Black Hebrew Israelites

**Black Hebrew Israelites** (**BHI**) is a movement founded on the pseudoscientific belief that African Americans are the "real descendants" of ancient Israelites. Some factions of the movement also see Native and non-white Latino Americans as the descendants of ancient Israelites. theology practiced by many white supremacists". The assessment concluded that "the overwhelming majority of [Black Hebrew Israelites] are unlikely to engage in violence." Those classified as Black supremacist include but not limited to the Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge, the Nation of Yahweh and the Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ. 

### 2010s
As of December 2019, 144 Black Hebrew Israelite organizations have been classified hate groups due to their antisemitism and anti-white beliefs.

## Extremism
Alberta Williams King, the mother of Martin Luther King Jr., was shot and killed on June 30, 1974 at the age 69 by Marcus Wayne Chenault, a 23-year-old Black man from Ohio subscribed to the theology of a BHI preacher called Hananiah E. Israel of Cincinnati. The assassin had reportedly shown interest in a group called the "Hebrew Pentecostal Church of the Living God". Israel, Chenault's mentor,  Black civil rights activists and Black church leaders as being evil and , but claimed in interviews not to have advocated violence. Chenault did not draw any such , and first decided to assassinate Rev. Jesse Jackson in Chicago, but canceled the plan at the last minute.

The BHI have also been involved in domestic terrorism towards American Jews since the 1970s, the most recent of which include but not limited to the 2019 Jersey City shooting (7 dead and 3 injured) and the Monsey Hanukkah stabbing (1 dead and 4 injured). 

### Motivations
Experts believe that those attacks are motivated by their belief in antisemitic conspiracy theories, such as "Jews ran the Atlantic slave trade" and "European Jews descended from the Khazars",
* All Jews are "imposter Jews" which contributed to the mainstreaming of those antisemitic conspiracy theories, or antisemitic tropes, among the broader community and academics. As per a 2016 ADL survey, 23% Black Americans held negative beliefs about Jews, while a 2023 survey reportedly showed that one-eighth of Black Americans doubted whether the Holocaust really happened.

## Academic criticism
 was Jewish, protested in San Diego, California against the long-standing depiction of Jesus as a "White man" rather than a Black man.]] poster made by the Black Hebrew Israelites implying that Black and Native Americans are the "real" descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. The Black Hebrew Israelites allege that the said peoples have been "wrongfully" classified by White imperialists into different ethnic groups across the Western hemisphere.]]

Fran Markowitz, a professor of cultural anthropology at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, wrote that the BHI's view on the African slave trade conflicts with historical accounts, as does the BHI's belief that Socrates and William Shakespeare were black. Most BHI factions were classified as hate groups by at least two civil rights groups, including but not limited to the SPLC and Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

On the other hand, political observer Ralph Lenoard further analyzed the BHI,

### Antisemitic factions
Antisemitic BHI factions include the Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge (ISUPK), House of Israel (HOI), Nation of Yahweh (NOY), Israelites Saints of Christ, True Nation Israelite Congregation and The Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ (ICGJC).

### Antisemitic slurs
The ADL documented some antisemitic slurs used by the BHI:

## Related pages
* The Holocaust
* Supersessionism
* Cultural appropriation

## References