David Walker's Appeal

Walker explains that there are many religions, but few are as “pure and undefiled” as Christianity. However, the Europeans acted “in open violation” of Christ’s teachings, turning Christianity into a tool of oppression. Religion came to seem like “a plan fabricated by themselves and the devils to oppress” Black people (58), but Walker knows better. He recounts how the Catholic priest Bartholomew Las Casas, who he calls a “pretend preacher,” suggested that the Spanish import enslaved African people to work in the Americas and, therefore, began the misery that has lasted for centuries.

Walker argues that individuals who accept religions like Judaism and Paganism are granted the “protection” that comes with them. However, Christian Americans deny these protections to people of color and even prevent them from adopting the Christian faith. Walker tells of Black people who were violently beaten for having the “audacity” to pray “to the God who made them” (60). Meanwhile, Christian missionaries continue to embark on trips to convert heathens around the world. Walker argues that Christian Americans are acting “in open violation of the Bible” (61), and God will “awaken them” unless they are truly superior to other men as they

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