Race in the modern American society
Lecture Seven
What are we to do? The critical issue of race in the modern American society is painted by a very bleak picture. On the whole, although the Christian hope for redemption from both societal and personal evils has been faithfully embraced by many citizens, the narrative of inevitable racial progress is by and large superficial and far-fetched. Lewicki (2021) claimed that Christianity teaches about love, new beginnings, hope and a genuine commitment to breaking any kind of bondage at the personal and communal levels. In other words, well-intentional Christians must form part of the committed team actively involved in taking thoughtful, constructive action and finding working solutions to the negative effects of racism, and in promoting racial justice and reconciliation. Prevot (2018) commented that whilst the complexity of tackling racial inequality and injustice must be acknowledged, the eminent struggle for racial equity must be grounded in a series of clear-cut institutional, policy and legislative developments aimed at promoting a diverse, inclusive and tolerant society. In this quest, religious denominations and their adherents must apply the hope of the Gospel as preached and practiced by Jesus Christ sand his disciples to the work of racial reconciliation and justice with the core intention of promoting societal harmony, racial equity and mutual progress, irrespective of any identifiable differences including race or ethnicity (Wytsma, 2017). Although anti-racism efforts must be encouraged and strengthened to ensure desired redemptive outcomes are realized, there is the need for those actively involved in anti-racist advocacy to orient their efforts around a proper comprehension of others, of self and of God, and to uphold God’s intended order. These findings call for synergy between the existing theological approaches and secular strategies when it comes to tackling the systemic realities of poverty and racism in the United States of America, and globally (Bost, 2020).
ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE ESSAY
References
Bantum, B. (2016).The Death of Race: Building a New Christianity in a Racial World. New York: Augsburg Fortress Publishers.
Bost, J. (2020).Addressing Racism in the Church: A Historical, Sociological, Theological, and Practical Account. https://baylor-ir.tdl.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/4a6b20b2-2c37-4022-878f-db98568aac11/content
Brown, A.C. (2018). I’m still here: Black dignity in a world made for whiteness. New York:
Convergent Books.
Goodwin, M. (2020). Gender, race, and American Islamophobia. The Rutledge Handbook of Islam and Gender, 463-474. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351256568-31
Husain, A. (2017). Retrieving the religion in racialization: A critical review. Sociology Compass, 11(9), e12507. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12507
Lewicki, A. (2021). The Christian politics of identity and the making of race in the German welfare state. Sociology, 55(6), 1228-1244. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380385211008368
Oyakawa, M. (2019). Racial reconciliation as a suppressive frame in evangelical multiracial churches. Sociology of Religion, 80(4), 496-517. https://doi.org/10.1093/socrel/srz003
Prevot, A. (2018). Theology and race. Theology and Race, 1-79. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004382565_002
Roberts, R. J. (2020). Networked church. Pneuma, 42(1), 68-89. https://doi.org/10.1163/15700747-04201002
Tisby, J., & Moore, L. (2019).The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
Wytsma, K. (2017). The myth of equality: uncovering the roots of injustice and privilege. Downers Grove, Illinois, IVP Books.
