Racial Questions and Sexuality

Richard Hollerman

Those of you who follow our discussions or posts realize that I firmly affirm that there is only one race of people on the earth. Whether we go back to Adam and Eve—our first “parents”—or whether we only go back to Noah and his descendants, we are faced with the fact that God “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26). There is only one race and not 1,000 or more. Thus, if we use “race” in this article, you will understand what the Bible says.

But let’s lay this aside. I believe that most people—whether whites or blacks or any other—are under the impression that African-American people are utterly sexually immoral. But why? Is this a prejudicial view that should be thrown out along with a lot of other misinformation and mistaken views?

One black professor points out these statistics:

The out-of-wedlock birth rate among blacks in 1940 was about 11%; today, it is 75%. Black female-headed households were just 18% of households in 1950, as opposed to about 68% today. In fact, from 1890 to 1940, the black marriage rate was slightly higher than that of whites. Even during slavery, when marriage was forbidden, most black children lived in biological two-parent families. In New York City, in 1925, 85% of black households were two-parent households. A study of 1880 family structure in Philadelphia shows that three-quarters of black families were two-parent households. (https://townhall.com/columnists/walterewilliams/2020/11/04/blacks-of-yesteryear-and-today-n2579263)

Did you read these facts? We can see that even the figures that he lauds are not perfect even though they may be much better at that time than today. These figures say that children born out of wedlock in 1940 were at the 11% rate but today it has climbed to some 75%. Do you see what this means (if it is true)? In 1940, 11% of blacks were not born in a family of father and mother but now it is 75%. But before we “jump to conclusions” and assume that this means that there has been a 700% increase in sexual immorality among African-Americans, we should consider further information: Maybe the white statistics are high too. Perhaps whites used something to prevent conception whereas blacks did not. And, of course, it could be that much of this just means that blacks are more immoral. We just don’t know.

Further, the same black professor tells us:

Black female-headed households were just 18% of households in 1950, as opposed to about 68% today. In fact, from 1890 to 1940, the black marriage rate was slightly higher than that of whites. Even during slavery, when marriage was forbidden, most black children lived in biological two-parent families. In New York City, in 1925, 85% of black households were two-parent households. A study of 1880 family structure in Philadelphia shows that three-quarters of black families were two-parent households. (Ibid)

Basically, this means that there was a woman as the “head” of 18% of black families in 1950 whereas today it is 68%. Thus, some 2/3 of back families are headed by women whereas it should be 0% of such homes. The remainder of the statistics are equally as alarming. If you are like me, your heart goes out in deep sorrow for this.

But what do these statistics mean? Does this mean that most blacks (both males and females) are sexually immoral? It does indicate that many are, but we (as Christians) evaluate everything from the standpoint of God our Creator, as revealed in His infallible Word (the Bible). As we know, God wants one single woman to be married to one single man—for life. Anything less than this is outside of His will. And this is where America is today! We know that there are some nations that are closer to the ideal than America is (and some are even worse, of course).

If you happen to be African-American (we use this term rather than “black” since this can be misused in many ways), we encourage you to open the pages of Scripture and discover what God your Creator wants of you. If you have been “sexually active” (sexually immoral), renounce this and begin to live in absolute purity. If you have brought a son or daughter into the world (and you or your spouse were unmarried), be willing to support that child as God would want. If you have been married and then divorced for any unscriptural reason (and this would include most divorces—Matthew 19:3-12; Mark 10:2-12), seek for a way to reconcile with your spouse if this is possible and he/she is a godly Christian.

Further, if you have married someone else and you are now living in adultery (most remarriages are adulterous), be willing to repent and renounce this immoral state. If you have been born “out of wedlock” by a father or mother who committed sin in conceiving you, look to God as your Father (cf. Psalm 27:10). Love your physical parent or parents regardless of any sin on their part in conceiving you unlawfully. And determine now to live in celibacy and absolute purity henceforth until God brings a pure and godly spouse your way.

If God does not provide a husband or wife, in purity and holiness, determine to live for the Lord in every way as a single person (cf. Matthew 19:10-12; 1 Corinthians 7). Remember that it is far better to remain in singleness than to marry an inferior person! If you have killed your child through abortion (as some 60 million babies have been killed in the United States alone, not to speak of Russia, China, Japan, and many other nations), be willing to repent of this and live in complete purity in the future.

You may ask, “But this professor only discussed African-Americans. What about the whites, Hispanics, and others?” Yes, these categories of people need to be addressed also, however this is perhaps not the time to discuss this for we have already spoken to these issues in other ways in other articles. Simply speaking, God wants all people to be pure and holy. He calls on everyone to be pure until He provides a life-long spouse.

Thus, white people and all others need to keep their hands off the opposite sex (and even their own sex!). They need to remain pure before God brings them a mate. There is no need for a contraceptive before marriage if there is no sex before marriage! There will be no place for abortion if there is no conception! So many of society’s ills can be solved if we were to only obey our God’s plan for the human race!

We encourage you to read other articles on our website for they all address aspects of this subject. May God bless you as you seek His will in these difficult matters. And realize that God loves you and will provide the way—difficult though it be—if we simply seek it.