Eucharist, And The Sacrifice Of Black Bodies Analysis

“It is only White privilege…. that allows us often times to view criminals of the dominant group as mere individuals while too often viewing Black and brown folk through the lens of a group pathology whenever one of theirs violate our legal and moral norms” (Tim Wise, 2009) This opening statement, given by Tim Wise at a White Privilege conference in 2009, was one of the first to catch my attention because it is nothing less than fact. There have been many instances of violence in this country, perpetrated by Whites, Blacks, Latinos, Asians, the list can go on and on. However, the difference between when Whites commit crimes versus when minorities commit crimes, is White Privilege. Peggy McIntosh (1988) described White privilege as a set of undeserved benefits that a White person in America can use every day, yet they remain unaware of the privilege they have. According to Christine Emba (2009) of Washington Post, White privilege is the level of “societal advantage that comes with being seen as the norm in America, automatically conferred irrespective of wealth, gender or other factors.” It is

“You are a racist!” James Cone shouted furiously to his teacher when studied theology at Garret Seminary. “You talked for weeks about the bad things that Catholics in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were against Protestants in Europe, but has not said anything about the violence used by Protestants whites against blacks in the south of the country, today in 1961”. His cry of indignation against a white origin Professor was the explosion of feelings hidden for a long time. His struggle to stay in integrated school and college, his discovery that equality, liberty, and fraternity written in the letter of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America, was not applied to him, or any other black person because

Therefore, to reconcile this attitude, this paper attempts to establish evidence supporting the African American cultural lens assertion. Maltbia and Power (2009) implied that cultural lenses functioned like transition lenses in that they automatically performed when encountering certain triggers or under pressure. However, to begin this study, one must recognize that there is a lengthy history of discrimination and racism in America (Bonilla-Silva, 1997). The fabric of this country is indebted to the control, subjugation, and disenfranchisement of various peoples over the course of centuries. This inequality continues to affect, and systemically enforce racist and structural significance of “white” privilege. Although this advantage has produced wealth for this particular group, it has ultimately created problems, as well as indoctrinated, psychological issues for minorities. For instance, the United States was conceived from a democratic ideology, yet for centuries, those principles only applied to a select group of people (Rubin & Boyer, 2013).

It is not a secret that black Americans are at a larger economic, political and educational disadvantage, yet so many white Americans believe that the black American is as successful as a white (Embrick 2015, 838). So in cases of police brutality, minorities are portrayed to be offenders and violent, while the police are given the role of a protector in media (Embrick 2015, 839). Although it does not mean that such publicized cases of police brutality are not thought provoking for white Americans, many do understand the situation and the existence of this violence (Sigelman et al 1997, p. 789). It is simply that majority believe it is outside of America’s racist history instead, and based more on criminal behaviour (Sigelman et al 1997, p. 789). This impacts society to split into two, the world those who are privileged live in and the world that the poor and marginalized are forced into (Embrick 2015, 837).

Tatum argues that “it is difficult to talk about what is essentially a flawed and problematic social construct without using language that is in itself problematic.”. The “language that is…problematic” comes in the form of euphemisms. The more words used to describe a certain social construct, the more likely there is an underlying problem that needs to be solved. The underlying problem is the tension between past actions, present guilt, and future expectations. White privilege is a truth, but along with being on the VIP list of most institutions in this country, Whites are also burdened with guilt. There needs to be some way that the problem of racism can be addressed without pointing fingers.

Historically, racial segregation was a key factor shaping the role of the Black church. "By the same token, it created the relative structural absence of institutional participatory alternatives and molded the cultural presence of an overarching moral community" (Hunt, & Hunt, 2000, p. 588).

African American Religious Thought is always in the process of shifting. Whenever there is critical thought being developed, there has to be a shift. As I read each article, there were many salient points that resonated with me. Before I outline those points, I want to begin with the critical points that were lifted from Professors Glaude and West in African American Religious Thought. Both scholars very succinctly outlined the major themes that provide the backdrop for the study of African American Religious Thought in light of race and culture in the US. Glaude and West provide a historical periodization that carefully examines five historical moments that informs African American religious thought. These five platforms are:

The black freedom struggle has not yet come to an end – there are still prejudiced and racist radicals that try to negotiate white supremacy and dominance in order to prevent the blacks from their long wait for equality. Consequently, the movement has progressed very sluggishly in the past few centuries. Nevertheless, the campaign for equal rights has led to the triumph over slavery and has led to the accrual of suffrage rights. However, this is still not enough, not after centuries of enslavement, lynching, segregation, and discrimination. Oftentimes, there is still no justice in court houses, especially when black people are accused and convicted, even for the simplest of crimes – as compared to the white and powerful who are charged for heinous misconducts and get away scratch free. Hence, throughout the period of the Blacks’ long fight for freedom and equality, several Black intellectuals have come front with ideas that could administer better treatment for their people. A good strategy to encourage the black populace to fight for their freedom and their rights is by inverting popular ideas so that there is a clear distinction between the reasonable and unreasonable notions of equality and justice. Thus, it was not uncommon for these literati to undermine dominant discourses in order to bolster their own analyses. Among the discussed black intellectuals who inverted prevailing dissertations, three that stood out the most are Frederick Douglass, Anna Julia Cooper, and

There is something tragically askew in the religious state of black Americans; namely, the near-failure of qualitative development in integrated and/or separate black middle-class churches and denominations.

“Black Lives Matter” —an intended progression in society without a hierarchy, merely marching forward by spur of the people. Started by three sisters who continue to keep the organization a chapter-based, left wing social justice operation, it can best be described as “Not a moment, but a movement” by those that follow it. The case that began this outcry involved a man —George Zimmerman— whom, according to Lizette Alvarez and Cara Buckley (2013), “was found not guilty [of] second-degree murder [and] was also acquitted of manslaughter, a lesser charge.” (para. 1). Since its initial start in 2013, the movement follows and protests against police brutality and civil injustice towards individuals of the Black minority; however, this is a prime example of hate breeding hate as the movement, has opened a new floodgate full of antipathy aimed towards the White-community and Law Enforcement Officials. In short, the initial idea of “Black Lives Matter” —which is to bring civil justice to the Black-community— is a good concept, but the execution by its adherents are, ironically, bigoted; the movement needs to either evolve its state of thought or disperse before it further segregates America.

As slavery was abolished in 1865 the problems still continued, laws were not enforced enough, and society started to create their own laws, and organizations such as the Black Codes, the Jim Crow Laws, and the Ku Klux Klan, which segregated and made every single person who was not white feel like an underdog, African Americans were segregated and blamed for many crimes, public lynchings to which people brought their children, and family to watch, the line of human decency was far gone, being black always meant danger, “I 'm black, I don’t have to do anything for ‘em to get me. The first white finger they point at me, I’m a goner...They own everything. They choke you off the face of the earth… They kill you before you die” (Wright, 325). No doubt things have changed since the late 1800’s, the involvement of African Americans in the everyday life of America makes them feel represented, from President Truman’s decision to integrate any person of color in the military in 1948, to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s, but there is still so much hatred towards black people, and so much injustice, the United States claims to have a Justice that is blind, yet a study in CNN shows that Black men are more likely to be wrongly convicted, once again a failed system, where problems like racism are scarcely addressed because of fear

Racism has continuously impeded social progress for the United States. Traditionally, Christian theology has been structured to favor whites and supported other forms of structural racism. Without addressing the flaws that have been overlooked for decades, Christology will remain a representation of white domination and minority discrimination. The systematic racism, discrimination and oppression of blacks is a critical issue evident in O’Connor’s short stories. The readings from James Cone, Peggy McIntosh, George Yancy and Astley depict how theological privilege assumed amongst modern Christians leads to justifying oppression of other minorities.

Through the work Michelle Alexanders The New Jim Crow in 2010 continue evaluates the relationship of vilifying or the creation of other-ing in order to maintain justification for targeting black and brown bodies, as Denis Childs describes it as, “Natural born Criminals.” A level of state terror described by Childs through the US of mass incarnation in order to

Have you ever walked into a Starbucks and within two minutes the police escorts you out for no good reason? Can you envision being shot holding a device the cops “feared their lives over”. Imagine being a suspect of interest because a crime was just committed, and you are being just walking home on my regular route but never make it home or even to see another day. “Oppression and discrimination are closely related, as all acts of oppression are also acts of discrimination.” This terror and anxiety occurs every day for African Americans. An individual is set to believe the purpose of the Justice System is to “deliver justice for all, by convicting and punishing the guilty and helping them to stop offending, while protecting the innocent,” nonetheless with the lack of acceptance because the color of their skin it is hard to get by without looking over your shoulder.

hooks examines the theoretical positions that address racism but are lacking. First, she presents black theologian James Cone’s standpoint: “Cone calls upon whites, blacks, and all other non-black groups to stand against white supremacy by choosing to value, indeed to love, blackness” (hooks 11). Like hooks, Cone expresses the need to embrace blackness. To achieve this, Cone demanded the need to deconstruct whiteness. He did not reinforce the common belief that if people ignored differences between races that racism would disappear. Instead, he argued that