Rhetoric Race and Religion
Students in the Fall 2014 African American Religious Thought class at Memphis Theological Seminary created a statement regarding the #FergusonFiasco. Below is the statement.
The media, perhaps at the behest of the principalities and powers that Paul writes about, also continues to exploit and prey upon the fears of people. The media shifts the narrative from the peaceful, sustained and long-standing actions of the many, advocating for equal treatment of all human beings, toward the sporadic and unsanctioned violent acts of the few, which are not representative of the larger picture.
Therefore, we who are representatives of the church must commit to listening to our communities in order to identify pressing issues and further commit to walk side by side with that particular community in an effort to assist wherever we can. We realize that every community is unique in its makeup and therefore, rather than swallowing and regurgitating the “facts” fed to them by the principalities and powers, we further commit to being a conduit of change irrespective of religious beliefs. Moreover, the church must help individuals critically discern the lived realities around them. A church that does not value the lives of all its people and black people specifically, can no longer serve as the mouthpiece for any of the people.
While we believe that one of the answers to issues such as a Ferguson Fiasco is love, we also believe it is more important how we express that love. Love that grounds itself in the biases of inferiority and racist attitudes and beliefs is no type of love. However, we call for a love that listens, affirms and expressly state that black truth matters. We believe that until this happens, nothing else will change us; nothing else will move us forward.
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