How Does Colonialism and Slavery Affect us Today?
1. Opening Question – Current Knowledge and Belief
In the last few years, I have taken a deep dive into the history of slavery and the racial issues that continue to plague our country. My NPO has been shaped by these realities, with racial challenges being one area that needs to be addressed in our community. I feel knowledgeable and well-read regarding slavery.
The concept of religious empire, however, is not something I know well. My understanding is broad and limited. As a missionary of ten years, I am familiar with mission movements and their history going back about a century, but not much beyond that.
Colonialism is also not an area I’ve studied deeply, though I have firsthand experience living in post-colonial countries—specifically Kenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia. There is a striking difference in how I was treated as a white male in each place. In Tanzania and Kenya, I was treated as a “boss” of sorts, while in Ethiopia I was treated more as an equal. I believe this difference exists because Ethiopia was never fully colonized, while Kenya was a colony for decades.
2. Core Question – The Global and Ongoing Reality of Slavery
This week’s reading highlighted the historical and global context of slavery well. Slavery is more than the horrific trade of the West’s past—it continues today. My own experiences reinforce this reality. In Kenya, I saw pre-teen girls sold into marriage for a few dollars. In Ethiopia, I saw hundreds of young women taken from villages to board planes bound to go “work” for wealthy Islamic nations. In Spain, I saw immigrant men trapped in unpayable debts to the mafia, forced to work in greenhouses supplying much of Europe’s produce, while immigrant women were exploited in brothels.
Definitions of slavery vary, especially when applied beyond historical “chattel” slavery. Historian Jeremy Black offers a broader one: “Slavery, therefore, is a state with different meanings in particular contexts, but with a fundamental element of an absence of freedom.”[1] Each of the examples above looks different, but the shared reality is the absence of freedom for young women and immigrant men.
Are Christians addressing slavery globally? Some are—in isolated efforts. I know of one organization doing remarkable underground work in the Spanish greenhouses. But I question whether Christians in the West are still engaged in anti-slavery work on a broader scale. In churches I have attended, slavery gets lumped together with other “justice” issues and I have often been reminded that we should focus on the gospel only as they hold onto the idea that the gospel will transform those communities simply once people have converted.
Black theologian Willie Jennings argues that Christians need a new social imagination. He writes: “This book attempts to narrate exactly what is missing, what thwarts the deepest reality of the Christian social imagination. Indeed, I argue here that Christianity in the Western world lives and moves within a diseased social imagination.”[2] His perspective is that distorted theology fueled slavery and racism. He calls for a social imagination rooted in the historical Jesus.
3. Core Question – Religion, War, and Counterfactual History
Nigel Biggar highlights the complexities and moral failures of colonialization. Connecting his work with Tom Holland’s Dominion shows that history is more nuanced than simple categories of right and wrong. Was it wrong for the Catholic Church to engage in the Crusades, promising eternal blessings to those who fought for the Church? Absolutely. But we also didn’t live in those times or face the threats they did. Biggar puts it well: “The peace and security that most people in the early 21st-century West take for granted as normal are, historically, quite extraordinary.”[3]
Theologian James Cone critiques the Church’s complicity in oppression in God of the Oppressed, asking: “Can the Church of Jesus Christ be racist and Christian at the same time? Can the Church of Jesus Christ be politically, socially, and economically identified with the structures of oppression and also be a servant of Christ?”[4]
Here is my challenge with religious expansion: I believe the Western worldview, shaped by Christianity (as detailed in Dominion[5]), is good but flawed. I have also experienced Islamic and African Traditional worldviews and have seen how troubled they can be. I believe Christians are called to welcome and show hospitality to people from other nations. Yet I also don’t want to accommodate other worldviews so much that we lose our own. This is the tension I wrestle with as I talk about immigration and welcoming Somalis with my Minnesota neighbors.
4. Core Question – The Costs and Benefits of Colonialism
Nigel Biggar writes: “What I have written is not a history of the British empire but a moral assessment of it.”[6] He takes on the broad complexities and moral questions of colonialism, especially British colonialism. I appreciate that he doesn’t try to erase history but instead wrestles with its complexity, asking us to see past generations through different moral lenses.
So how do we, as leaders, respond? Leading with nuance requires looking past black and white and into the grey. This often leaves neither side completely satisfied. Recently, I asked a question on Facebook about the authority of ICE, and I was criticized by both conservatives and liberals for my nuanced position.
5. Closing Question – What You Believe Now and Why
I’ve already named one of the tensions—hospitality toward Muslims in my community—and I continue to seek a balanced position. As I develop my NPO, it’s important to keep historical patterns in mind as they shape the challenges we face today.
The biggest lesson from this week’s readings is that colonialist tendencies are not limited to the West but are global. Still, I wrestle with questions: Is our Western worldview, grounded in Christian ethics and morals, what has brought us to feel shame over the past? Or is it the very success of our nations that forces us to grapple with the complexities of anti-colonialist perspectives? In a similar fashion to Why Liberalism Failed[7] is the success of the West the reason we can now find fault in our past?
________________________________________________
[1] Jeremy Black, A Brief History of Slavery, Brief History Of (Running Press Book Publishers ; Robinson, 2011), 6.
[2] Willie James Jennings, The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race (Yale University Press, 2010), 9.
[3] Nigel Biggar, Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning (William Collins, 2023), 9.
[4] James H. Cone, God of the Oppressed, Rev. ed (Orbis Books, 2008), 34.
[5] Tom Holland, Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind, Paperback edition (ABACUS, 2020).
[6] Biggar, Colonialism, 7.
[7] Patrick J. Deneen, Why Liberalism Failed, Politics and Culture (Yale university press, 2018).
About the Author
Adam Cheney
I grew up in California, spent five years living along the beautiful coast of Kenya and now find myself working with refugees in the snow crusted tundra of Minnesota. My wife and I have seven children, four of whom have been adopted. I spend my time drinking lots of coffee, working in my garden, and baking sourdough bread.3 responses to “How Does Colonialism and Slavery Affect us Today?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Thanks, Adam. You write openly about how your experience as a white missionary in post-colonial Africa shaped your understanding of privilege and perception. How did those encounters, especially the contrast between Kenya and Ethiopia, reshape your theology of mission and power?
Hi Adam,
Thank you for sharing your experiences living in countries where you witnessed the realities of slavery. I especially appreciated your reflection on Willie Jennings’ argument that Christians need a renewed social imagination. If you could make a meaningful impact or pursue justice in one specific aspect of slavery’s legacy, what would it be?
Dr. Cheney,
This was such a great and well-thought-out post. I really resonated with your concluding reflections on the gray areas—how neither side is ever fully satisfied. Since this is your area of expertise, I’d love to hear your insight: what historical factors in Minnesota do you think have contributed to the psychological barriers that make it difficult to welcome Muslims within your community?