Hebrew Israelites

The Hebrew Israelites are a heretical religious group that erroneously claims that African Americans are the descendants of the ancient Israelites.[1]

At the end of the 19th century, Frank Cherry and William Saunders Crowdy, after supposedly receiving revelations from God, both claimed that African Americans are descendants of the Hebrews in the Bible; Cherry established the Church of the Living God, the Pillar Ground of Truth for All Nations in 1886 and Crowdy founded the Church of God and Saints of Christ in 1896.[2][3][4][5]

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has classified some of the organizations within the Black Hebrew Israelite movement as hate groups,[6] with a 1999 FBI report stating that their "beliefs bear a striking resemblance to the Christian Identity theology practiced by many white supremacists."[7]

In January 2019, a small group of Black Hebrew Israelites harassed, cursed out, threatened violence against, and yelled at several students of Covington Catholic High School, in an attempt to provoke them. Due to the incident that followed, with a race-baiting Native American elder fake Vietnam War veteran who beat his drum in the boys' face, the boys were harassed for a third time, by the mainstream media and left-wing celebrities and politicians. The boys are now suing the mainstream media.

The movement made news again when NBA star Kyrie Irving (known for his beliefs of many conspiracy theories, such as the flat earth theory) posted a link to a video promoting the group. It would result in Irving being suspended and ultimately traded from his team.

## See also[edit]

* Black supremacy

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Carter, Joe (19 May 2017). 9 Things You Should Know About Black Hebrew Israelites (English). The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved on 3 June 2018.
2. ↑ Hutchinson, Dawn (2010). Antiquity and Social Reform: Religious Experience in the Unification Church, Feminist Wicca and Nation of Yahweh. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 9781443823081. “The first was the Church of the Living God, the Pillar Ground of Truth for All Nations founded by F.S. Cherry in 1886 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Cherry preached that Adam, Eve, and Jesus were black and that African Americans lost their Hebrew identity during slavery. Later, William S. Crowdy founded the Church of God and Saints of Christ in 1896 in Lawrence, Kansas. Crowdy taught that blacks were heirs of the lost tribes of Israel, while white Jews were descendants of inter-racial marriages between Israelites and white Christians.”
3. ↑ Fernheimer, Janice W. (2014). Stepping Into Zion: Hatzaad Harishon, Black Jews, and the Remaking of Jewish Identity. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 9780817318246. “One of these groups, Prophet Cherry's Church of the Living God, the Pillar and Ground of Truth for All Nations is the oldest knwn Black Judaic sect. It was originally established in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1886. Prophet Cherry argued they were part of the riginal Israelite tribes chased from Babylonia (and, they claim, into Central and Western Africa where they were later sold into slavery) by the Romans in 70 CE.”
4. ↑ Rubel, Nora L. (2009). "'Chased Out of Palestine': Prophet Cherry's Church of God and Early Black Judaisms in the United States", The New Black Gods: Arthur Huff Fauset and the Study of African American Religions. Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253004086. “In 1893, Crowdy had a vision that resulted in the establishment of the Church of God and Saints in Christ.”
5. ↑ Bleich, J. David (Spring-Summer 1975). "Black Jews: A Halakhic Perspective". Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought 15 (1): 63. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23258489. Retrieved May 13, 2018. "Crowdy claimed to be the recipient of a series of revelations in which, among other things, he was told that Blacks were descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel.".
6. ↑ Racist Black Hebrew Israelites Becoming More Militant (English). Southern Poverty Law Center (29 August 2008). Retrieved on 13 May 2018.
7. ↑ Nacos, Brigitte L (22 July 2015). Terrorism and Counterterrorism (in English). Routledge. ISBN 9781317343646. Retrieved on 13 May 2018. “In a 1999 FBI report, the FBI warned of extremists in the Black Hebrew Israelite (BHI) movement who believe that they are God's chosen people and consider whites and Jews to be the manifestations of evil. As the report noted, "[s]uch beliefs bear a striking resemblance to the Christian Identity theology practiced by many white supremacists." In fact, Tom Metzger, renowned white supremacists, once remarked, "They're the black counterpart of us." Nine years later, it was reported that extremist Hebrew Israelite churches operated in cities of many states, namely Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and Oregon, and had thousands of members. And according to the SPLC's "The Year in Hate" report for 2008, like their white counterparts black supremacists, too, tried to exploit the political divisions and economic crisis to pursue their radical agenda and expand their membership.”

## External links[edit]

* A critique of the racist claims of the Black Hebrew Israelites by G. Reckart
* The Origin and Insufficiency of the Black Hebrew Israelite Movement by Jimmy Butts
* Black Hebrew Israelites Refuted - 119 Ministries
* The Truth meets the Hebrew Israelites - Acts of Truth / YouTube
* Interview With Ex-IUIC Black Hebrew Israelite - YouTube
* Interview with Ex-Hebrew Israelite Speaks Out - YouTube
* Black Hebrew Israelites - CARM
* Who are the Hebrew Israelites and what do they believe? by Vocab Malone - Jude 3 Project
* Black Hebrew Israelites - Apologetics Index
* The Lord’s Day, the Christian Sabbath by James Chrystie - Reformed Presbyterian Church
* The Christian Week and Sabbath by Methodist theologian, Daniel D. Whedon
* Video: Black Hebrew Israelites Debunked by Jeff Maples - Reformation Charlotte
* Who are the Black Hebrews / Black Israelites? - Got Questions
* Why I Can’t Join the Black Hebrew Israelites? - LPG
* Sicarii Black Hebrew Israelites: Spouting Hate in Southern California - Anti-Defamation League
* Nick Sandmann: The Truth in 15 Minutes