The controversial Georgia ad implies that, like endangered species, black children should be protected up until they're born.
Perhaps you've heard about the controversial billboard campaign sponsored by Georgia Right to Life, that state's largest pro-life organization, in partnership with a Christian group called the Radiance Foundation. In signs put up around Atlanta, as well as through a dynamic website, the campaign puts the abortion issue squarely in the faces of passersby with the image of a young child next to the startling words, "Black Children Are an Endangered Species." It's a provocative image and caption, created in part by black and biracial people with compelling stories related to pro-life issues.
I applaud the campaign's message and the attention it draws to the devastating impact of abortion in the African American community (one CDC survey reports that African American women have abortions at twice the rate of all other racial groups combined). But I find the use of "endangered species" language and imagery to describe black children to be profoundly inappropriate.
First, there's the problem of comparing African Americans to animals. Because of the ways those kinds of comparisons have been made to dehumanize blacks in the past, I think the campaign's organizers should have reconsidered leveraging the "endangered species" comparison for its shock value and attention-grabbing potential.
I understand that the point of the Georgia campaign, like those "Save the Baby Humans" bumper stickers, is to emphasize the hypocrisy in caring more about animals than we do about people. But black children aren't animals -- and that's precisely why their lives are important. They shouldn't be compared to the Okaloosa Darter or the Galapagos Petrel, or some other species most of us haven't heard about and don't care about the survival of.
Further, the copy and imagery the campaign's organizers have chosen creates a false choice between saving lives and recognizing those lives as human -- which is precisely the point of the pro-life movement, as well as the blind spot it's sometimes accused of having, particularly as it relates to African American lives.
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SOURCE: Christianity Today | her.meneutics
LaTonya Taylor
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Quote from above: "I find the use of "endangered species" language and imagery to describe black children to be profoundly inappropriate. First, there's the problem of comparing African Americans to animals."
Are you kidding?? That's not the real and serious problem!!! The real and SERIOUS problem is many, many black children are not being given a chance to be born. Both black and white people are in fact mammals, making them, in fact "animals." I've always considered myself an animal of the highest species. That's what I was taught in school by my black teachers years ago. It didn't bother me then, and it doesn't bother me now. What does bother me, however, is the abortion of our precious black babies. What's wrong with us? Don't we care that we are becoming a extinct race of people?
Some blacks won't blink their eyes unless a billboard of this kind is used, especially because they think conservative Christians may have had something to do with it. It doesn't matter who initiated it. Our black babies are being killed my mothers who find them to be an hindrance to their lives. God help us. Help us to see the sin in abortion...the sin in killing precious unborn children. Be they black or white, planned abortion is murder.
Lorraine posted above and:
When will we stop fighting those who are trying to help us?
Life is Extended Beyond the Womb
Cheryll Bellamy, Attorney and Pastor
The essence of pro-life is that every child has a moral right to be born.
The Blind spot is that Christians who are passionate about a child's birth are the same people who cannot grasp the totality of life. There is life beyond the womb. Once our babies are born,how can their lives become that extension to the abundant life which God promised.
According to the religious right, once black babies are born, they are on their own. Roland Martin said the following which every Christian voter needs to think on: "Martin points out that you can say the same thing about pro-lifers who don't say anything about poverty, AIDS, or pre-natal care..i.e..some pro-lifers only care about the baby in the womb but once it is born they'll be damned if their tax dollars will help give it the future God intends for it."
The Republicans have been disingenuous when it comes to rallying their troops against abortions,when they,at the same time refuse to pass affordable health care to all Americans.
God's only moral issue for this nation has been defined by the Republican Party. In addition, many Christians see God in a religious box created by some Republican religious leaders. God sees beyond just the sin of abortion. There are more sins. The sin of abortion is not enough to save this nation. Racism and abortion are linked together.
What about children who are the victims of systemic poverty? How many children in the urban cities die because they do not have access to health care?
There is more. God promised every believer a prosperous life. African Americans and other minorities know that equal access to financial freedom and social opportunities are absent and the system has made the above rights unattainable goals for them.
Many statistical studies still show that minority children and young adults are faced with disproportional admittance to quality health care, good education, and job security.
It is very difficult for many of us to align ourselves to the Republican party whose only cause is erradicating abortion. Yet, they quickly turn a deaf ear to other issues of injustice. They hold on to their strategies of being the "party of no." Yes,they do not have you in mind, not excluding some Democrats, in promoting the welfare of their constituency and country.
I am against abortion, but there are other moral agendas on God's watch that are still being overlooked by the church and both political parties.
Please, refer to the woman, Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood. This was her sole purpose for this organization:
"Abortion clinics were originally set up with the intention of slowing the population growth of Afro-Americans and others racial groups considered mentally or otherwise inferior."
Without knowledge our people will perish. How black children were viewed on the billboard should tell us that racism still exist even if it looks like the creators of this advertisement are promoting a good cause. The abortions of Black children should not be compared to being the same and/or on parity with animal rights. Endangered species is a word describing animals. Black children are not animals. They are created in the image of God. What an insult!
Revival for this nation will not happen if the church continues to ignore, remain ignorant, and complacent about the evils of racism.
You are soo right.
Every life of any race is human and should be counted worth saving.I guess all those looking to Barack Hussien Obama for change was not thing the only change we would see in regard the lives of unborn babies would be an excelleration of abortion?
Every life of any race is human and should be counted worth saving.I guess all those looking to Barack Hussien Obama for change was not thing the only change we would see in regard the lives of unborn babies would be an excelleration of abortion?
S.B, you hate the white man and care nothing at all about unborn children. The truth is you hate God.
Sorry, Cheryll, I initialed you S.B.
Cheryll Bellamy, Attorney and Pastor,
Prayerfully and hopefully, you're not pastoring any church at this time. Hate is contagious. It definitely has a dominio effect. I don't know which domino fell on you, but one did. I hope and pray one day you will love enough to at least love the unborn child. I can't imagine you ever forgiving and loving the white man for what his ancestors did to yours...made slaves out of them. But keep in mind, they also introduced your ancestors to Jesus Christ, the one who gave up His life for yours. Forgive as God has commanded us to. It's possible. I did, and it gives me much joy!
The domino effect: From Cheryll to Franklin
Cheryll, and what has President Obama, your idol done? Please count the ways? Obama is not God, though you might think he is... What has he done for the poor and homeless aside from saying he'd do something while running for President. He is a good speaker, I must admit. But what has he really done different from other Presidents? Not much. Can't you see...they've all pretty much done the same thing.
And yes, it's clear, though you say you aren't, you are definitely in favor of abortion. Why else would you stand up for THE absolute #1 pro-abortionist (former) senator? Tell me, please.
Pastor Cheryll,
When I heard (then) Senator Obama speak for the first time during the Democratic National Convention, I said to my husband,something like, "He would make a great President! I wish he'd run!" I didn't know he was, or would become, THE Number 1 Senator to vote in favor of abortions (any kind). I didn't know he'd try to help with the spreading of gay marriages,...and most importantly, I didn't know he would tell Christians they should stop proclaiming Jesus Christ to be the only way to receive eternal life. (Please don't tell me he didn't say this. I heard it from the horse's mouth.) My views about Obama changed when I discovered these particular views of his.
I'd rather not have health care (for myself) than participate in the abortion of unbabies.
Percentages of people in the US as of 2009: Only 13% black...hummm? Something to think about. Hope there are any abortions going on among the Native Americans.
67% European Americans
15% Hispanic Americans of any race (includes undocumented)
13% African Americans
4% Asian Americans(Chinese, Indians, etc.)
1% Native Americans
Error above... ("are" should be "aren't" any...)
Ever played "Ripe Out?"
2010: Blacks are now 12.3 percent of the U.S. population down from 14.8 percent of the population in 2000.
Quote from above: "Endangered species is a word describing animals. Black children are not animals. They are created in the image of God."
Pastor Cheryll, try not to take everything as an attack on the black man. On the contrary, all people... black, white, Hispanic, Asian, etc are mammals...That makes them animals of the highest species. Did you not learn this in school?
Quote from above: "Racism and abortion are linked together" I don't know about racism and abortion being linked together, but race and abortion certainly are. Black babies are being aborted more than any others.
Quote: "God promised every believer a prosperous life"
Someone has bewitched you. The prosperity gospel is a spam. The Apostle Paul said he had learned to be content in any situation. Have you found that contention in Christ?
The day will come when all believers will live with Christ eternally. No other life will be more prosperous than this!! If you have made Him the Lord and Savior of your life, life eternally has already begun for you.
There are those today in foreign countries who are dying for Christ. God doesn't owe us anything! He really doesn't. We are not deserving, yet He continues to bless us, and we continue to grumble and complain, as well as point our finger to the other man for all the wrong that takes place. It's never our fault...It's always the fault of the other man.
I thank God for black people like Catherine Davis, a black woman, who is fighting for our black unborn children in Georgia. I thank God that His values and standards are important to her. I thank God that no black man, even the US President, is more important to her than her Savior and Lord.
Error above: a scam, not spam.
Hummmm....Somebody is being very, very clever... Somebody knows that the more black babies we kill, the less poverty there will be for us all, not just the black race, but all of us. Wonder who that somebody might be???? Couldn't possibly be a Christian.
Maybe it's the KKK.
Old News...but good reading:
"Like countless Africans, Mzolisa looks forward to Barack Obama becoming America's first black president Jan 20. But -- like countless Africans -- Mzolisa says she will always be grateful to Bush for his war on AIDS, which has helped to treat more than 2 million Africans, supported 10 million more, and revitalized the global fight against the disease.
More about Africa
"It has done a lot for the people of South Africa, for the whole of the African continent," says Mzolisa, a feisty mother of seven. "It has changed so many people's lives, saved so many people's lives."
Could it really be true?? A Christian, conservative Republican did this? He must have done it quietly.
Old News...but worth reading:
Adviser: Katrina victims didn't get NY funds
By The Associated Press
February 22, 2010, 7:31AM
A former Louisiana Democratic official says Katrina victims "never got a dime" from a charity set up by two New York politicians.
Louis Rainey served as an unpaid adviser for the project. He lost his own home in the hurricane and now lives in Dallas.
Could it really be true? This man is a Democrat?!? But, that was Feb, 2010. Hopefully, they've gotten their funds by now.
Goes to show:
You can't always judge a book (politician) by it's (his/her) title. Trust God, not man. Pray that men will do the godly thing. So many times they don't.
Putting your trust and faith in man, and not God, is almost a guarantee hardships are headed your way. It happened to God's people in the Old Testament. Why should we think it won't happen to us? God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. He still hates sin, and He still punishes those who call good evil and evil good.