The 'Black Christ' movement uses blackness as a theological symbol of solidarity with the oppressed rather than a literal genetic claim.

While some groups like the Black Hebrew Israelites argue Jesus was ethnically Black, others use his blackness symbolically. Martin Luther King Jr. championed this view, identifying Jesus' struggle against Roman authorities with the civil rights struggle of African Americans. Here, blackness represents a theological alignment with the marginalized. It reframes Jesus as a savior who intimately understands the pain of the oppressed.