"Skin for Skin": Biblical Language in Jamaica's Morant Bay Rebellion
In October, 1865, Paul Bogle and a few hundred Black residents of rural Jamaica rebelled against the vagaries of an overly zealous magistrate. They set the courthouse at Morant Bay on fire and killed over a dozen people, mostly white. In the savage government reprisals that followed, over 430 Black...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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Published: |
Oxford University Press
2022
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In: |
Journal of the American Academy of Religion
Year: 2022, Volume: 90, Issue: 3, Pages: 636-653 |
Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
Summary: | In October, 1865, Paul Bogle and a few hundred Black residents of rural Jamaica rebelled against the vagaries of an overly zealous magistrate. They set the courthouse at Morant Bay on fire and killed over a dozen people, mostly white. In the savage government reprisals that followed, over 430 Black Jamaicans were executed. Here, I observe how biblical language played a central role in public discourse about the rebellion. I focus on the rebellion's slogan: skin for skin. I trace the interpretive history of this phrase drawn from the book of Job, showing how it became associated with advocacy for Black rights. And I examine the social context of Bogle's use of the phrase to call for a Black alliance that crossed ethnic, religious, and class lines. I thus further a critical trajectory that has recognized the importance of biblical language to race talk in the age of emancipation. |
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ISSN: | 1477-4585 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: American Academy of Religion, Journal of the American Academy of Religion
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/lfac071 |