Michael, two things: 1)Privilege = power. There a...

2009-07-29T09:05:57.920-04:00

Michael, two things:

1)Privilege = power. There ain't no such thing as Black privilege in the U.S. If there were, it might be concentrated in a few situations, but always overshadowed by white normativity. I'm fine with Christ depicted as multiple ethnicities; he is the Human One (Son of Man), after all. What I'm cautious of are the assumptions of whiteness that many U.S. Americans of many races have about characters in the Bible, and how that relates to our articulations about God.

2) I think your hypothesis about religious fundamentalism correlating with the loss of an ethnic identity is interesting. Maybe we could talk about that more sometime. For the record, I personally believe that white normativity and the assimilation of ethnic groups into the paradigm of whiteness set up by those of Anglo descent (either accepted as white or treated as inferior to white) are the same thing.

Having gone to many churches in my time, I remembe...

2009-07-10T20:38:12.305-04:00

Having gone to many churches in my time, I remember one consistent image I always saw: the white Aryan-looking Jesus, typically with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. The Virgin Mary the same. However, I have to wonder. Is it white privilege or cultural bias? Societies often portray Christ in their own image. For example, in Ethiopia its common to find icons of saints and Christ with an Ethiopian appearance. Would this be an example of "Black Privilege"?

Another thing is the talk about being white in America and how a lot of us act like we don't have an ethnicity. You attribute this to believing that whiteness is normative, but it could also be the assimilation of white ethnic groups. A lot of European immigrants back in the day came to America not just for opportunity but to lose their culture. They probably didn't expect it, but it happened, typically through public education and social pressure.

Many Caucasians do not have a second language or another culture like their friends do, leaving them feeling a lack of cultural identity. I think the rise of religious fundamentalism correlates with the fall of cultural identity. The fostering of assimilation in nations like ours creates a large group of cultural orphans, who in turn lacking cultural loyalty turn more loyalty to their religious convictions. So I doubt racism can be noted as fully culpable, or maybe even a factor.

Comments on Let Us Be Bread: Context Matters, Part 1

Michael, two things: 1)Privilege = power. There a...

Having gone to many churches in my time, I remembe...