"And this day shall become a memorial for you, and you shall observe it as a festival for the LORD, for your generations, as an eternal decree shall you observe it. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove the leaven from your homes ... you shall guard the unleavened bread, because on this very day I will take you out of the land of Egypt; you shall observe this day for your generations as an eternal decree. - Exodus 12:14-17
Religions mark rituals of reference. remembering events that define the identity of the people. Often these rituals of reference mark memories of suffering, enslavement, humiliation, and then liberation and renewal. Christianity has the Passion which is answered by the Resurrection marked by Good Friday and Easter. Judaism has an ancient memory of slavery and a subsequent passing over to freedom, ritually celebrated at Passover. Judaism returns to this theme again and again in other rituals of reference such as Purim and Chanukah.
Many Native American communities recall the long marches of forced removals with rituals of reference. It is a scandal among indigenous peoples that dominant culture spiritual seekers come to celebrate Native American spirituality, because they seem in such a rush to be one with nature, and one with the dance, but clueless about the suffering and brokenness that the rituals seek to address.
The spirituals of the African American people arose to address terror and degradation. Slavery and after emancipation Lynch Law are the context for these songs of freedom. When religious liberals sing these songs, what suffering are they addressing? When we sing that we will let our light shine, what long nights of terror are we defying. What horrors do we wish to overcome? If we sing these songs with out deep congregational reflection on the context of their origins, and recognition that for the community of origin they are rituals of reference are we not celebrating cheap grace?
When questions of cultural misappropriation are raised around the singing of African American spirituals, it is not simply a concern that "white people don't clap on the right beat" or "y'all don't sing with gusto and passion" - the concern is taking a song that has context in community memories and represents a ritual of reference in the African American community, and seems to be used for some other purpose in the liberal congregation. Much of the writing on this subject by dominant culture ministers and musicians appears to be defensive and more concerned with rights, than with responsibilities.
Appropriate use requires communicating the context under which the song arose and the meaning in depth for the community of origin. In that context that the singing of such music would contribute toward our common struggle for wholeness and right relations.
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