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Black author Chanequa Walker-Barnes's ‘God, help me hate White people’ prayer 'anti-biblical', says Internet

“I want to stop caring about their misguided, racist souls, to stop believing that they can be better, that they can stop being racist,” says the prayer

A best-selling book available at major sellers such as Target, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon has found itself embroiled in controversy because of a prayer written by Black female author Chanequa Walker-Barnes. The prayer reads, “Dear God, Please help me to hate White people. Or at least to want to hate them. At least, I want to stop caring about them, individually and collectively. I want to stop caring about their misguided, racist souls, to stop believing that they can be better, that they can stop being racist.” 

As per reports, the book in which this prayer passage has been included is titled ‘A Rhythm of Prayer: A Collection of Meditations for Renewal’, edited by Sarah Bessey. The book currently tops the list of Amazon's Christian Meditation Worship & Devotion section and is also a New York Times bestseller. 

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Walker-Barnes writes in the book that was published in February 2021: “My prayer is that you would help me to hate the other White people—you know, the nice ones. The Fox News–loving, Trump-supporting voters who 'don't see color' but who make thinly veiled racist comments about 'those people.' The people who are happy to have me over for dinner but alert the neighborhood watch anytime an unrecognized person of color passes their house.”

She adds, “Lord, if you can't make me hate them, at least spare me from their perennial gaslighting, Whitemansplaining, and White woman tears.” As per reports, According to poet Amena Brown who has also contributed to the anthology, writes on her website that the book is “for the weary, the angry, the anxious, and the hopeful, this collection of moving, tender prayers offers rest, joyful resistance, and a call to act.” It adds, “Encompassing the full breadth of the emotional landscape, these deeply tender yet subversive prayers give readers an intimate look at the diverse language and shapes of prayer.”

Walker-Barnes, who is a theologian, minister as well as a psychologist, explained in a Twitter thread why she wrote the prayer that has raised so many eyebrows. She tweeted, “What’s wild is I wrote that prayer after a White person - someone I would have called a friend at the time - dropped the N-word in a casual conversation. Y’all, I’m one generation removed from sharecropping. That word is traumatic AF. When my grandfather was 7, he & his dad escaped from their SC sharecropping farm in the middle of the night. They ran away to FL. In the 1900s, y’all, they had to escape under the cover of darkness!”

She continued, “These are the stories I’ve grown up with my whole life. I was hella triggered when that person used the N-word, a word that I NEVER say in full. And what did I do with that rage? Did I seek vengeance? Did I put the person on blast and try to ruin their rep? I took my rage to God in prayer. I owned it. I was truthful to God about what I was struggling with. And I prayed for God not to let anger and hatred overwhelm me. I prayed to be true to the biblical mandate for peace, justice, & reconciliation even though I don’t think it’s possible. In all truth, my family and my personal experiences have given me millions of reasons to hate White people. The hatred would be justified. I could even find biblical precedent for it.”

But her Twitter thread did nothing to appease people who were angry with her. One user said, “On Saturday, one of the members of my church sent me these images of a 'devotional' she found in Target. This kind of thinking is a direct result of CRT and is completely anti-biblical. I shared the first page on Saturday but let me now share the whole thing for context.” Another user tweeted, “This author apparently considers herself such a warm and loving soul that she actually has to ask God to teach her how to hate. I think she may be a bit arrogant in her assessment of herself.  I have a feeling she knows how to hate already.”

One user took to Instagram to slam Walker-Barnes and called her prayer passage 'demonic'. The Instagram post stated, “If you’re a Christian and don’t see how this is a problem, get off your phone, repent and seek the Lord. Heck, if you’re a decent human being and you don’t see what’s wrong with this, you’re not as decent as you think you are. This is clearly demonic. Critical Race Theory is the conspiracy theory that asserts that all our institutions are inherently White supremacist and that White people have designed a system to further their economic and political interests at the expense of people of color.”

However, there were some people who also supported the author. One tweet said: “I am so sickened by the backlash over the prayer @drchanequa offers in Sarah Bessey’s A Rhythm of prayer. Not that Dr. Chanequa needs it but this is going to be a whole thread. 1. I was a student of hers in seminary and took a course on racial reconciliation taught by her.” Another supporter added: “This prayer is a gift to those who would read it and behold the breaking heart of someone who can't help but loving people who have been formed to quietly and politely destroy and dishonor her. This prayer stands in a long tradition of lament...This prayer is deeply Biblical.”