SOUL SALVATION, SOCIAL LIBERATION: RACE AND EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANITY IN THE BLACK POWER ERA, 1968-1979 A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Division of Religion Drew University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree, Doctor of Philosophy Tejai Beulah Drew University Madison, New Jersey December 2018 ABSTRACT Soul Salvation, Social Liberation: Race and Evangelical Christianity in the Black Power Era, 1968-1979 Ph.D. Dissertation by Tejai Beulah Graduate Division of Religion Drew Theological School December 2018 Soul Salvation, Social Liberation provides a critical intervention in the current historiography on evangelical Christianity by recovering the voices of Christians who defined themselves as “pro-black” and “pro-evangelical” during the black power era. The current scholarship overemphasizes the contributions of white evangelicals who organized themselves into a major support base for the Republican Party in the seventies. Further, the current scholarship misrepresents black evangelical Christians. Using D.W. Bebbington’s definition of “evangelical religion,” I identify seven black men who actually defined their Christian faith as “evangelical.” Further, I examine the unique offerings that these men gave to evangelical Christian ministries between 1968 and 1979. I argue that they were the principal actors who challenged the movement to become anti-racist. As a whole, black evangelicals created evangelical associations, wrote theological books, co-pastored interracial churches, and started businesses with two intentions. One, they intended to communicate the relevancy of evangelical Christianity to the social and political concerns of black people throughout the U.S. Two, they sought to build relationships with white Christians that were models of authentic racial reconciliation. Specifically, black evangelicals believed that their Christian faith afforded them to stand on equal footing with whites as fellow Christians and as U.S. citizens. Therefore, they spoke out against white supremacy and white privilege in evangelical ministries and in U.S. society. However, their approaches to speaking out have defined how their stories have been documented in the scholarship. Militant black evangelicals or those who vehemently denounced racism and privilege in evangelical associations were expelled from participation. As a result, they have been ignored in historical studies of those organizations. However, accommodationist black evangelicals who took a moderate approach to the problem of racism remained in prominent positions in evangelical organizations, and their contributions to the evangelical movement have been well- documented. By recovering the experiences of militant black evangelicals, this study offers insight into why racism has continued to plague the evangelical Christian movement since 1979. Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION Evangelicals From #BLM Back to Black Power 1 Chapter 1. The Making of Black Evangelicals 28 Chapter 2. Evangelizing from a Black Perspective 56 Chapter 3. The Costs of Black Evangelicals 104 Chapter 4. The Problem of Black Evangelical Brands 150 Chapter 5. Black Manhood and Evangelical Christianity 196 CONCLUSION The Black Evangelical Exodus 222 BIBLIOGRAPHY 238 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My Family and Friends I dedicate this project to the memory of my great-grandparents, Charles and Rosa Lee Turnage, Hector and Laura Beulah, Edward and Sally Howell, Nathaniel and Pecola Howell, and Maggie Anderson. Deloris Hall, my maternal grandmother. Thank you for raising me. Ellen Beulah Young (1943-2008), my paternal grandmother. Thank you for being my grandmother and my friend. Sonya and William Cheverez, my mom and stepdad, I could not have completed this dissertation without the two of you. Your support and encouragement mean more to me than the two of you will ever know. Thank you. Gerald and Lori Beulah, my dad and stepmother, thank you for your love, prayers, and support. Nia Beulah, Ayana Beulah, and Gianni Cheverez, my siblings, thank you for the love, smiles, and laughter you bring to my life. I have a host of aunts, uncles, and grandfathers on the earth and among the great cloud of witnesses. I love each of you. I am especially thankful to my great-aunt, Cherry Turnage- Robinson, and my aunt and uncle, Rosalyn and Philip Moore, for your love and support down through the years. Great-Uncle Charles Turnage (1949-2014), Great-Aunt Emma Jean Turnage (1938-2014), and Aunt Monique Hall (1974-2017), I wish y’all were here to celebrate this accomplishment with the rest of us. I love each of you. I have a host of cousins on the earth and among the great cloud of witnesses. I love each of you. I am especially thankful to Ashley Robinson and Candyce Evans for making sure that I had some semblance of a social life during the writing of this project. I love you both. Much appreciation to my cousins, Endiya, Chey, King, and Clem Evans, and my great-aunt, Jeanne vii Smith for making my writing break visits to your house so joyful. Many thanks to my little cousin, Solomon Watkins, for making me play when I should have been writing! I am grateful for some amazing friends. If I start naming names, I am bound to forget someone. However, if you know that you have been a good friend to me, and you know that I know that, then thank you for being my friend. Still, I must call out Leah Thomas, Lacey Hunter, and Courtney Bryant, for your unwavering support during the completion of this project. I love y’all. Jenn Fowler, I never would have made it through the final stretch of editing, formatting, and submitting this dissertation without you turning into “Type A Jenn” during my meltdowns. I love you, girl. My MTSO Community During my time as a student at MTSO, Drs. Diane Lobody, Patrick Clayborn, and Lee Johnson encouraged me to pursue doctoral work. Thank you all for believing that the successful completion of a doctoral program was possible for me. Dean Valerie Bridgeman, if you had not expanded my portfolio and came through for me in all the many ways that you did, I would not have finished writing this project on time. Thank you, Doc. I love you. President Jay Rundell, thank you for supporting the Dean’s decision to allow me to develop our academic partnerships and the specialization in Black Church and African Diaspora Studies. I appreciate you. Dr. Lisa Withrow, thank you for copyediting and commenting on each chapter. This project is better because of your thoughtful input. Benjamin Hall, you are the best “big brother” and co-laborer. Thank you for your enthusiastic belief in me. Much love to you, Dana, and the family. viii To Yvonne Zimmerman, Kathy Dickson, Elaine and Trad Nogueira-Godsey, Kris Lo Frumento, Jeff Jaynes, Tim Van Meter, and Shannon Harper, thank you for supporting my work at MTSO, and for being some of the best colleagues and friends on the planet. Tracy Temple, thank you for being my writing partner. Grace Welch and Denise Lewis, I miss y’all at MTSO, but I am grateful that our friendships extend beyond that particular space. To David Powell, Beth Bringman, and Paul Burman, thank you for being an awesome library team. I am deeply grateful to each of you for your research assistance. To my students, Gwen Thomas, Torri Foster, Brooke Hayes, Noah Mitchell, and Valerie Boyer, thank you for your consistently thoughtful contributions to my classes, for making me laugh, for bringing me food and coffee, and for praying for me. My Extended Networks I am grateful to the following individuals and institutions for financial and research assistance and practical support over the last seven years, the Forum for Theological Exploration, the staff of Westerville Public Library, Morgan Thornburg of Wheaton College, The Buckeye Ranch, Ernie Rubenstein, Jesse Mann, Alma Tuitt, Maria Ianuzzi, Kevin Douglas Hall, Marlene Underwood, Susan Zimmerman, Amanda Rodenborg, Elizabeth Freese and Family, and Erica Ramirez and Family. I have a host of former professors and teachers who have shaped me as a thinker, writer, and historian. Many thanks to Donna Hageman, Christine Anderson, Stephen Hall, Elias Ortega Aponte, and Kate Ott. Thank you. Much love to my friends and colleagues from Mooney, Xavier and The Ohio State University for checking in on me from time to time during my time as I wrote this project. My Dissertation Committee ix Morrey Davis, thank you for your patience and guidance during our “Tuesdays with Morrey” sessions. Thank you for believing in me as a writer and a scholar. Terry Todd, thank you for your thoughtful commentary on this project, and for introducing me to the study of evangelical history in the United States. Traci West, thank you for pushing me to think through my arguments, for inviting me along to teach with you at Northern State Prison, for introducing me to your humorous and generous spouse, Jerry Watts (1953-2015), and for taking care of me and my family during a particularly rough time in my doctoral journey. INTRODUCTION Evangelicals from #BLM Back to Black Power “If you don’t know your history, you’re going to end up repeating it. Open the story. Read it. And, then repeat it to one another. Do you see it? Do you see that racism is the age-old idol in our closet that we can’t manage to tear down? The evangelical church has taken the dominance and power of Eurocentrism and made it its sidepiece, or part-time lover depending on how old you are. The Evangelical Church is perpetuating “white is right,” and that is a burden that none of us can bear. Especially my white brothers and sisters. Let me talk to y’all and tell ya, God wants to relieve you of the burden of being in control… #BlackLivesMatter is not a mission of hate. It’s not a mission to bring about incredible anti-Christian values and reforms to the world.