In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves. Hallelujah! But what happened next? Freed slaves died like flies. Why? As soon as they walked off the plantation, they were homeless, landless, jobless, foodless and illiterate. They were not given a severance package---40 acres and a mule.
Freedom without justice, a Jubilee justice package, is shallow, hollow. Freedom is an important first step, but only a first step.
According to Dr. Ivory Phillips, an expert in Black History, never in all of American history have American blacks been given the opportunity for economic justice; ethnocentrism and systems of oppression have prevented economic justice. Abolitionists won the freedom battle but not the economic justice battle. The civil rights movement won the freedom battle a second time, but not economic justice. Today, mass incarceration and the extreme racial wealth gap have taken back some of the freedom again.
The American church has not understood nor applied the extensive biblical teaching on ethnocentrism, oppression, justice and reconciliation. So instead of being a part of the solution, it has far too often has been a part of the problem. Will this ever change on a large scale?
The book of Exodus, especially chapters 1, 5, 6, 12:29-36, provides some insights. At first, the Hebrews were respected by the Egyptians; Joseph became second-in-command. Then several generations later there arose a king who did not know Joseph, his history and importance to the nation. This pharaoh was an arrogant, ignorant, ethnocentric, ego-driven leader; he decided to make good use of the abundant Hebrew labor force. He began generations of ruthless exploitation; in the process, this dictator broke the spirits of the Hebrews.
Finally, God decided to intervene and deliver the Hebrews from slavery through Moses. After 10 plagues, Pharaoh let the Hebrew slaves go. This is how Exodus 12:29-36 describes the event (NIV):
"At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, . . . . Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.
"During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me."
"The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. "For otherwise," they said, "we will all die!". . . . The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians." Legitimate booty, for the Egyptians had plundered the Hebrew slave labor for generations.
Once a nation is addicted to the fruits of ethnocentrism and oppression---superiority and wealth---they seldom give them up, seldom repent. In this case, only severe judgement led to acts of justice (restitution, reparations). Justice light---only charity and social reform---does not release the oppressed, according to Martin Luther King. In 1967, King talked more about an economic nightmare than his 1963 dream.
Only a radical, revolutionary Jubilee justice can release the oppressed.
What kind of rules did the Hebrews implement on slavery in their society?
1. No lifelong slavery; every slave had to be freed after six years of service.
2. All slaves were supposed to be treated kindly; no ruthless exploitation.
3. At the end of six years of service, slaves were to be given a generous severance package---Jubilee justice.
What about Roman slavery? On the basis of fragmentary information, I have concluded the following: There were two types of slavery, one brutal, one more humane. Prisoners of war were likely to be treated brutally---forced to be oarsmen on ships or to work in mines, often dying on the job. Other slaves, probably the ones mentioned by Paul in his letters, were more like employees, many of whom would be freed by or before age 30.
So Egyptian slaves, some Roman slaves and most American slaves were subjected to lifelong, brutal slavery.
Is the mass incarceration of young black and Latino males a new form of legal slavery?
