Have We Rebuilt the Slave Pew at the Back of the Church

A reflection on how historic segregation in sacred spaces may be resurfacing today through silence, hierarchy, and the marginalization of the very builders who sustained the Black church.

During Black History Month, I want to talk about something many people have never been taught.

In many white churches in the 18th and 19th centuries, the upper balcony was not just extra seating. It was often a forced separation. Enslaved people and free

Black worshippers were pushed into lofts or upper galleries so they could attend worship but remain controlled, unseen, and unheard. These spaces are documented in church history as “slave galleries” or balcony segregation. One documented example is St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, where historical records describe designated upper galleries used to separate Black worshippers from the main congregation.

That is why I need to say this plainly.

Slave pews do not belong in the Black church.

Because what our founders built after emancipation was extraordinary. When our people were once forced to the back and the balcony, they responded by building institutions of dignity, leadership, and spiritual power. They built churches that were ours, led by us, sustained by us, and rooted in community.

But here we are in 2026, and I see a painful pattern resurfacing.

A master slave mentality has been resurrected inside the church, not by outsiders, but by elites within. The mentality that once pushed Black people to the margins has now been repackaged as “order” and “obedience,” and used to silence the very builders/seniors who carried the church through the pre civil rights era. The ones who toiled, sacrificed, and endured discrimination to fund, build, and protect these sanctuaries are too often treated as disposable. Pushed to the back again. Stripped of voice again. Expected to submit again.

Only now, the “back of the church” is not just a physical location. It is a spiritual and civic condition. Powerless. Ignored. Kept quiet.

My God, what has happened to the Black church.

Shani