Jesus Christ in Ferguson

Last updated on: August 14, 2014 at 4:07 pm by Guest Contributor

Jesus Christ in Ferguson 2014-08-14T16:07:00-05:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

by Edward Blum
R3 Contributor

It seemed like every few months an African American man had been murdered. It was one hundred years ago and Judge Lynch had taken the reigns from Lady Justice. He and the mobs working for him were not blind. They saw black men, women, children, and communities to terrorize. Judge Lynch didn’t carry a scale to be balanced. He gave his followers a noose to choke their victims. One hundred years ago in 1914, a reported 51 African Americans were lynched. The year after, 56.

One response then was to ask “where is Jesus Christ.” W. E. B. Du Bois, who had recently helped found the NAACP and served as the editor of its monthly magazine,The Crisis, tried to move the United States public to action. The Crisis tried to expose what was really happening throughout the United States — that African American communities were being systematically terrorized by everyday white Americans, by courts of law, by politicians, and by the police. They tried statistics. They tried muckraking. They tried every form of journalism they could.

W. E. B. Du Bois also tried faith. In response to lynchings, he wrote a series of short stories and poems that wrestled with the problem of racial violence in their midst. “Jesus Christ in Texas” was a short story set in Waco, Texas — where a lynching had recently taken place. It imagined a scenario where “a stranger” arrived in town. He looked neither white, nor black (he looked Jewish, in fact, but no one seemed to recognize those elements of his appearance). He spoke from the New Testament gospels to love one another, do unto others, and those old panaceas. Jesus met with convicts, one of whom was on the run from the police and Jesus exchanged clothing with him. A white pastor tried to determine who he was, muttering that he felt like he somehow knew this man, long ago. Ultimately, Jesus in Texas was lynched.

In poetry, Du Bois wondered where God was. In “A Litany for Atlanta,” he asked if God were asleep. Du Bois trembled: “God Surely Thou, too, are not white, O Lord, a pale, bloodless, heartless thing! / Ah! Christ of all the Pities!” Which would be worse, a dead God or a white one? Du Bois refused to believe either. He called with so many others, “Hear us, good Lord! / In night, O God of a godless land.”

Now, one hundred years later, was continue to ask, where is Jesus Christ in Ferguson, Missouri? Is God out there? As our young women and men are murdered, as our politicians seem idle, as those with guns wield bigger ones, where is the spirit of the man who tried to teach us to use right for might?

These are not new questions for American communities. African Americans have been calling for justice in this land of injustice for more than 400 years. At times, as during the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement, it seemed that God was with them. But for the vast majority of the rest of the centuries, the weight of history seems to indicate a silent and distant God. The shame of it all, perhaps, is not that God seems absent, but that those with the power and authority to do justice and to act humbly seem intent on the opposite.

Follow Edward J. Blum on Twitter: www.twitter.com/edwardjblum

Uncategorized

Previous Post

August 14, 2014

Praying for the Brave Ones With Fear and Trembling

Next Post

August 17, 2014 Lerone Martin Begins New Appointment With Danforth Center

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Amy Steele Andre E. Johnson Book Reviews/Series Brian Foulks Call for Chapters Carol Howard Merritt Classes Conferences Contributors Crystal St.Marie Lewis Daniel White Hodge Earle Fisher Eulogy Fredrick Robinson Guest Contributions Henry McNeal Turner Institutes Interviews Joseph Boston Katherine Whitfield Kimberly Peeler-Ringer Lectures/Roundtables Natalie Bullock Brown R3 Book Series R3 Contributor Rashad Grove Readers Reflections Symposiums Teaching Traci Ellis Travis Harris Uncategorized Video

Select a Month June 2020 February 2020 December 2019 November 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 October 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz