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Originally published in October 12, 2004 in the Chicago Sun Times

BY JESSE JACKSON

The black church has been the center of African-American survival and struggle throughout our history in America. The church was forged under slavery, often underground, since gatherings of slaves -- even for prayer -- threatened the ever insecure slave owners.

In the years of segregation, the black church was even more vital to African-American freedom. This was the base that Rev. Martin Luther King called upon. Here the community would meet, pray, argue and decide on a course of action. Here again was the source of hope, of faith, of inspiration for the long struggle.

During this time, the white evangelical church was, for the most part, with the oppressors. Only a few white ministers in the South were so bold as to object to slavery or to segregation. They condemned King as an outside agitator, a troublemaker.

This history is relevant as African-American ministers approach the election. Many African-American preachers are deeply conservative on moral issues, as is the bulk of the African-American population. Many are profoundly opposed to abortion, offended by the lewdness of our culture and preach for a salvation that comes from turning away from temptation and taking Christ into your heart.

The white evangelical church, and particularly its aggressive new right arm, has aggressively sought to enlist black support by appealing to the conservative morality of black ministers, and by promising federal support for their faith-based programs.

Overwhelmingly, however, the African-American clergy and the faithful will vote Democratic this fall, for John Kerry and against George W. Bush. That should not be surprising. If blacks vote their interests, they have little choice but to vote Democratic.

Consider the record of this president. He invited the King family to the White House to celebrate the civil rights leader. On the very next day, he announced his Justice Department would challenge affirmative action in colleges before the Supreme Court.

African Americans have lost jobs, health care coverage and wages over the last four years. This president gives tax cuts to millionaires while teachers are laid off in urban schools. He opposes raising the minimum wage.

The president spurned his own promise to fund No Child Left Behind, mocking the title of the act. He has done nothing to extend Head Start to the 40 percent of eligible kids who can't get it, much less provide affordable child care for the poor mothers that the law requires to work. His urban programs are nonexistent, his housing program an open scandal, even as affordable housing grows harder to find.

It is not surprising the president has no clue. He has refused generally to meet with civil rights leaders. He has chosen not to meet with members of the Congressional Black Caucus. When these leaders protest, it consolidates his support among whites, particularly in the South.

Yet the president presents himself as a religious man. His opposition to abortion and to gay marriage and his support for faith-based programs, however token, appeal to many African-American ministers and people of faith. In reality, of course, both John Kerry and the president oppose gay marriage and oppose abortion. Only Kerry doesn't support writing discrimination into the Constitution -- something that every African American must agree with.

The Bible teaches us to look not at the bark a tree wears, but at the fruit that it bears. Beware, it warns, of wolves in sheep's clothing. For African Americans, Bush's public piety is appealing, but his public policy is destructive. When it comes to the vital test -- how do we treat the least of these -- the president fails badly.

And no matter what his language, his actions and his budget priorities reveal where his heart is -- and that is with the most powerful corporate interests and the wealthiest individuals.

So this year once more, the black church and its faithful flocks will see through the disguises and vote in overwhelming numbers for those who stand with the poor and working people.

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