Throughout most black societies today, there are Jews who are not accepted by the worldwide community of Rabbinic Jews. They are known as Black Jews, and the movement they represent is known as Black Judaism. Originating in the post-Civil War southern states, the early leaders of this movement were motivated by oppression and racism to migrate north. There they came into contact with Rabbinic Jews and the Judaism they represented, but Black Jews and Black Judaism were rejected.
Black Judaism continued to spread and reached the continent of Africa where it became an integral part of the Independent Black Church Movement and an active component of the various struggles for independence. It also spread to Latin America, especially the West Indies, and is known there in its most varied form as "Rastafarianism."
During the turbulent Civil Rights era, an uneasy alliance developed between some Black Jews and Rabbinic Jews, but rejection soon followed. Black Judaism has never had a large number of adherents, but its influence far exceeds its numbers, making it one of the most important social movements in African-American history.
