For the past few years, there have been major kidnappings and murders being committed on Christians and Jews by radical Islamists in countries like Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Syria, France, Denmark and yes, even America. And with the horrible atrocities committed on 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians who were beheaded on camera by ISIS this past weekend, the Pope has even weighed in; yet I don’t see any urgent movement by black Christians in America.

I don’t even hear any discussions within the black Christian community about the bombing in Boston by the Tsarnaev brothers, Dzhokhar and Tamerian, Chechen students from MIT. It’s as if these murders are only done to white Christians, so black Christians have no vested interest in them.

But they do. Just like 9/11 was not about only white Americans, but all Americans, these murders are not only about white Christians, but all Christians.

From 2002 to 2014, Boko Haram, the Islamic terrorist organization in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad, captured over 276 young Christian girls, turned them into Muslims and sold many of them for slaves and wives. A few weeks ago, they burned down a town and massacred its people, estimated to be anywhere between 150 to 2,000 – all African – all Black.

Boko Haram could be as many as 10,000 Black radical Islamic terrorists responsible for as many as 5,000 civilian murders, the kidnappings of as many as 500 men, women and children and the displacement of as many as 1.5 million people – all Black and Christian. A quick read in Wikipedia about Boko Haram would give you chills as to the murderous streaks of the leaders and what they have done in the name of Allah.

Over the past four years, hundreds of non-Muslim Kenyans, both black and white, have been murdered by radical Islamic extremists, the most well-known attack being on the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi, Kenya, on September 21, 2013 where 69 people were killed and more than 175 were injured, according to Wikipedia.

As one of the Trade and Travel Goodwill Ambassadors to Kenya, I watched in horror as the black African gunmen roamed the Mall shooting innocent people – both black and white.  I had people in Kenya and prayed they were nowhere near that Mall that day.

I often heard many in the black community celebrate the destruction of the World Trade Towers on 9/11/2001 because they thought that all the over 3,000 people who were murdered that day by Muslim terrorists were white.  They assumed that these Muslims were targeting only white folk most of whom they thought were racists merely by virtue of their color.

It’s sad to think that a lot of blacks think only in terms of black and white and the murders of blacks only matter if they happen at the hands of whites. So the tens of thousands of deaths of blacks at the hands of other blacks go virtually unnoticed, as do the thousands of whites at the hands of blacks.

As ISIS marches across the Middle East, Northern Africa and now Europe beheading and burning people in the name of Allah, black Christians seem to ignore the horrors, never thinking they would ever be in jeopardy here in America. Most may watch the news on CNN or MSNBC (as I watch FOX News) with little concern.  But should they?

When President Obama started “Am I My Brother’s Keeper” program, most thought that was only about black kids, mostly boys. But wasn’t that a facetious question that Cain asked God after he had murdered his brother, Abel? The irony must not be lost.

Black Christians cannot afford the luxury of only being concerned about other blacks. This has become a global society and our lives are inextricably linked. Young blacks and whites are traveling to places like Yemen and Libya yearning to be trained as ISIS terrorists.  They are slipping back into the country virtually unnoticed, where one day they will become murderers in America like the Islamic terrorists in Paris and Denmark.

Will they only target white Christians and Jews and ignore black non-Muslims? Will black Christians finally notice? Will they care? Do they not know there is a grand plan for Islamic global control? Do they not know that means them too?

When they awaken will it be too late?  God help us if it is.

 

Barbara Howard is a political consultant, radio host and commentator and motivational speaker. She is Florida State chairwoman for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and Trade & Travel goodwill ambassador to Kenya. She may be reached at bhoward11@bellsouth.net.