A Redemptive View of African American Struggles and Their Purpose Revealed
Why did the Black community endure such immense struggles throughout history? In this compelling article, Tony Francis delves into the deeper, spiritual reasons behind their hardships, revealing a powerful perspective on their divine purpose! Discover how truth, redemptive view, and understanding can honor their legacy and inspire a path forward.
Throughout history, many groups have endured targeted violence and genocide. The Armenian Genocide (1915–1917) saw 1.5 million Armenians killed in the Ottoman Empire. The Holocaust (1941–1945) claimed 6 million Jewish lives under Nazi rule. Other atrocities include the Rwandan Genocide (1994), with 800,000 Tutsis massacred, and the Cambodian Genocide (1975–1979), where 2 million people died under the Khmer Rouge. In Sudan, the Darfur Genocide (2003–present) has targeted non-Arab ethnic groups. Additionally, the Herero and Namaqua Genocide (1904–1908) in German South-West Africa, the Yazidi Genocide (2014) by ISIS, and the enslavement of Africans during the transatlantic slave trade are stark reminders of human suffering.
In this article, I focus on the atrocities against the Black community in America.
We cannot fully understand events without viewing them through a spiritual lens. Ephesians 6 reminds us that our battles are not against flesh and blood!
Africans were brought to America through the transatlantic slave trade to fulfill the demand for cheap labor in agriculture, particularly for crops like tobacco, sugar, and cotton. They were forcibly captured, dehumanized, and enslaved, driven by racist ideologies that justified their exploitation.
African Americans endured immense hardships throughout history. During slavery (1619–1865), they faced brutal physical abuse, forced labor, dehumanization, and family separations. After emancipation, during the Reconstruction Era (1865–1877), they were subjected to economic exploitation, racial violence, and voter suppression. The Jim Crow Era (1877–1965) brought segregation, lynching, and systemic racism, while the Civil Rights Era (1950s–1960s) met resistance to desegregation and civil rights advocacy. Even today, African Americans face challenges like mass incarceration, economic inequality, and racial profiling, reflecting the ongoing struggle for justice and equality.
The Bible tells us of the Jews who endured over 400 years of slavery in Egypt, targeted by Satan due to their destiny as the lineage of the Savior, Jesus Christ which is the highest of calls. Similarly, Satan targets tribes and communities with great destinies to twist and destroy their purpose! This pattern of spiritual warfare reveals how significant these groups are in God’s plan. Hatred fuels such atrocities, but it also highlights the enemy's fear of their divine calling.
While the Jews’ destiny was salvation through Christ, what about the Black community in America?
I believe African Americans are called to huge servanthood, mirroring Christ, who came to serve, not to be served:
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45
Servanthood is divine, but the enemy corrupted it into SLAVERY. If the black community doesn't heal right, they can't wholly and fully connect to their original design. The enemy traumatizes you to hate your pure gifts and callings!
The Black community thrives in service, demonstrating extraordinary zeal, strength, and humility. The enemy sought to tarnish destinies through oppression, mockery, and injustice!
Jesus taught that true greatness comes through servanthood. African Americans are marked for greatness, authority, and promotion by God, and their suffering stems from the enemy’s attempt to distort their glorious calling which is SERVANTHOOD TO MAKE OTHERS GREAT JUST LIKE JESUS.
So, how do we redeem what black people went through? By connecting to the truth of the matter that:
African Americans were never slaves, they were beautiful servants, fulfilling their destiny and contributing to the greatness of America for God’s glory.
If you are a Black person, remember: you were always a servant of God, never a slave! Teach this truth, model it, and open portals of humility in your community through the destiny you've always been living knowingly and sometimes forcefully.
God desires to redeem us all. When we see through redemptive eyes, we discover the truth, and the truth sets us free!
In this life everyone needs someone TO BE GREAT! I need you, you need me.
God bless you
Tony Francis