Theology's Great Sin: Silence in the Face of White Supremacy
Year: 2004
Type: article
Abstract: Drawing on the legacies of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and others, this essay calls academic theologians to break the silence about white racism within their discipline. Four realities are identified that have contributed and continue to create this silence. (1) Whites do not talk about racism because they do not have to. (2) White theologians avoid racial dialogue because talk about white supremacy arouses deep feelings of guilt. (3) Whites avoid talking with African Americans about race because Whites fear engaging Black peoples' rage. (4) Whites do not say much about racial justice because they are not prepared for a radical redistribution of wealth and power. Confronting these realities gives theologians an opportunity to develop antiracist theologies that go beyond simply condemning racism because they engage the histories, cultures and theologies of people of color. This is the work of love and justice because it is work that enhances our humanity.
Source: Black Theology
Author: James Cone
Institution: Union Theological Seminary
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2051960571