racism

Americans have always believed that the devil likes to play politics. Colonial leader Henry Hugh Brackenridge claimed in 1778 that Satan inspired George III’s allegedly ruthless policy toward the colonies. Two decades later, Federalists claimed that the nascent Democratic Party had put forward the antichrist as a presidential candidate in the form of Thomas Jefferson. Later Jedidiah Morse, inventor of Morse code and end-times enthusiast, explained to audiences the Devil’s role in Jeffersonianism. He even claimed to have a list of Democrats who belonged to the Illuminati (though like Joe McCarthy, Morse never showed anyone his proof).

The History Channel miniseries The Bible has been alleged to continue this trend.

Django Unchained is an irreverent, profound and problematic exploration of America's original sin—and the power of a revenge fantasy.

The good news: the U.S. will now have the highest number of African-American senators ever.

The bad news: that number is two. Out of 100.

The nation's changing racial and ethnic profile will bring political change. But we can also expect it to elicit fear and resistance.

Race lies behind the widespread belief that Obama is a Muslim, was born outside the U.S. and is something other than a genuine American.

"The U.S has created a vast legal system for racial and social control, unprecedented in world history. Yet we claim to be colorblind."

Brian Bantum, a theologian at Seattle Pacific, was mentioned in the Century's recent article on the new black theology. Readers intrigued by that topic will be interested in Bantum's comments on a book on racial reconciliation written by a white Minneapolis preacher, John Piper.

Last
weekend, ESPN fired an editor who posted
a racially offensive
headline about NBA player Jeremy Lin; the
network also suspended an anchor who used the same term. And taking the Lin
coverage as a starting point, SNL produced a parody mocking a media double standard: stereotypes about Asian
Americans are acceptable, but stereotypes about African Americans are
offensive.

The
Lin media storm exposes the myth of a colorblind society. As much as we want to
believe in meritocracy, equality and individuality, we rely on racial
assumptions to make sense of the world and those around us. In many cases, the
assumptions carry real consequences.

"Not God bless America, God damn America!" bellowed Jeremiah Wright from his former pulpit.
"That’s in the Bible for killing innocent people." This sermon
quote--actually, usually just the "God damn America" part, stripped of any
context whatsoever--created a media frenzy, earned death threats for
Wright and jeopardized a then-parishioner's presidential campaign.

"I don't think God will continue to bless America," said Rick Santorum the other day, "if we continue to kill 1.2 million children every year." Unlike Wright, Santorum is himself a candidate for president. Yet two days later Google offers mostly crickets.

We hear stories of systemic discrimination on a constant basis. What are we going to do about it? 

When black theologians focused on nontraditional and extra-Christian sources, white theologians had an excuse to ignore them. Not anymore.

In Redeeming Mulatto, Brian Bantum
addresses the American tendency to understand race relations in binary terms.

Here's the ad Newt Gingrich has been running in South Carolina since Monday night's debate.

In The Help, set during the civil rights era, an aspiring
journalist decides to write a book about the African-American domestics
in the small Missis­sippi town where she grew up. The movie, adapted by
Tate Taylor from Kathryn Stockett's best seller, is a glossy Hollywood
potboiler that uses a serious theme and historical context as cover.