Christian rapper Lecrae Moore sparked a discussion among Evangelicals when he tweeted a photo of blacks picking cotton in a field on July 4, 2016, to illustrate the status of blacks when the U.S. declared independence from the British Empire 240 years ago.
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Evangelical Artist’s White Fans Can’t Handle True History?
The photo, tweeted by Lecrae at 1:05 p.m. EST, has since been retweeted more than 8,300 times and liked more than 10,750 times as of publication.
The viral image features a photo of several blacks (reportedly a farming family in the 1890s) standing in a cotton field and carrying bags of cotton.
My family on July 4th 1776. pic.twitter.com/R9DzWkqDWc
— Lecrae (@lecrae) July 4, 2016
The various discussions, debates and commentary seemed most motivated by the responses of those who felt offended or confused by Lecrae’s tweet, or by those who thought the rapper’s allusion to the historical status of African Americans at the time of U.S. independence was out of place.
Here are some of the responses Lecrae’s tweeted photo and statement inspired (with original spelling intact):
“There’s freedom in Christ. i guess that ain’t enough.”
“Fans just realizing he is … Black & Christian???”
“With all due respect, I feel this is simply stirring the pot. …”
Lecrae pointed later fans to a May 2016 video of his remarks at TEDxNashville, describing the 18-minute video as “How hip hop can be used to facilitate a discussion on race in America.”
Photo by edgarpierce 
