When President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation Jan. 1, 1863, it changed the legal status of more than 3.5 million enslaved Black people in the Confederate states from enslaved to free. It was two-and-a-half years later, on June 19, 1865, that Gen. Gordon Granger proclaimed freedom for the 250,000 enslaved residents of Texas…
Category Archives: Published
What’s Wrong With Colorblind Christianity?
“God is not colorblind! He created us all as equals, and He has blessed each of us with distinct ethnicities. Our distinct ethnicities should be celebrated, not tolerated.”
Preying Preachers: Confronting Clergy Sexual Abuse
There should be zero tolerance when it comes to clergy abuse of congregants.As is the case with Catholic leaders, some evangelical and fundamentalist leaders have enabled and covered up clergy sexual abuse. The same could be said of leaders within mainline Protestant denominations. Church leaders often discredit and dismiss survivors. Therefore, they are complicit inContinue reading “Preying Preachers: Confronting Clergy Sexual Abuse”
Responding to the receipts: The way forward for the Louisville Metro Police Department
What many of us have believed about the Louisville Metro Police Department has been confirmed by the U.S. Department of Justice. We now have the receipts! There is compelling evidence of systemic racism and other forms of discrimination that must be addressed. The police killing of Breonna Taylor in her home three years ago thisContinue reading “Responding to the receipts: The way forward for the Louisville Metro Police Department”
When Blue trumps Black: Why having Black police officers did not matter for Tyre Nichols
On Jan. 7, what should have been a “routine” traffic stop culminated in the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols involving five Black Memphis, Tennessee police officers. Attorneys for Nichols’ family indicated the “savage,” three-minute beating that resulted in the 29-year-old Black man’s death…
White supremacy in blackface: The curious case of Herschel Walker
Billy Van, the monologue comedian, 1900. This image is available from the United States Library of Congress’s Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID var.1831 Blackface is one of the disgraceful aspects of American history. Popularized in the United States after the Civil War, blackface involved white performers playing characters that demeaned and dehumanized AfricanContinue reading “White supremacy in blackface: The curious case of Herschel Walker”
The Urgency of the Moment: A Call for Christians to Confront Racism
In his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech of 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. used the phrase “the urgency of the moment.” As he spoke truth to power, enumerating various aspects of racial inequality, he made it clear that the time for waiting was over…
What’s Unchristian About Christian Nationalism?
Christian nationalism is both unchristian and unbiblical. In fact, it is the most prevalent perversion of the Christian faith in the United States, today. As such, Christian nationalism poses a grave threat to the witness of the Church…
Three things white Christians can do to address white supremacy: Lament, repent, dissent
(Oregon Historical Society) Meeting of the KKK, probably in Portland, Ore., in the 1920s. White supremacy is the erroneous belief that white people are superior to people of other races or ethnicities and should possess power and control in all areas of life. In fact, “race” was socially constructed centuries ago to ensure white dominance…
Analyzing Racial Trauma in the Age of COVID-19
We are embroiled in one of the most tumultuous periods of our recent collective memory. This is largely due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, which has taken the lives of nearly a million people in the United States. To many, this has simultaneously been a time of national reckoning with another deadly “virus”: systemic racism…
A Compelling Voice 