Black Hebrew Israelites (also Black Hebrews, African Hebrew Israelites, and Hebrew Israelites) are groups of people mostly of Black African

Black people

The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...

 ancestry situated mainly in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 who believe they are descendants of the ancient Israelite

Israelite

According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...

s. Black Hebrews adhere in varying degrees to the religious beliefs and practices of mainstream Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

. They are generally not accepted as Jews by the greater Jewish community, and many Black Hebrews consider themselves — and not mainstream Jews — to be the only authentic descendants of the ancient Israelites.