Jesus Was Black, Not White, Group Says

CNSNEWS.com ^ | 2/24/04 | Melanie Hunter

[kattracks]

(1st Add: Includes comments by Rev. Jesse Peterson, president of B.O.N.D.)

(CNSNews.com) - One day before it debuts in theaters, a black activist group is protesting the Mel Gibson-written, directed and produced "The Passion of the Christ" film, not because of the film's violent depiction of Jesus Christ's final hours. Instead, they say the film is historically inaccurate because Jesus is portrayed as a white man, not a black man.

"Strangely absent from the debate is one very basic inaccuracy which has been long promoted in order to bolster white supremacy and maintain a revisionist history that is beneficial to only people of European descent," said Malik Z. Shabazz, national chairman of the New Black Panther Party in a statement Tuesday.

"This purposely omitted fact is that Jesus was not a European white man. Jesus Christ was a black man - a dark skinned Hebrew Israelite from Northern Africa and even the only Biblical physical description confirms this (Rev. 13:20)," said Shabazz.

"Not only does this film wrongfully depict Christ as white but all the disciples and Israelites are people of European descent, which presents a historical and physical impossibility," he added.

The New Black Panther Party and other black activists plan to stage protests nationwide over the controversy. Not only does the group claim the movie is "false," but also "harmful and racist."

The Anti-Defamation League recently expressed to Gibson its concern that the film would drum up anti-Semetism. Shabazz said his group disagrees with the ADL's claims that the film is "anti-semetic" and challenged the ADL to "deny the historical accuracy of the Jews' attack on Christ."

But Shabazz says, the "true controversy" surrounding the film "lies in the maligned history of African people through the world and the continual inaccuracies presented in every Hollywood production to date of any Biblical story from the 10 Commandments to the Christmas Story."

"These false images presented are 'anti-black' and these false images and interpretations only seek to further the racist and white supremist idea that God and Jesus Christ 'The Messiah' or 'Savior' is European and white," he added.

"This is clearly one more example of how black people in this country are treated unfairly. Black/African history has and continues to be misrepresented, black people worldwide are subjected to the psychologically abusive images of white supremacy and have no collective voice to defend or promote a Black agenda," Shabazz concluded.

Movie 'not racist,' says black conservative

But Rev. Jesse Peterson, president of the black conservative group, B.O.N.D. (Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny) said claims that Jesus is black takes away from the overall message.

Peterson said he saw the movie last weekend and "there's nothing in this movie that is racist at all."

"It was inspiring spiritually," he said. "I think that it's gonna reconfirm the faith in many Christians and it's gonna encourage those who had doubt about Christ. There will be many, I believe, that will believe in him. I knew that this thing would come out that 'he wasn't black' and that 'it's racist.' It's not."

Peterson explained that "the Bible clearly states that Christ was in Israel and that he was a Jew." The movie, he said "clearly points that out as well."

Peterson said to "cry racism is a non-issue. This is an attempt for attention. It's shameful to make that kind of assertion about this movie."

When asked specifically whether Shabazz's physical description of Jesus and his birthplace of Northern Africa was accurate, Peterson said, "I've heard that over and over again, and at one point when I resented white Americans, I believed that too."

But, he said, "in all honesty there is no, I think, perfect description of what Christ looked like anyway, and I think that each race…the white race at one point said that he looked white [with] blue eyes and blond hair. That wasn't true. The blacks are trying to claim him…Hispanics, everybody are trying to claim him as their own."

Peterson said that's why the Scripture clearly states "'do not create a graven image of him, because it will divide and cause confusion.'

"The most important thing is that he was a spirit. It's the spirit of the man, not necessarily what he looked like. And that's the focus that this movie brings out," Peterson said, adding that he thinks blacks and white are likely to focus on Jesus' "spirit rather than the color."

He said the Bible does point out that Jesus was "born in that area, but still he was a Jew, and at that time, maybe they didn't have the straight hair, but it doesn't mean he was…a black, African man."

Peterson said in the movie, Jesus is a dark-skinned man, not white with blue eyes, but a dark-skinned man. "He's not black, but he's not white either," he said.

Race not an issue

Peterson took the New Black Panther Party to task for making Jesus' race an issue.

"It's a shame that you have racist organizations like the New Black Panther Party that will come out and allow the devil or darkness to use them, because that's what's happening," he said. "It's a distraction. It's a trick of the devil to come out and call this movie racist…that he was black, he had nappy hair. That's a distraction."

Peterson believes the group is taking away from the spiritual message of the movie, a message, he said that can possibly help people that are hurting spiritually.

"I think that when people go to this movie, they need to look beyond the color. And I think most will, whether they want to or not…look at the spirit and the suffering that Christ went through," Peterson said.

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[breakem]

Hell, many are barely alive now. C-YA

[veronica]

A while back, a CNN reporter (I think it was CNN) did a story on black Israelis....

And of course there was Sammy Davis Jr., who converted to Judaism. Rod Carew too!

[quadrant]

Malik Shabazz, now that sounds like a Muslim name, and I'm going to make the assumption that Mr Shabazz is a Muslim.

If I'm not mistaken (and I could well be) in the Muslim tradition Jesus is describled as man whose skin pigmentation was between white and brown, and certainly not black.

[BaBaStooey]

I say, who cares?

Is it not more important to remember what Jesus taught and what Jesus stood for, and what Jesus represented, and his purpose for bein gon this earth.....than to try to figure out what he looked like?

Why do people have to be so superficial (and arguably racist) that they cannot distinguish a man by any other details than by how he looked or what his skin color was? Why is it that people cannot look past this incredibly insignificant feature?

This argument has less to do with Jesus and more to do with society as a whole, but it seems like society's faults are everywhere, including debates about Jesus.

[mdmathis6]

The word ADAM means "man of red mud or red clay". So the first man was a red man?

Whp knows...but for you scientists and wanna bees out there, consider the science in God making man out of red dust or clay. All the basic elements are there and....considering that IRON forms the basic building block in the oxygen carrying ability of hemeglobin as well as the coloring agent of RED CLAY, one can begin to fancy the notion that well yes, Intelligent Design can certainly be behind the fashioning of man...in the very least...from the very RED DUST of the ground!

Clever of God to use rust in the creation of our blood and marrow systems!

[luvbach1]

I have not read that part of the old testament. If there were fair-skinned, red-haired Jews then, I would suspect they were that way for the same reason some present-day Jews fit that description, an infusion of genes with those characteristics. But from where?

[LibertarianInExile]

ROFLMAO!!!

Guess that explains what he meant when he kept pointing up and talking about his pop in the heavens...

[LibertarianInExile]

I love it! Attempting to be more absurd than the PC crowd sounds fun!

[yarddog]

I was watching a "History Channel" show on Egypt a few days ago and they were showing the mummy of Ramses. One of the more interesting things I learned was that he had red hair. As a matter of fact he still has red hair even after all those centuries.

[The Wizard]

this is my point, exactly......

It's what he said.....

not what color he was, not how he lived or died.....he need not be a saint to teach us how to live properly....

He spoke about the brotherhood, man had been allowed

He told us how to live a life of ease

He showed us how to walk in fear, and even how to pray

And after all this time, you don't believe?

well people, there's a reason for it all

[LibertarianInExile]

[Lee'sGhost]

"Jesus Christ was a black man - a dark skinned Hebrew Israelite from Northern Africa . . ."

Bwahahahahahaha! Do these people even listen to themselves? Which was he, a black man OR a dark skinned Hebrew from Northern Africa? Like these are the same things. Of course, this putz probably thinks that Egyptians were/are black africans.

[LandofLincoln]

Jesus was a middle-eastern. his skin tone must have been that of a middle eastern.

[Scenic Sounds]

Through Nomadic Eyes

[thackney]

I'm still trying to find Rev 13:20. From what Bible is this?

You just did more work on the article than the reporter.

[Tall_Texan]

Wouldn't Jesus be a Padres fan? Or possibly a Cardinals fan?

[A CA Guy]

Sure, that makes sense.

[A CA Guy]

I think they looked closer to the other Arabs back 2000 years ago.
It is a good point that they have had Jews from all over the world there.

If you look at Arafat (BLAH) even he isn't BLACK.

They did have a nice tan and were certarinly not blue eyed blonds.

[KQQL]

Bottom line: I doubt Jesus was Black...or Blond and blue eyes.

While on earth he probably looked like how most Israeli/Mediterranean people look like.

Probably had dark brown /dark reddish brown /black hair and brown/green /hazel eyes and tanned/olive skin/pale white skin

P.S not all folks in that region have black hair and brown eyes....and arabs are not the only ones who have black hair- brown eyes and olive skin. ....but I get your point

[Tall_Texan]

Our pets, for whatever good or bad they are, were not the focus of Jesus' mission. Not a moment was spent to evangelize a fish or a donkey. Rather, he ate fish and rode the donkey.

We can either conclude that animals get a free pass to Heaven or that animals lack a human soul and are temporal for our needs on this earth and that Heaven will be filled with creatures more fascinating than our animals in this world.

I don't have a dog but I love my pets. Yet, I think the experience in Heaven will be so wondrous that I won't need pets when I am there. I might not even need a wife. We can only see through a mirror dimly what Heaven might be like and our popular culture has distorted our concept of Heaven from what Jesus says in Scriptures.

That's my opinion. I can't offer proof of whether Heaven has dogs or not. But, like whether Jesus was black, I don't care if my opinion is correct or not. It won't matter once I'm there.