I spent a few days in Albuquerque, New Mexico filming for Freedom Road. I was one of four panelists who were invited to talk about “Decolonizing our Faith”. It was a riveting conversation hosted by Lisa Sharon Harper and each panelist Dr. Reggie Williams, Dr. Randy Woodley, Kat Armas and myself shared our thoughts on colonialism, postcolonialism, settler colonialism, whiteness and deconstruction.
There was much agreement among the panelists that we all need to decolonize our faith from white European patriarchal Christianity. The problem of dualism which is so embedded in western thinking and western Christianity has been detrimental to our practice of faith and being. There is also the problem of whiteness in Christianity which believes one group is better than another and this leads to colonialism, racism, domination and subjugation.
As we continued to film and share our thoughts, I was glad that my forthcoming book When God Became White actually addresses and discusses much of these topics head on.
I am presently going over the typeset pageproofs of my manuscript but wanted to share a few quotes from the book. I write in my book When God Became White,
“Racial identity is fluid and changes over time because white is relational term, and it is present only in opposition to other classifications in the racial pyramid, which is ordered and created by whiteness. By defining “others” as inferior, subordinate, and less than, whiteness is able to define itself. Whiteness is a socially and politically constructed idea that is distinct but not separate from ideas of class, country, gender, and sexuality.”
It is crucial for us to understand how race is connected to almost everything. I continue to write,
White is a created category of race that has no biological/scientific foundation. Whiteness on the other hand, is a compelling and convincing powerful social construct with tangible, destructive, and violent effects. Whiteness is a cultural space with political power and privilege with a goal and an agenda to keep people of color marginalized, oppressed, and subordinated. Whiteness is a learned behavior that is multidimensional, complex, extensive, and systemic, which becomes a powerful tool for white people.
It was an honor to be invited to be part of this filming by Freedom Road led by Lisa Sharon Harper. I hope that the film will be helpful to many who use view it in the churches and faith communities.
You can listen to a short segment of me discussing how we need to decolonize our faith on my TikTok.
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Thank you, Grace, for sharing! I look forward to your book! ❤️