Because of RACIAL INJUSTICE in our nation’s past, some African-Americans believe ‘the white man’ is the devil.
For months I have been dreaming that I was an inmate in prison. In every dream an
unseen enemy had set me up by planting drugs of some kind on me.
Because of these dreams, a burden I had never experienced came on me. As a result, I began to research the criminal justice system in America. I have a bachelor’s degree in criminology, yet I was never taught what my research revealed. I learned that, according to statistics compiled by Common Sense for Drug Policy:
Of the 246,100 state prison inmates serving time for drug offenses in 2001, 56.7 percent were black, 23.2 percent were white and 19 percent were Hispanic, according to 2002 Justice Department statistics.
In 1998, a federal Household Survey found that 72 percent of all drug users were white, 15 percent black and 10 percent Hispanic. Despite these numbers, blacks constituted 36.8 percent of those arrested for drug violations, more than 42 percent of those in federal prison for drug violations and 58 percent of those in state prisons for drug felonies.
In 1986, and before mandatory minimums for crack offenses became effective, the average federal drug-offense sentence for blacks was 11 percent higher than for whites, according to a 1992 report published by the Federal Judicial Center. In 1990, when harsher drug-sentencing laws were implemented, the rate skyrocketed to 49 percent higher for blacks.
Today one-third of black men between the ages of 20 and 29 is under correctional supervision or control, and roughly 14 percent of black men in the U.S. have lost their right to vote due to felony convictions. Some 12.6 percent of black men ages 25 to 29 are in prison or jail.
With statistics like this, one cannot help but think about Isaiah 59:14, which says that justice stands far off, the truth is fallen in the streets and equity cannot enter. To a black man exposed to the above statistics, the white man can appear to be the devil.
A Demonic Plan
That’s why Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan’s message has gotten so much traction among black men, including many Christians. In October 1995, hundreds of believers gathered in Washington, D.C., for Farrakhan’s Million Man March. This year, several pastors were backing his Millions More March scheduled for October.
Some attend because they want to support Farrakhan’s efforts to unite black Americans. Many others are drawn to his message that whites want to make blacks a permanent underclass and are to blame for the challenges black men face.
In 1995, Farrakhan seemed to have found the smoking gun that proved whites were evil. During his Million Man March, he read from a speech attributed to a white slave owner named Willie Lynch, who is said to have traveled from Barbados to the U.S. in 1712 to teach white Americans how to indoctrinate blacks with a slave mentality.
Lynch is said to have concocted a “foolproof” method for controlling slaves that was guaranteed to last for at least 300 years. He allegedly taught that slave masters should exploit the differences between slaves to breed distrust and envy. Slave masters were to pit the lighter-skinned slaves against those who were darker skinned, women against men and young against old. They were to keep blacks from uniting at all costs.
The Lynch speech has been circulating on the Internet since at least the early 1990s. Though there is strong debate about the authenticity of the document, with several scholars claiming it is a complete fabrication, many African-Americans believe a white slaveholder from somewhere probably outlined a similar plan.
I learned about the Willie Lynch theory years ago, and though it may sound strange, I have watched many times as demonic spirits identified themselves as “Willie Lynch” during deliverance sessions at my church. When the spirits were cast out, the individuals experienced a tremendous breakthrough. Though I have never been able to prove this Willie Lynch ever lived, I believe a true, demonic plot was exposed through the story.
I believe, as Willie Lynch documents suggest, that slaveholders tormented and humiliated black men before their families to instill fear and submission in all the slaves. The repercussions of their actions were far-reaching. After so much humiliation, the black male image was destroyed. Black women became convinced that their husbands could never protect them and that they must fend for themselves and their children.
Forced to raise their children alone, black women were manipulated into a role reversal. Men became physically strong but emotionally weak, while women were forced to lead the home. Not wanting to see their sons tortured, black women discouraged their young men from rebelling, unwittingly becoming the insurance that the males would never buck the slave system.
Almost 300 years later, the fruit of this system still exists. The high rate of absentee fathers in African-American families is no coincidence; there is a demonic assignment against the black male seed in America.
I believe this is why God allowed me to have those dreams. He was trying to show me that a wicked system had been set up to entrap black men.
Farrakhan has endeared himself to many black men by exposing Willie Lynch’s plan, but do his facts lead people to the truth? Did the white man really mastermind this scheme? I don’t think so.
There is not a man-black or white-who could have devised such a demonic plan. But the devil used white Americans to unleash this evil system in the nation.
Thankfully, there is a way to undo this cycle. It is by realigning the positions of black men and women. I prophesy that Jesus is releasing an anointing in America that will correct the order of black families.
This move of God also will deal with the inequities of the criminal justice, political, educational, judicial and social service systems. This is why we must pray that anointed men and women will be put in strategic positions in our country.
No Compromise
Farrakhan prays and prophesies, attempting to blur the lines between Christians and Muslims, but believers must not be fooled. Black men and women will never find deliverance at the altar of an idol.
During the Million Man March, Farrakhan prayed to Allah, asking his “blessings on all who participated and came out to present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, which is their reasonable service.” The participants sang to Allah, “Thee do we worship, and we thank you for putting your spirit and your calm over Washington, D.C., and over the heads of nearly 2 million of your servants.” The words of this song make it clear that Allah’s anointing was released upon this multitude of men.
In his speech, Farrakhan declared that God was making a new covenant with the black man, but the only new covenant God has made with the black man is the New Testament. He also told black men-supposedly through prophecy-to return to the “houses of God,” as if they have a choice. There is only one house of God-the one the Holy Spirit abides in.
The crowd cheered when Farrakhan said, “The one that put you on the bottom [referring to white men] is the bottomless pit himself.” Was he calling whites the devil?
In November 1993, Khallid Abdul Muhammad, then third in command in the Nation of Islam, made a public statement about apartheid in South Africa. He said that after blacks regained power in South Africa, they should give white people 24 hours to get out of the country. He said those who refused to leave should be killed, including women, children and the disabled.
He then said that after they killed the whites, they should dig them up out of their graves and then kill them again. Farrakhan is quoted as saying that this minister spoke the truth but in a repugnant manner.
I agree that prisons have replaced plantations in America as a place of bondage for the black man. Growing up in Florida, I experienced much discrimination myself, and I understand why Farrakhan’s message strikes a chord.
When an innocent black man is put on death row, the white man may seem to be the devil. When black women-who during pregnancy use the same amount of illicit drugs as white women-are 10 times more likely to be reported to child welfare agencies, they may think the white man is the devil.
In a troubled neighborhood of my hometown, an all-black charter school with an F rating rallied to improve its math scores by 86 percent and its reading scores by 44 percent. Despite the improvement, local officials still voted to close the school based on a technicality. To these kids, it may seem like the white man is the devil.
For the last year, I have been ministering to a young black man accused of killing four white people in a small, predominantly white town. He could face the death penalty.
He has been in solitary confinement since he was arrested 15 months ago. He has not been found guilty yet, and there is no justification for him being in solitary confinement. When I visited him, he had lost his mind.
Based on this situation, if I had not accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I would also probably think that the white man is the devil.
But the truth is that the devil is not white; he is the prince of darkness. The black man is not warring against flesh and blood, and the weapons of his warfare are not carnal.
My heart has been broken over the racial injustices that I know exist. However, demonizing whites and joining forces with anti-Christ spirits will not solve the problem. A curse will come upon those who yoke themselves with those who worship idols. Second Corinthians 6:15 declares: “And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?” (KJV).
In Greek, belial means “worthless.” The word “infidel” in Greek refers to a person who does not believe in Jesus Christ as Lord.
It also means to be untrustworthy. The doctrine of the Nation of Islam is worthless to the believer and not worthy of our trust. They teach that Jesus was a prophet and deny His lordship. We cannot compromise on the absolute lordship of Jesus Christ!
During Farrakhan’s speech at the Million Man March, he called Allah the “lord of the worlds,” while Jesus was referred to as a prophet, alongside Moses and Muhammad. The name of Jesus clearly is made secondary to the one they call holy and righteous: Allah. Jesus is not a just a prophet; He is Lord of lords and King of kings!
In 1 Samuel 5, the Philistines faced repercussions when they sat the pagan god Dagon next to the Ark of the Covenant. His head and palms were cut off! We must set our faces in prayer against the “headship” and the “work” (hands) of those who would attempt to set their gods next to Jesus Christ.
Farrakhan went even further by declaring Jesus secondary to Allah, and many pastors and believers stood with him in unwitting agreement. If you were one of those ministers, this message is not to judge you but to bring you to a place of repentance so you can move forward.
I pray that church leaders will see the line God is drawing in the spirit. This line is separating Christ from Belial. Elijah and Moses drew lines that put a demand on the people to make a choice. Today I draw that same line and pray that the sons of God will be led by the Spirit of God.
Is the white man really the devil? If he is, the Nation of Islam is in big trouble because Malcolm X’s grandfather was a white man, as was the founder of the Nation of Islam, Wallace D. Fard. We know that Jesus was not white with blue eyes; this is why we must worship Him in spirit and truth.
Farrakhan mesmerizes black men with his “facts” about the Willie Lynch theory, but there is no truth in his message. Only the truth will make people free.
Kimberly Daniels is pastor of Spoken Word Ministries in Jacksonville, Florida, and a respected voice in the area of deliverance ministry. She has written several books, including Delivered to Destiny and Clean House, Strong House (both Charisma House).
Answering Islam
Louis Farrakhan blurs the lines between Christianity and Islam. But the differences are clear.
Roughly 90 percent of black Muslims are affiliated with orthodox Islamic groups, not the Nation of Islam. But because the Nation is the most visible group, its leader, Louis Farrakhan, has come to represent the black Muslim movement in America.
African-American Christians are sometimes sympathetic toward the Nation because its social agenda-strengthening black families, resisting immorality in the culture and empowering the poor-resembles that of the black church. And to some, its doctrine more effectively addresses African-Americans’ human dignity, African identity and “the divine significance of the African-American experience in the economy of God,” says Carl F. Ellis Jr., co-founder of Project Joseph, a Christian ministry that evangelizes Muslims.
But the theology of the Nation of Islam is in conflict with Scripture. Here’s why:
Adrienne S. Gaines
To learn more about how Christians can respond to the Nation of Islam, check out Defending Black Faith by Craig S. Keener and Glenn Usry (InterVarsity Press). For more information about responding to orthodox Islam, read Jesus and Muhammad by Mark A. Gabriel, Ph.D. (Charisma House).
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