Both/And Anti-Racism Homiletics: Addressing the Dual Oppressor/Co-Conspirator Reality of 21st Century White Preachers Working to Interrupt and Dismantle Racism with Preaching Pubblico
Ledder, Emily Michelle (Spring 2022)
Abstract
This discursive analysis of anti-racism homiletics written by white homiliticians set out to discover precursors to any racism perpetrated within them. Pre-analysis assumptions regarding possible causation included a heightened commitment to excusing white people’s racism, an avoidance to naming racism directly or as sin, or an inflated priority to comfort white people. These assumptions were challenged when racism persisted despite a homiletic’s insistence to equate racism with sin, call out white people’s pseudo-repentance language or efforts, or name white people’s responsibility to fight against racism. Present, however, in each source analyzed, was the philosophical tautology, “white people are good.” This, plus the linguistic and theological gymnastics required to protect white people’s goodness at all costs, resulted in racism perpetrated via multiple expressions despite the anti-racism moniker attached to the homiletic.
Naming something “anti-racism” is not enough to avoid perpetrating racism. What is needed is an anti-racist anti-racism model which can disrupt, dismantle, and destroy racism in content and process. For this to occur, the dual nature of white people who are both prioritized, privileged, and protected within the system of racism and committed to dismantling it must be highlighted. White preachers committed to dismantle racism through the act of preaching need a “Both/And” Anti-Racism Homiletic.
All preaching betrays the theology which founds it. Thus, this project constructs an Anti-Racist Anti-Racism Theology which reclaims guilt and shame as theological goods that God uses as anthropological course correctors to bring white people back to our humanness. Further, a “both/and” racial positionality highlights the need for a “both/and” form of catalyst grace simultaneously unconditional and conditional. As a bridge between theology and homiletics stands pedagogy. An Anti-Racist Anti-Racism Pedagogy uses the “both/and” racial positionality of white people to nuance Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed into a Pedagogy of the Oppressor. On the other side of the pedagogical bridge stands a “Both/And” Anti-Racism Homiletic grounded in Naming, Challenge, Repentance, and Hope.
Limits in scope create future opportunities for projects including but not limited to a full-length “Both/And” Anti-Racism Theology, a full-length “Both/And” Anti-Racism Pedagogy, or a practical course on how to teach the “Both/And” Anti-Racism Homiletic Model.
Table of Contents
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………01
Problem…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….01
Questioning “White People are Good” as Starting Point…………………………………………04
Method/ologies & Research…………………………………………………………………………………09
Racialized Socio-Political Positionality: Who I Write and Why I am……………..09
Additional Assumptions, Definitions, and Interpretive Frameworks……………..12
Subjectivity/Objectivity: Where’s/Why’s Michelle in All of This?.......................14
Method/s of Research and Accountability……………………………………………………19
Overview of Project / Outline of Chapters……………………………………………………………….22
Chapter One: Literature Review………………………………………………………………………………………28
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………………………….28
Preaching as Weeping, Confession, and Resistance SMITH, CHRISTINE ………………..31
Content Summary………………………………………………………………………………………31
Anti-Racism Strategy Presented…………………………………………………………………..32
Racism Perpetrated……………………………………………………………………………………35
“Anti-Racist Preaching” DUCHESNE, SUZANNE……………………………………………………39
Content Summary………………………………………………………………………………………39
Anti-Racism Strategy Presented………………………………………………………………….41
Racism Perpetrated……………………………………………………………………………………43
The Hermeneutics of Recognition HELSEL, CAROLYN BROWNING……………………….46
Content Summary………………………………………………………………………………………46
Anti-Racism Strategy Presented…………………………………………………………………..48
Racism Perpetrated…………………………………………………………………………………….49
Preaching in the Era of Trump ALLEN, WESLEY……………………………………………………53
Content Summary………………………………………………………………………………………53
Anti-Racism Strategy Presented…………………………………………………………………54
Racism Perpetrated…………………………………………………………………………………..55
Who Lynched Willie Earle? WILLIMON, WILL……………………………………………………..59
Content Summary………………………………………………………………………………………59
Anti-Racism Strategy Presented…………………………………………………………………..61
Racism Perpetrated ……………………………………………………………………………………62
“Towards ‘Biblical’ Preaching about Race and Racism” HELSEL, CAROLYN …………….69
Content Summary………………………………………………………………………………………69
Anti-Racism Strategy Presented…………………………………………………………………..70
Racism Perpetrated…………………………………………………………………………………….72
Summary…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….74
Chapter Two: Before I Preach, I A.C.T. – An Anti-Racist Anti-Racism Theology…………………….76
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………….76
Articulated Context Theologies (A.C.T.)……………………………………………………….76
Anti-Racist Anti-Racism Theology ………………………………………………………………77
Torture and Eucharist: Reclaiming Theology with an A.C.T……………………………………..78
Reclaiming Guilt & Shame for an Anti-Racist Anti-Racism Theology…………………………82
Cartographies of Grace: Particularizing Theology with an A.C.T. ……………………………..87
Particularizing Race for an Anti-Racist Anti-Racism A.C.T. ……………………………………88
The Wounded Heart of God: Reimagining Theology with an A.C.T. ………………………….94
Reimagining Grace for an Anti-Racist Anti-Racism A.C.T…………………………………………97
An Anti-Racist Anti-Racism A.C.T. – A Theology of Responsibility for White Folks…..106
Chapter Three: Pedagogy of the Oppressor: An Anti-Racist Anti-Racism Pedagogy………………109
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………..109
Pedagogy of the Oppressed: Conscientization for Direct Targets of Oppression…………111
Pedagogy of the Oppressor: Conscientization for Perpetrators of Oppression…………….116
An Anti-Racist Anti-Racism Pedagogy for the Oppressor: Learning Objectives and
Learning Engagements………………………………………………………………………………124
Summary of the Four Areas for the Oppressor……………………………………………..124
An Anti-Racist Anti-Racism Pedagogy for White Folks…………………………………126
Anti-Racist Anti-Racism Learning Engagements………………………………………….137
Anti-Oppression Covenants…………………………………………………………….138
Interrupting and Dismantling White Fragility…………………………………141
Chapter Four: Woe to You Means Us: An Anti-Racist Anti-Racism Homiletic……………………..149
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………………………149
Prophetic Preaching……………………………………………………………………………………………150
Naming……………………………………………………………………………………………………152
Naming the Already – Naming the Not Yet……………………………………….153
Naming What People Can’t See, Won’t See, or Can See but Won’t Say…153
Naming Justice – Naming Hope………………………………………………………154
Naming the Fluidity between Privilege and Oppression……………………155
Naming Progress – Naming Celebration………………………………………….156
Challenge………………………………………………………………………………………………….157
Stand for Change……………………………………………………………………………157
Stand for the Possibility of Change…………………………………………………157
Offer the 3rd Option………………………………………………………………………..158
Repentance………………………………………………………………………………………………158
Authentic Repentance Includes both Words and Actions……………………159
Repentance Calls Us All to Stand within Those Guilty of Ism or Issue…159
God Offers Repentance to All – and All Means All…………………………….160
Hope………………………………………………………………………………………………………160
Hope Remembers the Good News of God is Actually Good News……….160
Hope Remains amid Challenge because the Goal of God is the
Wholeness of All Creation……………………………………………………..161
Hope Can Serve as Naming, Challenge, and Offer of Repentance……….161
Hope Frees Hearers to Act Differently……………………………………………..162
God Provides Hope for Both Immediate and Eschatological Change…..162
An Anti-Racist Anti-Racism Homiletic for White Preachers: Naming, Challenge,
Repentance, & Hope…………………………………………………………………………………163
Naming in an Anti-Racist Anti-Racism Homiletic……………………………………….164
Challenge in an Anti-Racist Anti-Racism Homiletic……………………………………..167
Repentance in an Anti-Racist Anti-Racism Homiletic…………………………………..170
Hope in an Anti-Racist Anti-Racism Homiletic ……………………………………………173
Chapter Five: After Dismantling the “White People Are Good” Philosophical Tautology………..178
Conclusion Summary……………………………………………………………………………………………178
Future Projects……………………………………………………………………………………………………187
Non-printed Sources……………………………………………………………………………………………………...188
Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….189
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