Critical Race Theory and the Gospel

by

Special to United Methodist Insight

CORRECTED Sept. 1 to fix dead links.

I have a master's degree in African and African American Studies from Clark Atlanta University with all the rights and privileges there on to appertaining. Clark Atlanta University is a historically black university that is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. And I got to be honest with you, there has been more conversation in the first six months of 2021 about critical race theory than there was in the entire master's degree program in African and African American Studies. That is because critical race theory is not central to African and African American Studies, it is just a part of the program.

Furthermore, critical race theory does not deal with white folks and skin color, or shaming white folks, that instead is Whiteness Studies, which was primarily developed by white academics. Some people have been conflating critical race theory with whiteness studies and scholars like Candace Owens, Voddie Baucham, Ben Carson, and Larry Elder do not have degrees in African or African American Studies, so they cannot be experts in critical race theory. Therefore, if you're listening to them, you are being hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray.

So, for all the parents who are going to school board meetings talking about you do not want critical race theory being taught to your children, black folks are scratching their heads, because most black people don't even know what critical race theory is. And therein lies the problem. Some white folks are not having conversations with black folks and are not sitting down at the Table of Brotherhood. Because somebody should have corrected you, and let you know that this critical race theory is not what you think it is. And they should have referred you to Whiteness Studies for a clearer definition about skin color and shaming.

Critical race theory deals with law. So, for example, Stop, Question, and Frisk was passed by New York City Council in 2001. The application of Stop, Question, and Frisk netted suspects, of whom 90% were black and Latino males. And I got to be honest with you, I grew up in Western New York, and even we knew that the mafia was active in New York City during the same time period. And I do not honestly believe that New York Police Department made a serious attempt to arrest members of the mob, so the FBI had to come in and put the mob bosses behind bars.

Critical race theory exposes how racism exists in the legal system, as well as racism that exists in our history, particularly in our textbooks and the representation of slavery and civil rights in textbooks. The conversation that began amongst conservative pundits when the New York Times began running the 1619 Project in the summer of 2019, celebrating the 400th anniversary of slavery in America. The 1619 project calls that the beginning of slavery is the real founding of the United States of America, which was followed by a response called the 1776 project.

But I am trying to figure out why this is a conversation in the Christian church? And I discovered that white Christians and black Christians are not sitting down at the Table of Brotherhood and having conversations with each other. And we have a percentage of the Christian church that is listening to black conservatives who are not in the black church.

So, here is what the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Men are going to do about this. Alpharetta First and Saint James UMC met for a Bible study and prayer online last summer, and we are going to begin to expand that ministry. One white church and one black church sitting down at the Table of Brotherhood to have conversations over the bible and prayer. So that is how we are going to handle this manufactured controversy on critical race theory.

Now for those of you who believe that if you just preach the gospel all the problems of race will go away, you need to read the Book of Acts. Peter and Paul had a serious dispute over the Gentiles, Paul and Barnabas had a dispute over Mark, and the Jews who spoke Greek had a dispute with the Jews who spoke Hebrew over the daily distribution of food. So, if you think that just preaching the gospel is the solution to racism, read the Book of Acts. If you really want to deal with race, then we must sit down at the table and talk about it.

For more information on what the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Men are doing across racial lines, visit https://www.btgfellowship.com/ for more information.

Odell Horne, Jr. is the president of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Men.