. If I was sitting across a table from you, I wonder what expression would have crossed your face upon hearing this cruel word from the past and in many places in our modern world. While other cultures, the Irish for example who experienced indentured servitude that accompanied its own brutality, in America 2 primary people groups on a more prominent scale endured inhumane enslavements: Native Americans and Negro-Americans. By no means do I intend to minimize the effects that indentured servitude had on the Irish population and the ways it has generationally effected its families. I do, however intend to hone in on the Negro-Americans historical past for the sake of bringing context and understanding to the present realities that many black families are living in.
Human dignity. The practice of stripping human dignity for the purpose of propping up the white supremacist system on the back of Negro-Americans manifested itself in many inhumane ways. Apart from the beatings, floggings, and lynching, buck-breaking was implemented with the intention of emasculating and debasing the dignity of strong negro slaves. This was done for the purpose of reinforcing domination over the Negro people. Buck breaking was the practice of sexually exploiting black men who had leadership potential to break their spirits. It was also used as a form of discipline for wrong doing. This practice inflicted psychological trauma on its victims and indeed on the entirety of the the Negro community.
PAUSE! Fast forward to present. You may be wondering why slavery is coming into question regarding the present condition of the black community today. Generational trauma. We’ve all heard it said that “Time heals all wounds”. This is a lie. Wounds properly treated heal over time. A wound untreated leads to a worsening condition.
One of the most disheartening realities is that many people still believe that if you just keep moving eventually trauma will disappear. That belief system is the reason why entire families are still dealing with traumas that occurred 150 years ago. Regardless of the fact that slavery has been abolished officially, the EFFECTS on the Negro-American family are still playing out. By now, you can see that I am passionate about inner healing and deliverance ministry. Trauma is NEVER suppose to be the end of the story! But when we bypass the needed “treatments” to heal traumas, that trauma festers and in this case leads to the story of the “angry black man”. There are many ways to look at this subject apart from just the past, because the fact is systemic racism is still a reality. I won’t go into this now, but the wrongful incarcerations of black men and women in this country is a modern form of enslavement! That being said, I would like to focus on the need for generational curse breaking!
As I mentioned before, phycological trauma untreated resulting from physical, emotional, sexual, and verbal abuse develop deeply ingrained belief systems. Those beliefs systems get passed down to the next generations until someone develops the courage to break the cycle. This is why revisiting the past is essential. You can not heal a community that is still experiencing the results of traumas from over a century ago by avoiding the past. Granted is this a guarantee that every Negro man, woman, and child’s experience is the result of history past and not the consequence of a lack of character, moral fortidue, and wise choices? No, it sure isn’t. When we become adults, we become responsible for our own choices and actions regardless of what our parentage and forefathers did. However, a culture that is lacking the understanding of how multigenerational trauma effects a family and even a people group will LACK EMPATHY and COMPASSION. We thus, revisit the past NOT for the purpose of licking wounds and stirring up fresh hatred, as is all too present amongst the divisive race baters dead set on destroying any possibility of peace between the Caucasian and the Negro, but for the purpose of presenting a case that old trauma unhealed has created cyclical modern dynamics. You can not heal what you pretend isn’t there. Period.
So what is the solution? Jesus. Christ ALONE is the key to the restoration of the Negro people of America. Scripture tells us:
“Beloved, I pray that in every way you may succeed and prosper and be in good health [physically], just as [I know] your soul prospers [spiritually].” 3 John 1:2 Amplified
Trauma gets stored in the soul – the mind, human will, and human emotions. Biblically speaking, ones success, prosperity, and good health are directly linked to the well being of ones soul and spiritual state. If you are carrying multigenerational trauma and are spiritually sick (lacking salvation that comes from Christ alone), you will not have true lasting success or prosperity, and your physical health will be effected as well.
When you come to the understanding of the fact that trauma doesn’t disappear just because the circumstances that created the trauma have ended, you begin to realize why returning to the past is not only necessary but a must! Apart from the many reasons a Negro man today has to be angry, if we aren’t beseeching Almighty God to bring us back prayerfully to the things that started cycles in our generational line so that we can break them, they will continue to repeat!
“You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me.” Exodus 20:5 ESV
Iniquity is sin that you inherited. These can be sins of commission, committed by your ancestors or sins of omission which are sins committed against your ancestors. Those sins keep passing as “generational bondages” until someone renounces them and seeks Christs deliverance; deliverance available to all those who surrender their hearts to Jesus.
This subject then goes far deeper than just a perceived stereotypical trait of the Negro people. The narrative of the “angry black man” then began in history past. I can’t separate (in the context of a people group not individual choices and character) the past from whats present. Injustice and inequality will always undoubtedly stir strong feelings of resentment and anger! Without a doubt. But how many black men and women are living in cycles whereby the past continues to repeat? As I close up shop for this article, I encourage you to ponder this question before you cast judgements, build stereotypical beliefs and prejudices, and label an entire community. Are the traumas we learned in history books being relived before our eyes, only this time being perpetuated from within versus without? Am I observing cyclical traumas and unhealed cycles repeating? In case you didn’t know where to start or how to think, you now have lots to think about.
