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#AAR Panel: God’s a White Racist: Ferguson, Black Death, & Racing Religion

#AAR Panel: God’s a White Racist: Ferguson, Black Death, & Racing Religion

Last updated on: November 24, 2015 at 4:39 pm by Guest Contributor

#AAR Panel: God’s a White Racist: Ferguson, Black Death, & Racing Religion 2015-11-24T16:39:02-05:00 Guest Contributor

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I am pleased to be a part of this panel. Led by R3 Contributor Daniel White Hodge, we will meet as part of the 2015 Annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) in Atlanta, Georgia. AAR will hold the panel Sunday, November 22, 2015 at 9:00 AM-11:00 AM at Marriott-International 1 (International Level). I hope to see readers of R3 there as this promises to be a fascinating and interesting panel.

Panel Theme:

W.E.B. DuBois’ historical and perplexing question “What meaneth Black suffering?” is highly applicable in an age where vulnerable Black bodies —men, women, young people—seem to matter little in a moment of proliferating and seemingly unstoppable racialized violence. Missing in the bevy of public discourse are queries such as, “How might “law” and “order” techniques among white police officers be connected to an American Christian hegemonic theodical ethos of “country” “certainty” and “protection.” Theologically speaking – god talk and rhetoric plays an uncanny role on both sides of justice seeking and continued violence. Darren Wilson claimed it was “God’s will” that he murder Michael Brown, while protesters and activist on the ground claim god as “on their side.” “Is God “another Black cop waiting to beat my ass,” as the rapper and Hip Hop prophet Tupac Shakur poignantly suggested? Does religion, more generally, have a role in the avenging of Black lives? And, “how does a God, who is socially portrayed as a “loving,” “caring,” and “kind” deity, react to the injustice had in cities like Ferguson in the U.S. and around the world?”

PANELISTS

Ralph Watkins: Associate Professor of Evangelism and Church Growth, Columbia Theological Seminary

The Generational Divide in the Black Church: The Future of the Prophetic Witness in a Time of Crisis

This paper looks at the response of the African American church to the series of deaths of African American males at the hands of the police. Specifically the response of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia that is led by pastor, Rev. Dr. Raphel Warnock is the focus of this paper. In response to the national crisis Pastor Warnock convened a gathering of national and local leaders for a conversation at Ebenezer Church. On that evening the United States Attorney General, Eric Holder, was the keynote speaker. The mayor Atlanta, Kasim Reed, Bernice King, Wyatt Walker and other dignitaries were also present and spoke as well. What was evident that evening was that there was a generational divide and an attack on the Black church by the young adults at the event. Aurielle Marie Lucier, the leader of young activist, Young People for (YP4) and Its Bigger Than You, walked out of the meeting after speaking and proceeded to go outside and hold a rally with her peers. Aurielle and her peers were not buying what the elders were selling. They saw this issue radically different than did the elders in the packed church that evening.

This paper is supported by my video and still images that record the event. The still images and video support the argument the paper suggest about the divide between young adults and the African American church. The paper explores the reasons for this generational divide and suggest possible ways the institutional church can partner with young adult activist organizations to construct an activist agenda appropriate for the future of the institutionalized African American church. The paper explores the prophetic tradition of the African American church while raising the central question: Are the today’s prophets living outside of the institutionalized church thus making us rethink what we label prophetic faith in this age?

Monica Miller, Assistant Professor of Religion and Africana Studies, Leigh University

When God ‘Aint Good and Humans ‘Aint Better: Ferguson, Black Death and the Monstrosity of Religious Rhetoric

From George Zimmerman’s claim that “it was god’s plan” that he murder Trayvon Martin, to Darren Wilson’s racialized portrayal of Michael Brown as a Hulk Hogan like demon with superhuman powers to charge through bullets, to the silence among atheistic, humanist and free-thought communities as well as many (white) scholars of religion in response to the proliferation of state sanction murders of black and brown bodies at the hands of police and vigilante justice to claims that god is a “white racist” – religious and theological language has played a precarious role in shaping social, political and civic responses – some well-intentioned, some explicitly racist, some in the “spirit” of justice-making and seeking – but all seemingly undergirded by a counterintuitive logic that has failed to generate a critical conversation regarding “religion’s place” in responding to these ongoing societal concerns. This paper explores the competing strategies, uses and tactics of religious and theological rhetoric that helps to mediate the various “operational acts” of competing methods of black social protest with an eye towards black skepticism and addressing the problem of “evil” in an age of political correctness.

Andre E. Johnson, Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Memphis

Race, Ruckus, and the Color of God: A Spirituality of Ferguson

William R. Jones in his book “Is God a White Racist” challenged James Cone’s liberation ethic that argued God was (and is) on the side of Black people because God is on the side of the oppressed. What Jones surmised was that the hell many black folks go through, surely this God, who Black folks continue to cry out to and wait upon, this God must be a white racist. Cone and his supporters had an answer—God is not a white racist because we serve a black God. However, with the death of Michael Brown and the subsequent protests in Ferguson, many questioned the blackness of God. If God is Black, some may suggest that “God is an Uncle Ruckus.”

In this paper, I first examine the notion of a “racist” and “black” God through the theologies of Jones and Cone. Second, in keeping with the spirit of the panel, I examine how God functions for some of the activists and protesters in Ferguson. Finally, by examining ways churches have responded, I argue that Ferguson has also opened up new avenues for the church to respond.

Travis Terrell Harris, PhD Graduate Student, William and
Mary

Performing Resistance: Hip Hop’s Fight Against Institutional Racism in St. Louis, Missouri

Police officer Darren Wilson’s killing of Michael Brown on August 9, 2014 is part of an endemic system of structural racism against Blacks in St. Louis, Missouri. This interconnected system entails racialized spaces with low rated air quality, disparate health care, unfair housing practices, failing schools, commercial redlining, over -policing and an unjust justice system. Three emcees from St. Louis: Kareem Jackson (Tef Poe), Travis Tyler (Thi’sl) and Marcus Gray (Flame) have responded. They uniquely understand the effects of racialized oppression in St. Louis. Several modes of activism are necessary to fight the interconnected system of institutional racism.

Using a performance studies theoretical framework, this paper will analyze the repertoires of Tef Poe’s, Flame’s and Thi’sl’s performances and their activism. Tef Poe does not identify as a “conscious rapper” or a Christian but asserts he is religious. He led protests, performed during Ferguson October and testified before the United Nations Committee Against Torture. Flame and Thi’sl are overtly Christian. Flame held Hope for Ferguson which was a “buycott” and included a live concert. Thi’sl organized Hope for the City which involved a prayer meeting under the Arch in St. Louis and a concert. Hip Hop, as a form of protest, has responded in St. Louis and provided illustrations for combating the evils of racism.

Respondent:

Najeeba Syeed, Assistant Professor of Interreligious Education, Claremont School of Theology

Professor Syeed is recognized as a leader in peacebuilding and twice received the Jon Anson Ford Award for reducing violence in schools and in the area of interracial gang conflicts and was named Southern California Mediation Association’s “Peacemaker of the Year” in 2007. She has chaired national conferences on Muslim and Interfaith Peacebuilding, served as a mediator in many cases, started mediation programs in many institutions including University of Southern California and several middle and high schools. Schools have reported a drop in disciplinary referrals and violence. Her track record as a peacemaker has made her sought out advisor for state, federal and White House initiatives, and in international conflicts in Guam, Afghanistan, Israel, Palestine, India and France.

Her research articles have focused on: 1) Mediation between law enforcement and communities 2) Intersections of law with religious minority communities 3) Interfaith just peacemaking. Along with colleagues she has developed training modules in Islamic conflict resolution and mediation presented at Harvard Law School. She serves as an advisor to local and federal agencies on interfaith dialogue, cooperation and public engagement and was most recently engaged at advisory convenings sponsored by the Interfaith Youth Corps collaboration with the White House Challenge: The President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge: The President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge.

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Paul and Cone: Misogynist or Misunderstood?

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