Religious Influences Of African Americans - 825 Words

Despite the ignorance and insensitivity of their oppressors, early African Americans instilled in their children the values of honesty, integrity and treating their fellow humans with compassion, an attitude that prevails in many modern African American families. During the period of slavery, African Americans found strength and unity through communal worship. In addition, African Americans, once freed from slavery, were very active in forming their own churches, most of them Baptist or Methodist. Although, my mother converted to Islam after marrying my father once he joined the Nation of Islam, she educated her children about her religious background which was Baptist. I rely on my faith to give me the inspiration I need to move forward†¦show more content†¦The bible states that Christians are supposed to love and help each other at all times so I find myself always helping people in need. Also, on the political end, religion has strongly influenced which party I vote for. In my life, religion affects the way I look at life, communicate with others, spend my time, and how I act. My faith has shown me evidence of the resilience I’ve had towards the inherited oppression in my life. I am now more compassionate and have a lot more empathy towards different ethnic and racial backgrounds which has allowed me to have more humility and empathy in my social work practice and relationships. In systems of oppression, power accrues to those who most closely approximates the mythical norm in the US which include: male, white, heterosexual, financially stable, young-middle adult, able-bodied, and Christian. Power is typically defined as the ability to coerce another’s behavior and also includes access to social, political, and economic resources. Power can bring unequal distribution of tasks and rewards such as starting salary, resources, such as time off for research or start-up funds/travel funds, research assistance, and service expectations. Unfortunately, I do not know what it is to have power and quite frankly, I may not ever know because of my race and cultural background. One of the persistent and perennial challenges faced by African