Tithing into Silence

For over four centuries, the Christian Church has held a central place in the lives of Black Americans, yet the return on that spiritual and financial investment is startlingly absent. With an estimated 35 million Black Christians in the U.S. each contributing, at minimum, $100 a month, the Church receives billions annually... yet the socioeconomic condition of Black communities remains largely unchanged. The math is damning, the legacy even more so. These tithes, given faithfully and without question, have yielded no measurable return on investment in education, housing, healthcare, or economic infrastructure for the people funding the institution.

This reality reveals a painful irony: Black Christians are, in effect, financing the very system that keeps them marginalized... economically, politically, and spiritually. The doctrine preaches liberation in the afterlife while offering only struggle and subjugation in this one. The Church has not only failed to disrupt systems of racial and economic injustice... it has often pacified generations into complacency, urging faith in an apocryphal savior’s return while ignoring the urgent need for real, collective action now.

For people of color, especially those still waiting for justice and equality, it’s time to rethink the blind allegiance to religious institutions that offer sanctuary in word but not in deed. The Church may still serve as a social space, but the notion that it is the best vehicle for Black progress is outdated and unsubstantiated. Enough is enough.

The call now is not to abandon spirituality, but to reclaim power, agency, and economic self-determination. Stop donating to a system that neither liberates nor uplifts. When institutions fail to evolve, when they demand loyalty but offer no tangible return, they must be re-evaluated. Birds of the same psychopathic, exploitative feather flock together... and too often, they wear the robes of false prophets.