If you’ve ever taken a sociology course in college, there’s a good chance that the instructor spent at least a little bit of time talking about the power of symbols in a society. They can be nothing more than a single…
Facing white Christianity’s role in the Jan. 6 insurrection
On Jan. 20, 2021, President Joe Biden became the first commander in chief to use the words “white supremacy” in an inaugural address. Naming “the cry of racial justice 400 years in the making” and its corollary, “a rise in…
How you view police killings, racism and monuments influenced by faith and party
Religious beliefs combined with racial identity continue to fuel dramatic differences in the way Americans view police killings of unarmed Black men, the prevalence of “reverse racism” and thinking of the Confederate flag and monuments to Confederate leaders as about…
America: Powered by haters, redeemed by lovers
In my little town in Oregon, I saw a car with two Confederate flags and a bumper sticker that said, “Powered by Haters.” My shock at the blatant declaration did not translate into any direct action, and I wondered what,…
The ‘heritage, not hate’ argument doesn’t fly, be it monument or flag
Some say it’s “heritage, not hate.” But what is the heritage? Dissenting against the values of the Constitution? Rejecting a vision of breathtaking freedom, “unalienable rights,” “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”? That’s something to celebrate?
‘Southern pride’ or racism? White Christians are compelled to discern the difference. And confess.
As commonly used, the term “Southern pride” is shorthand for a stubborn refusal to admit that the South, as a concept, is hopelessly enmeshed in the canons of white supremacy.
Nikki Haley, Confederate memory and the insidious myth of racial ‘reconciliationism’
The most dangerous aspect of reconciliationism is that it assumes an immunity to modern iterations of racism. There is no such immunity. There is only a fight – a never-ending battle against the virus around us and within us.
N.C. Baptist convention denounces racism, but not the Confederate flag
The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina denounced racism in a resolution adopted at its annual meeting, but stopped short of endorsing the Southern Baptist Convention’s call to refrain from public displays of the Confederate flag or statements by SBC leaders supporting the removal of Civil War monuments.
Southern Baptist editor says Ali was no hero
A Southern Baptist newspaper editor said an editorial June 21 that he takes offense when he hears people describe boxing legend Muhammad Ali as an American hero. “Ali, who died recently, did some good things during his lifetime and he…
Do only black football players sexually assault coeds at Baylor?
This is a big month in race relations among Baptists. This week at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, Jerry Young, president of the National Baptist Convention USA Inc. was a speaker, and a participant with SBC president…
Southern Baptists renounce Confederate flag
One hundred seventy one years after its founding over a dispute about whether slaveholders could be appointed as missionaries, the Southern Baptist Convention passed a strongly worded resolution June 14 against public display of the Confederate flag. The resolution, as…
Southern Baptists asked to endorse ban on public display of Confederate battle flag
America’s largest Protestant denomination, still overwhelmingly white and with roots in an early 19th-century dispute over slavery, may be asked this summer to endorse a ban on the public, government-sponsored display of the Confederate battle flag.