Bible Matters: The Prophet Jeremiah, Michael Brown’s Murder in Ferguson, and Racism in America

Jeremiah claims that God is on the side of the oppressed and that any nation that practices oppression will fall. Judah oppressed the poor. Jeremiah warned the rulers of his nation to turn from their oppressive ways, or the nation would fall. Jeremiah’s message was political. It was for his nation and for every nation, including the United States. From the beginning, the United States has oppressed black people, first through slavery and now through continued racism that infects our housing, education, health care, employment, and criminal justice systems. Jeremiah gave his warning because he was hopeful that the nation could change. In light of the racism seen in Ferguson, can our systems of oppression change? These links provide hope:

Victoria Gaile’s A Mimetic Reading of the Ferguson Events

Race, Power, and Policy: Dismantling Structural Racism

Austin Channing Brown’s Black Bodies White Souls

Christena Cleveland’s The Cross and the Molotov Cocktail

David Henson’s Ferguson and the Assault on Black America

Janee Wood’s 12 Things White People Can Do Now Because of Ferguson

(For more in the Bible Matters series, click here.)