Christian nationalism is “anti-blackness on steroids” with its attacks on voter rights, education and immigration, minister and racial justice advocate Cassandra Gould said during a webinar hosted by the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference. That “unholy trinity of Christian nationalism” is…
Is God really a white man?
White supremacy has been problematic in the United States. As we celebrate AAPI Heritage during May, I am reminded of the hatred, damage and destruction that has been committed against Asian Americans by white American society throughout American history. One…
“What’s the one book I should read on anti-racism?’
I gave a talk for the Alliance of Baptists’ educational emphasis on anti-racism not long ago. Someone in the audience asked me to choose the one book I thought they should read. Immediately, I said, “Audre Lorde’s Sister Outsider.” When…
The truth about assimilation
Many people believe our racial problems would all go away if we all would simply focus on being “unhyphenated Americans.” This assimilation argument is wrong. In America, assimilation into the default ethnic culture means becoming white. The birth of a…
Christian fragility, brittleness and white Christian nationalism
The Religious Right seems to be flexing its muscles these days. After all, they’ve overturned Roe v. Wade, openly embraced Christian nationalism, banned a whole slew of books, and told Florida’s teachers, “Don’t Say Gay.” I don’t think all this…
Black and Asian refugees fleeing Ukraine face additional barriers, discrimination
Black and Asian refugees fleeing Ukraine due to Russia’s unprovoked and deadly attack there are facing discrimination as they attempt to enter neighboring countries such as Poland. After multiple news reports of such discrimination, a member of Allen Temple Baptist…
One in 10 Black Americans are now foreign-born; here’s why that matters to the right-wing backlash against immigration
When Americans debate about immigration, they most often think of people coming from Mexico and other Latin American countries. Seldom do they first think of Black migrants. Yet Pew Research Center reports that today one in 10 Black people in…
For the church, a call to be bold
The mood was incredible. I was gathered with my closest friends in the world. These were the same people I had spent 2008 with, the same people who came to my wedding earlier this year, and the same people who…
Latest outrage at Ole Miss points to a deeper distress
The University of Mississippi just can’t outrun its association with bigotry. In 2012, a crowd of angry white students expressed their displeasure in the wake of Barack Obama’s re-election. And just last week, a small group of freshmen wrapped an…