Where did you all go?
7 February 2007 by Sandy, csj
Hmmm…no comments from anyone at all in the past week…what shall I make of that? I’m thinking it doesn’t make sense for me to continue the anti-racism thread if it’s only going to be a monologue.
So I’m asking myself, what is it I could share on this blog that would get more conversation going? Well, heck, I guess I’m asking you, too…last time I checked, I wasn’t a mind reader.
I can reccommend a few great books on the topic. But other than that I did not have anything o contribute.
Infected Chrisianity: A Study of Modern Racism
Alan Davis
McGill-Queen’s University Press
0773506519
A few weeks ago I mentioned reading trends, while I find myself in yet another one. I finished my course for the term yesterday, RS100L the History of Evil. In it I encountered again and again writings on racism. One of the books recommended by the Professor was Infected Christianity: A Study in Modern Racism by Alan Davies so I tracked down a copy of it and have been reading it. All I can say is WOW, this book will blow your socks off.
The Skull Measurer’s Mistake
Sven Lindqvist
Translated by Joan Tate
The New Press
182 pages
I have also over the last few years been reading a Swedish author in Translation Sven Lindqvist, I have now read a number of his books and just finished today The Skull Measurer’s Mistake: And Other Portraits of Men and Women Who Spoke Out Against Racism It is an amazing history of those who spoke out against racism. From 1764-1899 is a journey around the world, and the stories of those who spook out again racism. Both are books that will challenge the heart of a person to think differently.
Book Reviews and More
McEvoy’s Musings
Thanks, Steven, for the recommendations. I’m assuming that the title of the second book is suggestive of the (pseudo-) “scientific study” that tried to prove the existence of different races by measuring various dimensions of human skulls. And then we have scientists who claim that science is free of bias? Give me a break!
I think the posts you’re sharing on racism and privilege are so important. Don’t take silence as disinterest. As Americans in a country with a complex racial history, we are a bit socialized not to talk about race, but that doesn’t mean your insights are falling on closed hearts and minds.
Hmmmm…I guess this could be a comment or a whole blog topic in & of itself…
Lately, I’ve been thinking about the Gospel reading about Jesus & the Canaanite (or “pagan” or “Syro-Phoenician”
woman. (Matthew 15:21-28/ Mark 7:24-30) You know…the one where Jesus basically calls the woman a dog! (”It is not fair to take the children’s food & throw it to the dogs.” 
Personally, I can’t stand the reading. There are those who say that “dog” meant something different in Jesus’ time. I doubt it. If it meant something different, it would/should be translated as something different. All I see in the reading is “Jesus the Racist”. I’m sure there’s some redemptive value in the story–maybe it’s “Jesus the Racist who’s willing to be engaged by the ‘other’ person & be transformed”. I guess I just don’t like the idea of the Messiah being prejudiced/racist in the first place.
Is racism just another part of human nature? If so, what do we do with it? If not, how do we get beyond it?
Please help me on that one.
Thanks, Kari and Lisa, for the encouragement to keep the conversation going. I for one don’t think that racism is just another part of human nature. I believe that it is a social construction that was created to safeguard the privileges of white men (and yes, I do mean men…).
If it’s part of human nature, what would explain the apparent fact that we have a much bigger problem with racism in the U.S. than any other country in the world?
The Gospel reading you refer to always bothered me, also. Certainly part of what I get from it is Jesus’s willingness to grow and be transformed. But let me think on it some more…
I don’t know that we have a “much bigger” problem with racism in the U.S. than in any other country in the world. Perhaps, it’s being acknowledged & addressed more here than anywhere else. From what I understand, African & Middle Eastern immigrants are facing discrimination & racism throughout Europe right now, as are Asian immigrants in the Middle East an Latin American immigrants in Asia. I do believe that racism is the main cause of genocide, which tends to be more blatant in other parts of the world right now, although I think that Europeans might hold the genocide record in the slaughter of the Native Americans during colonization (25-30 million dead in a matter of something like 50 years?) prior to the founding of the United States, not to mention the enslavement of people of African descent throughout both the U.S. & South/Central America.
Kari, good point…I stand corrected…