Black Liberation Theology Of The Cross: The Definition Of Surrogacy

The definition of surrogacy is the action or state of being a surrogate, and a surrogate is a substitute, especially a person acting for another in a specific role. This is the dictionary definition of surrogacy and a surrogate, but Delores Williams has a different meaning of the word. Black liberation theology was always from the perspective of male, and is a problem according to Williams. Williams describes in her book Sister’s in the Wilderness that black women have been the oppressed group inside the oppression. For nearly four hundred years black women have been treated unfairly.
Surrogacy is something African American women have known about for a long time. During slavery black women were possessed as property by white male owners. These white male owners could do whatever they pleased to their “property.” Often these pleasures were sexual, and black women could do nothing to stop it. They gave their bodies up to rape, and the only way they got through these times was with their faith in God. This is why the church can be described as a two edged sword. One
end of the sword is the reason for black women’s oppression, and the other end is the one that sustains them. During slavery whites used the bible to justify slavery, and that’s why the church can be the reason for African American hardships. Often white male plantation owners would use the black women as surrogate mothers, and force them to help raise their children. If they declined this request they would be put to death.
Even after slavery ended African American women were expected to continue this surrogacy. They nursed, cooked, and cleaned for white children and their parents. Even in every day jobs they were not looked at as equals, they were given considerably lower wages for jobs, even though they did the same amount of work. All these hardships that the African American women had to deal with for an extended period of time is what I believe Delores Williams would define as surrogacy. Surrogacy is an experience that black women do not look fondly at.
The “theology of the cross” is that Jesus died for our sins.
This can be intertwined with African American women and their hardships. African American women suffer for reasons not because of them, and Jesus died on the cross because of our sins, so Jesus can be described as a surrogate according to Williams’s beliefs and definition of the word. Jesus gave himself up because of his love for us. Jesus did not come to us to be a surrogate, he came to us for life. Everyone has the right to live, and this is what Williams is explaining in her correlation between the theology of the cross and African American women. Williams also describes the cross as the evil of humanity/ the oppressor. She then continues to explain how black women cannot ignore the cross, but they can neither glorify it. The cross shows how Jesus gave himself up for the greater good of society, but also is the reason for all the
troubles.
In conclusion African American women have been the oppressed group inside the oppression. Throughout slavery they faced many hardships that were justified by the church, yet the church and God are what got them through these times. After slavery black women were still not given equal rights, they were still considered surrogates to white families, and continued to receive lower wages. Jesus gave himself instead of us out of love, and is considered a surrogate to our sins. Finally the cross is the evil of humanity against humanity as William states. Surrogacy and the theology of the cross can be closely related.