The funeral of Coretta Scott King on 7 February saw an impressive gathering of United States political leaders join the thousands of mourners at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia. As the thirty-nine speeches of tribute to Martin Luther King's widow flowed, there was a notable contrast in the warm reception awarded to former Democratic presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, and the sharp criticism directed at another of the dignitaries invited to speak: President George W Bush.
It may seem a small confirmation of what has become one of the routine facts of American politics, the natural affinity between black people in America and the Democratic Party. But look beyond this moving national occasion which conjured so many images and associations of the great struggle for civil rights in the United States, and a different, surprising story begins to emerge.
Consider, for example, Bishop Keith A Butler, the founder and pastor of Word of Faith International Christian Center in suburban Detroit. His congregation boasts more than 21,000 members. He has churches in two states. He ministers abroad. He is black. And he is running for the United States senate as a Republican.
The house of worship has been a stomping-ground for Republican candidates over the years, and Butler is running on the "grand old party" (GOP) ticket on a platform of opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion and advocacy of a low, flat-tax rate. Michigan Republicans have thrown their support behind Butler, a longtime volunteer with the party and former Detroit City councilman.
The election, in November 2006, is another sign of the ongoing embrace between black preachers with large (or mega) congregations and the Republican Party. To be sure, black Republicans are nothing new in this country's political history; but with the inflamed culture wars of the 2004 presidential race still burning and President Bush's faith-based initiatives in urban communities, more African-Americans are joining the GOP fold. Many black ministers are counselling their flock to vote Republican. And Butler is going a step further by seeking a coveted political seat.
Across the nation, the alliance between black Christian leaders and the Republican Party is strengthening and in peculiar ways.
On 8 January 2006, an event called Justice Sunday III was held at Greater Exodus Baptist Church in Philadelphia. Hosted by Pastor Herbert Lusk II, who is black, its unusual cast of characters included the ubiquitous Jerry Falwell, members of the conservative Family Research Council, sundry rightwing politicians and a niece of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. They sang "We Shall Overcome" and pushed for issues dear to the religious right confirming Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court and berating liberal judges.
Wellington Boone leads a megachurch in Georgia. He's a frequent participant at Promise Keepers gatherings and is also down with Republicans. In his book Breaking Through, Boone chastises the black community for criticising Uncle Tom, instead calling him a "role model" and likening his tribulations to Jesus.
Bishop Harry Jackson Jr, head of Hope Christian Church in Maryland, tells his megachurch congregation to vote for Bush and Republican candidates. Jackson touts a "Contract with America", an inconspicuous tie to the conservative push in Congress of a decade ago, now updated and tailored to blacks by emphasising such issues as school vouchers. He tells Christians to care about who is on the Supreme Court. In an interview with the conservative group Focus on the Family, Jackson says: "The Supreme Court is the front line of the spiritual battle for the culture. We are not fighting with flesh and blood, but we must have a clear, unified strategy that affects the engines of U.S. government."
"We must follow the advice of Jesus," he says, "to 'be wise as serpents and harmless as doves'."
Many of these pastors simply abandon traditional civil rights issues. Gregory Daniels, a pastor in Chicago and ardent Bush supporter, made headlines two years ago when he declared that if the Ku Klux Klan opposed gay marriage, he'd ride with them.
In their efforts to draw in African-Americans, the Republicans have been shrewd by appealing to the social conservatism of black churches hostility to abortion, homosexuality, and the like. Bernice King, Martin and Corettas youngest daughter, is herself a pastor at the megachurch of Eddie Long, who has led anti-gay-marriage protests in Georgia.
"Hand in hand with that", religion researcher Tom Krattenmaker says, "is the growing popularity of the 'prosperity gospel' in black churches, which by implication blames poor people for their poverty and essentially discourages social justice politics." "These issues", he says, "can distract from some of the major issues facing the black community. There are huge inequities in the education system. Not a word about that. Why isn't that on the agenda?"
While blacks still vote heavily Democratic, the GOP has made considerable inroads of late. In the 2000 presidential race, 90% of blacks voted for Al Gore while 8% backed George W Bush, according to the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington-based black think-tank. Exit polls showed that in the 2004 election, John Kerry led Bush among black voters by an only slightly smaller margin. During a 2004 address to the National Urban League at its annual convention in Detroit, Bush challenged the allegiance of African-American voters to the Democratic Party and tried to spread doubts about Democratic intentions. "Is it a good thing for the African-American community to be represented by only one political party?" the president rhetorically asked.
In some ways the strategy worked.
Black clergy in the swing state of Ohio stumped for Bush, helping the president win there two years ago. And black voters nearly doubled their support for Bush in 2004 as compared to four years earlier.
Gay marriage became a rallying cry in the push for promoting "Christian values". Many black congregants took the line that a vote for Kerry was a vote for going to hell. In nearby swing state Wisconsin, Bishop Sedgwick Daniels of Holy Redeemer Institutional Church of God in Christ flipped his Democratic support to back Bush in 2004.
In 2005, the Los Angeles Times reported that the 2004 elections have the GOP salivating over the prospects of a fruitful alliance with black churches and that black conservatives who helped Bush's reelection are seeing some clout. One of the city's largest black churches hosted more than 100 African-American ministers in their mobilisation to ban same-sex marriage, the article reported. The Times has also reported that $1.5 million in federal funds went to Daniels' Milwaukee church.
Critics see the black church-GOP association as a crisis of leadership in the black church. There has been resistance among some black clergy who see the campaign against gay marriage as a distraction from more pressing perils facing the community, like poverty, joblessness, and educational inequalities.
Other grassroots groups are making their voices heard as well. Tuan N'Gai is the co-founder of www.operationrebirth.com, a website dedicated to stopping abuse against gays and lesbians in black churches. He sent an open letter to black clergy throughout the country asking them to re-evaluate their support for a federal ban on same-sex marriage. The hope was to encourage dialogue on the issue.
Meanwhile, Bishop Butler continues to barnstorm across Michigan, where he has succeeded in garnering the support of prominent Republican leaders. Former vice-presidential candidate Jack Kemp and former Congressman JC Watts co-chair his national finance committee, which has raised more than $1 million.
Butler emphasises that his pro-family platform starkly contrasts with that of incumbent Democract Debbie Stabenow. "I'm strongly pro-life, and she's strongly pro-abortion", he told the Christian news agency Agape Press in August 2005, "and life is the biggest issue of all." His second issue, he said, is the protection of the traditional American family. "I strongly believe that marriage should only be between one man and one woman."
Janet Perkins, a member of Word of Faith International Christian Center since 1999, told me that she loves and supports Butler's senate bid. Being black and Democrat, she says, is a cliché.
"[If] God calls you to do something else I think you need to follow that command like Moses did. In the end, the results are going to be quite positive to everyone involved."
