In the past few weeks, I traveled to New York City and Washington, D.C., in support of research, collaboration and programming supported by Baylor University and the Baugh Foundation. I met with a number of principals at Washington National Cathedral…
Let’s demonize racism, not Critical Race Theory
Since the former president unwillingly departed the office, his Republican minions have leaned into the ardent racist dog whistles and racial mythologies he employed in trying unsuccessfully to remain in power. Big among these Republican racial tropes is the idea…
‘They’re like children’: Confronting the myth of white paternal control
Some of the most pernicious and racist political myths circulating in our culture were used as a justification for chattel slavery and later as compelling arguments supporting Jim Crow segregation. I’ve recently been reading and reflecting on a myth I…
An open letter to the SBC: God’s amazing grace always builds a bigger, better tent
The Southern Baptist Convention averted a catastrophic split at its most recent annual meeting as messengers narrowly voted to elect Ed Litton, an Alabama pastor, as SBC president. While Litton has been sympathetic to the call for racial tolerance and…
Baylor, ‘biblical sexuality’ and the good news
On May 14, the Baylor University board of regents released a statement on human sexuality and identity. In it, the regents affirmed the dignity of all students “regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity,” committed to providing a supportive educational…
When did ‘woke’ become a four-letter word?
The Texas Legislature is currently considering bills forbidding the teaching in public schools of Critical Race Theory or the notion that America’s founding on slavery and taking land from indigenous people might in any way complicate the greatness of our…
That’s just the way it is? Don’t you believe it
One afternoon almost 20 years ago, I was sitting in my office at Baylor University when my desk phone rang. Even in those days, I usually ignored it. It was much more likely to be a telemarketer than a student…
Greg Garrett, Baylor prof and BNG columnist, awarded Baugh grant for research on race and media
BNG columnist and Baylor University professor Greg Garrett has received a three-year, $488,000 grant from the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation to further his research on how film and other media shape attitudes about race and racism. “I’m so…
A few good men?: Promising Young Woman and the culture of abuse
When Judge Aaron Persky reduced Stanford rapist Brock Turner’s sentence from six years in state prison to six months in county jail, he did so on the basis that Turner was “a promising young man.” Writer/director Emerald Fennell’s stark thriller/fairytale…