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The '''Hebrew Israelites''' are a religious group that erroneously claim that [[African American]]s are the descendants of the ancient Israelites.

The '''Hebrew Israelites''' are a religious group that erroneously claim that [[African American]]s are the descendants of the ancient Israelites.

At the end of the 19th century, Frank Cherry and William Saunders Crowdy, after supposedly receiving revelations from God, both claimed that African Americans are descendants of the [[Hebrews]] in the [[Bible]]; Cherry established the Church of the Living God, the Pillar Ground of Truth for All Nations in 1886 and Crowdy founded the [[Church of God and Saints of Christ]] in 1896.<ref name="Hutchinson2010">{{cite book|last=Hutchinson|first=Dawn|title=Antiquity and Social Reform: Religious Experience in the Unification Church, Feminist Wicca and Nation of Yahweh|year=2010|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=9781443823081|page=139|quote=The first was the Church of the Living God, the Pillar Ground of Truth for All Nations founded by F.S. Cherry in 1886 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Cherry preached that Adam, Eve, and Jesus were black and that African Americans lost their Hebrew identity during slavery. Later, William S. Crowdy founded the Church of God and Saints of Christ in 1896 in Lawrence, Kansas. Crowdy taught that blacks were heirs of the lost tribes of Israel, while white Jews were descendants of inter-racial marriages between Israelites and white Christians.}}</ref><ref name="Fernheimer2014">{{cite book|last=Fernheimer|first=Janice W.|title=Stepping Into Zion: Hatzaad Harishon, Black Jews, and the Remaking of Jewish Identity|year=2014|publisher=University of Alabama Press|isbn=9780817318246|page=10|quote=One of these groups, Prophet Cherry's Church of the Living God, the Pillar and Ground of Truth for All Nations is the oldest knwn Black Judaic sect. It was originally established in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1886. Prophet Cherry argued they were part of the riginal Israelite tribes chased from Babylonia (and, they claim, into Central and Western Africa where they were later sold into slavery) by the Romans in 70 CE.}}</ref><ref name="IVSigler2009">{{cite book|editor-last1=Curtis IV|editor-first1=Edward E.|editor-last2=Sigler|editor-first2=Danielle Brune|title=The New Black Gods: Arthur Huff Fauset and the Study of African American Religions|year=2009|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=9780253004086|first=Nora L.|last=Rubel|chapter='Chased Out of Palestine': Prophet Cherry's Church of God and Early Black Judaisms in the United States|page=57|quote=In 1893, Crowdy had a vision that resulted in the establishment of the Church of God and Saints in Christ.}}</ref><ref name="HSP1975">{{cite journal|first=J. David|last=Bleich|title=Black Jews: A Halakhic Perspective|journal=Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought|volume=15|number=1|date=Spring-Summer 1975|page=63|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/23258489|accessdate=May 13, 2018|quote=Crowdy claimed to be the recipient of a series of revelations in which, among other things, he was told that Blacks were descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel.}}</ref>

At the end of the 19th century, Frank Cherry and William Saunders Crowdy, after supposedly receiving revelations from God, both claimed that African Americans are descendants of the [[Hebrews]] in the [[Bible]]; Cherry established the Church of the Living God, the Pillar Ground of Truth for All Nations in 1886 and Crowdy founded the Church of God and Saints of Christ in 1896.<ref name="Hutchinson2010">{{cite book|last=Hutchinson|first=Dawn|title=Antiquity and Social Reform: Religious Experience in the Unification Church, Feminist Wicca and Nation of Yahweh|year=2010|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=9781443823081|page=139|quote=The first was the Church of the Living God, the Pillar Ground of Truth for All Nations founded by F.S. Cherry in 1886 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Cherry preached that Adam, Eve, and Jesus were black and that African Americans lost their Hebrew identity during slavery. Later, William S. Crowdy founded the Church of God and Saints of Christ in 1896 in Lawrence, Kansas. Crowdy taught that blacks were heirs of the lost tribes of Israel, while white Jews were descendants of inter-racial marriages between Israelites and white Christians.}}</ref><ref name="Fernheimer2014">{{cite book|last=Fernheimer|first=Janice W.|title=Stepping Into Zion: Hatzaad Harishon, Black Jews, and the Remaking of Jewish Identity|year=2014|publisher=University of Alabama Press|isbn=9780817318246|page=10|quote=One of these groups, Prophet Cherry's Church of the Living God, the Pillar and Ground of Truth for All Nations is the oldest knwn Black Judaic sect. It was originally established in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1886. Prophet Cherry argued they were part of the riginal Israelite tribes chased from Babylonia (and, they claim, into Central and Western Africa where they were later sold into slavery) by the Romans in 70 CE.}}</ref><ref name="IVSigler2009">{{cite book|editor-last1=Curtis IV|editor-first1=Edward E.|editor-last2=Sigler|editor-first2=Danielle Brune|title=The New Black Gods: Arthur Huff Fauset and the Study of African American Religions|year=2009|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=9780253004086|first=Nora L.|last=Rubel|chapter='Chased Out of Palestine': Prophet Cherry's Church of God and Early Black Judaisms in the United States|page=57|quote=In 1893, Crowdy had a vision that resulted in the establishment of the Church of God and Saints in Christ.}}</ref><ref name="HSP1975">{{cite journal|first=J. David|last=Bleich|title=Black Jews: A Halakhic Perspective|journal=Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought|volume=15|number=1|date=Spring-Summer 1975|page=63|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/23258489|accessdate=May 13, 2018|quote=Crowdy claimed to be the recipient of a series of revelations in which, among other things, he was told that Blacks were descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel.}}</ref>

The [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] (SPLC) has classified some of the organizations within the Black Hebrew Israelite movement as hate groups,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2008/racist-black-hebrew-israelites-becoming-more-militant|title=Racist Black Hebrew Israelites Becoming More Militant|date=29 August 2008|publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|language=English|accessdate=13 May 2018}}</ref> with a 1999 [[FBI]] report stating that their "beliefs bear a striking resemblance to the [[Christian Identity]] theology practiced by many white supremacists."<ref name="Nacos2015">{{cite book|last=Nacos|first=Brigitte L|title=Terrorism and Counterterrorism|accessdate=13 May 2018|date=22 July 2015|publisher=Routledge|language=English|isbn=9781317343646|page=79|quote=In a 1999 FBI report, the FBI warned of extremists in the Black Hebrew Israelite (BHI) movement who believe that they are God's chosen people and consider whites and Jews to be the manifestations of evil. As the report noted, "[s]uch beliefs bear a striking resemblance to the Christian Identity theology practiced by many white supremacists." In fact, Tom Metzger, renowned white supremacists, once remarked, "They're the black counterpart of us." Nine years later, it was reported that extremist Hebrew Israelite churches operated in cities of many states, namely Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and Oregon, and had thousands of members. And according to the SPLC's "The Year in Hate" report for 2008, like their white counterparts black supremacists, too, tried to exploit the political divisions and economic crisis to pursue their radical agenda and expand their membership.}}</ref>

The [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] (SPLC) has classified some of the organizations within the Black Hebrew Israelite movement as hate groups,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2008/racist-black-hebrew-israelites-becoming-more-militant|title=Racist Black Hebrew Israelites Becoming More Militant|date=29 August 2008|publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|language=English|accessdate=13 May 2018}}</ref> with a 1999 [[FBI]] report stating that their "beliefs bear a striking resemblance to the [[Christian Identity]] theology practiced by many white supremacists."<ref name="Nacos2015">{{cite book|last=Nacos|first=Brigitte L|title=Terrorism and Counterterrorism|accessdate=13 May 2018|date=22 July 2015|publisher=Routledge|language=English|isbn=9781317343646|page=79|quote=In a 1999 FBI report, the FBI warned of extremists in the Black Hebrew Israelite (BHI) movement who believe that they are God's chosen people and consider whites and Jews to be the manifestations of evil. As the report noted, "[s]uch beliefs bear a striking resemblance to the Christian Identity theology practiced by many white supremacists." In fact, Tom Metzger, renowned white supremacists, once remarked, "They're the black counterpart of us." Nine years later, it was reported that extremist Hebrew Israelite churches operated in cities of many states, namely Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and Oregon, and had thousands of members. And according to the SPLC's "The Year in Hate" report for 2008, like their white counterparts black supremacists, too, tried to exploit the political divisions and economic crisis to pursue their radical agenda and expand their membership.}}</ref>