First of all, they’re not Jews – at least not as understood by Jewish consensus. (Jews are either born of a Jewish mother or have formally converted to Judaism.) If they identify as Israelites rather than African-American Jews (small in number but growing), their denominations originated in the Messianic stew bubbling up in the worst of Jim Crow times (post-Reconstruction) and places (the American South).
They are fringe-y for sure but hardly unified in their beliefs and practices. Some make an effort to hew more closely to Judaic beliefs and practices, most notably The Commandment Keepers, based in New York. Others retain such a close connection to their Christian origins that they accept Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God.
What they all have in common is the conviction that the Biblical Israelites were Black and that they are the true descendants of the Twelve Tribes. This obviously puts them in opposition to the dominant historical narratives and mainstream teachings of both Christianity and Judaism. Born of an oppositional and Black nationalist ideology, some sects are openly and unapologetically antisemitic.
Frank Cherry, the first African American to whom God vouchsafed the vision of authentic Biblical blackness, established the Church of the Living God, the Pillar Ground of Truth for All Nations, in 1886 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he preached that white people were inherently evil and hated by God. Cherry also espoused antisemitism, claimed that the earth is square, and professed that Jesus would return in the year 2000 to start a race war.
The ideology and beliefs of some Black Israelite sects actually resulted in the establishment of colonies conceived as a return to the “homeland.” Coming through the ranks of the Garvey movement in the 1920s, Arnold Josiah Ford founded the Beth B’nai Israel in Harlem, declared himself a rabbi, and took a small group of followers to Ethiopia where he hoped to create the nucleus of a community that would unite Black Israelites with their Ethiopian brethren.
Ben Ammi Ben-Israel established the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem in Chicago in 1966 when Black nationalism was on the rise. In 1969, Ben Ammi and 30 Hebrew Israelites moved to Israel, followed by 600 more members over the next 20 years. When the first Black Hebrews arrived, they claimed citizenship under the Law of Return. This didn't convince the Israeli government, which ruled in 1973, that the group did not qualify for automatic citizenship because they could not prove Jewish descent and had not undergone Orthodox conversion. Although they continued to (illegally) immigrate -- now numbering over 3000 souls, the Black Hebrews were denied work permits and state benefits.
The Black Hebrews accused the Israeli government of racist discrimination, but In 1981, a group of American civil rights activists led by Bayard Rustin investigated and concluded that racism was not the cause of the dilemma in which they found themselves. In 1990, Illinois legislators helped negotiate an agreement that resolved their legal status. Members of the group are permitted to work, and also have access to housing and social services. The Black Hebrews reclaimed their American citizenship and have received aid from the U.S. government to build a school and additional housing.
They’re still not “real Jews,” but in traditional areas of Black excellence, they can be useful to the Jewish state. Young men from the Black Hebrew community serve in the IDF, have entered international sporting events under the Israeli flag, as well as having represented Israel twice in the Eurovision song contest.
Make no mistake, however, Black Israelites have always been a thorn in the traditional Judaic hide. They cannot claim a continuous Jewish practice as have the Black Ethiopians nor will they abandon their fundamental belief that they are the true descendants and carriers of Biblical Judaism. Because these two historical narratives are in direct opposition, Black Israelites will never be able to integrate (nor are they interested) into the Jewish community. Whether religious, non-observant, conservative or liberal, Jews need only invoke the First of the 10 Commandments in their defense: Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
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