Having led a congregation in Santa Barbara for 36 years and running, I understand the importance of pastoral responses to troubled times. Religious leaders of all stripes are invited to be present during people’s most difficult experiences.
We seem to be at a national inflection point, because white dominance knelt on George Floyd’s neck, just as it has knelt on our collective neck for four centuries. I have heard white church leaders calling for prayers to “heal our divided nation,” but the only healed America Black people know is in our dreams. In this moment, we are not thinking of healing the nation; we are gasping for breath.
“White dominance,” “white supremacy,” and “white nationalism” are terms that are rarely ever studied, even uttered, by white people, including many Christians, and especially white evangelicals, but they pose an ongoing threat to the well-being of African Americans.