Black supremacy or black supremacism is a
racial supremacist
Supremacism is the belief that a certain group of people is superior to all others. The supposed superior people can be defined by age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, language, social class, ideology, nation, culture, ...
belief which maintains that
black people
Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in s ...
are superior to people of other
races. In the 1960s,
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
said that a doctrine of black supremacy was as dangerous as
white supremacy
White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...
.
Historical usage
Black supremacy was advocated by Jamaican preacher
Leonard Howell
Leonard Percival Howell (16 June 1898 – 23 January 1981), also known as The Gong or G.G. Maragh (for ''Gangun Guru''), was a Jamaican religious figure. According to his biographer Hélène Lee, Howell was born into an Anglican family. He was one ...
in the 1935
Rastafari movement
Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control o ...
tract ''
The Promised Key''. Howell's use of "Black Supremacy" had both religious and political implications. Politically, as a direct counterpoint to
white supremacy
White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...
, and the failure of white governments to protect black people, he advocated the destruction of white governments. Howell had drawn upon as an influence the work of the earlier proto-Rastafari preacher
Fitz Balintine Pettersburg
Reverend Fitz Balintine Pettersburg was a proto-Rastafari preacher, and author of the ''Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy'', published in 1926. He influenced Leonard Howell, who according to author Barry Chevannes, plagiarised the ''Royal P ...
, in particular the latter's book ''
The Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy''.
The
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
described the teachings of the
Nation of Islam
The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930.
A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African ...
(NOI) as having been black supremacist until 1975, when
W. Deen Mohammed
Warith Deen Mohammed (born Wallace D. Muhammad; October 30, 1933 – September 9, 2008), also known as W. Deen Mohammed, Imam W. Deen Muhammad and Imam Warith Deen, was an African-American Muslim leader, theologian, philosopher, Muslim revi ...
succeeded
Elijah Muhammad
Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Robert Poole; October 7, 1897 – February 25, 1975) was an African American religious leader, black separatist, and self-proclaimed Messenger of Allah, who led the Nation of Islam (NOI) from 1934 until his de ...
(his father) as its leader.
Elijah Muhammad's black-supremacist doctrine acted as a counter to the supremacist paradigm established and controlled by white supremacy.
The SPLC described the group as having a "theology of innate black superiority over whites – a belief system vehemently and consistently rejected by mainstream Muslims".
Groups associated with black supremacist views
![TamaRe](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/TamaRe.jpg)
Several fringe groups have been described as either holding or promoting black supremacist beliefs. A source described by historian
David Mark Chalmers
David Mark Chalmers (1927 - 25 October 2020) was an American historian.
PublicationsThe social and political ideas of the muckrakers(1964)The history of the Standard Oil Companywith Ida Minerva Tarbell
Ida Minerva Tarbell (November 5, 1857J ...
as being "the most extensive source on right-wing extremism" is the
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white su ...
(SPLC), an American nonprofit organization that monitors
hate group
A hate group is a social group that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race (human classification), race, Ethnic group, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any o ...
s and
extremists
Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied share ...
in the United States. Authors of the SPLC's quarterly ''Intelligence Reports'' have described the following groups as holding black supremacist views:
*The
Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ
The Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ (ICGJC, also Israelite Church-God & Jesus), formerly known as the Israeli Church of Universal Practical Knowledge, is an American organization of Black Hebrew Israelites. Its headquarters are in New York ...
(ICGJC), which is headquartered in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, was described in 2008 by the SPLC as an American "black supremacist sect" and part of the growing "black supremacist wing of the
Hebrew Israelite movement". The ICGJC accepts the
Old
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
*Old, Baranya, Hungary
*Old, Northamptonshire, England
*Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...
and
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
s and the
Apocrypha
Apocrypha are works, usually written, of unknown authorship or of doubtful origin. The word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to writings which were kept secret because they were the vehicles of esoteric knowledge considered ...
as
inspired Scripture and has an
apocalyptic view of the end of the world.
*The
Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge
Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge (ISUPK) is an American non-profit organization and black supremacist,
extremist religious sect based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. The group is part of the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, wh ...
(ISUPK), based in the
Upper Darby Township
Upper Darby Township, often shortened to Upper Darby, is a home rule township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The township borders Philadelphia, the nation's sixth most populous city as of 2020 with 1.6 million residents.
As of the 2020 cen ...
of Philadelphia.
*The
Nation of Islam
The Nation of Islam (NOI) is a religious and political organization founded in the United States by Wallace Fard Muhammad in 1930.
A black nationalist organization, the NOI focuses its attention on the African diaspora, especially on African ...
(NOI) is a religious organization founded by
Wallace Fard Muhammad
Wallace Dodd Fard, also known as Wallace Fard Muhammad or Master Fard Muhammad (; reportedly born February 26, – disappeared ), was the founder of the Nation of Islam. He arrived in Detroit in 1930 with an obscure background and several alia ...
in the United States in 1930. They have been described by the SPLC as having "a theology of innate black superiority over whites".
SPLC cites the NOI leaders' "deeply racist, antisemitic and anti-LGBT rhetoric" as reasons for the organization being categorized as a hate group.
*The
Nation of Yahweh
The Nation of Yahweh is predominantly a Black Hebrew Israelite religious movement which was founded in 1979 in Miami by Hulon Mitchell Jr., who went by the name Yahweh ben Yahweh. (Yahweh is the proper name of the Abrahamic god, so Yahweh ben Yahw ...
is a religious group based in the United States described as black supremacist by the SPLC. It is an offshoot of the
Black Hebrew Israelite
Black Hebrew Israelites (also called Hebrew Israelites, Black Hebrews, Black Israelites, and African Hebrew Israelites) are groups of African Americans who believe that they are the descendants of the ancient Israelites. Some sub-groups believ ...
line of thought. It was founded by American
Yahweh ben Yahweh
Yahweh ben Yahweh (born Hulon Mitchell Jr.; October 27, 1935 – May 7, 2007) was an American religious leader, Black separatist and founder of the Nation of Yahweh, a new religious movement headquartered in Florida that had thousands of Blac ...
(born Hulon Mitchell Jr.), whose name means "God the Son of God" in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
. The Nation of Yahweh grew rapidly throughout the 1980s and at its height had headquarters in Miami, Florida, and temples in 22 states,
ben Yahweh was imprisoned for 11 years for his links to nearly two dozen murders, and later released on restrictive parole.
*The
United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors
The Nuwaubian Nation, Nuwaubian movement, or United Nuwaubian Nation () is an American new religious movement founded and led by Dwight York, also known as Malachi Z. York. York began founding several black Muslim groups in New York in 1967. He ...
was founded by the American
Dwight York
Dwight D. York (born June 26, 1945),Philips, Abu Ameenah Bilal. ''The Ansar Cult in America,'' Tawheed Publications 1988, p. 1. Philips claims that in 1975 York's publications changed his declared birth year from 1935 to 1945, to coincide with ...
, who has been described by the SPLC as advocating the belief that black people are superior to white people. The SPLC reported that York's teachings included the belief that "whites are 'devils', devoid of both heart and soul, their color the result of
leprosy
Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...
and genetic inferiority".
The SPLC described the Nuwaubianism belief system as "mix
ngblack supremacist ideas with worship of the
Egyptians
Egyptians ( arz, المَصرِيُون, translit=al-Maṣriyyūn, ; arz, المَصرِيِين, translit=al-Maṣriyyīn, ; cop, ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, remenkhēmi) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian ...
and their
pyramids
A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilate ...
, a belief in
UFOs
An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...
and various
conspiracy theories
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources:
*
*
*
* The term has a nega ...
related to the
Illuminati
The Illuminati (; plural of Latin ''illuminatus'', 'enlightened') is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on ...
and the
Bilderbergers".
Opposition from Martin Luther King Jr.
During speeches given at the Freedom Rally in
Cobo Hall
Huntington Place (formerly known as Cobo Hall, Cobo Center, and briefly as TCF Center) is a convention center in Downtown Detroit, owned by the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority (DRCFA) and operated by ASM Global. Located at 1 Washi ...
on June 23, 1963, at
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...
in June 1965, and at the
Southern Methodist University
, mottoeng = "The truth will make you free"
, established =
, type = Private research university
, accreditation = SACS
, academic_affiliations =
, religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church
, president = R. Gerald Turner
, prov ...
on March 17, 1966,
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
said:
See also
*
Afrocentrism
Afrocentrism is an approach to the study of world history that focuses on the history of people of recent African descent. It is in some respects a response to Eurocentric attitudes about African people and their historical contributions. It ...
*
Black nationalism
Black nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that black people are a race, and which seeks to develop and maintain a black racial and national identity. Black nationalist activism revolves ar ...
*
Black separatism
Black separatism is a separatist political movement that seeks separate economic and cultural development for those of African descent in societies, particularly in the United States. Black separatism stems from the idea of racial solidarity, an ...
*
Melanin theory
Melanin theory is a set of pseudoscientific claims made by some proponents of Afrocentrism, which holds that black people, including ancient Egyptians, have superior mental, physical, and paranormal powers because they have higher levels of mel ...
*
Racial formation theory
Racial formation theory is an analytical tool in sociology, developed by Michael Omi and Howard Winant, which is used to look at race as a socially constructed identity, where the content and importance of racial categories are determined by socia ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Black Supremacy
African and Black nationalism
Political theories
Politics and race