Dark Witness: When Black People Should Be Sacrificed (Again)

The Rev. Lenny Duncan, here in May 2019, at the Metropolitan New York Synod Associates of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Courtesy of Lenny Duncan hide caption

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Courtesy of Lenny Duncan

The Rev. Lenny Duncan, here in May 2019, at the Metropolitan New York Synod Associates of the Evangelical Lutheran Church building in America.

Courtesy of Lenny Duncan

More than 90% of U.S. churches were closed at the superlative of the coronavirus pandemic. But since mid-April, more often than not white faith leaders take pushed to fill up their pews over again, suing governors over bans on big gatherings and joining "reopen" protests at state capitols. President Trump threatened to override governors who did not allow "essential places of faith to open correct now," flying in the confront of black pastors urging caution. African American deaths from COVID-19 are nearly twice as high every bit would be expected based on their share of the population.

The Rev. Lenny Duncan is a black preacher in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, one of the nation'south whitest Christian denominations. Every bit nationwide protests accept forced white Americans to talk nigh race, Duncan'southward longtime advocacy within the church has become all the more than relevant.

Formerly incarcerated and homeless, Duncan was attracted to the Evangelical Lutheran Church building in America's welcoming message of grace. But he believes the denomination — and the broader mainline Christian community — have failed to answer the telephone call to fight for racial justice and accost the church'due south inherent white supremacy. (Slaveholders justified slavery with Bible verses. The Ku Klux Klan staged parades with banners saying, "One God/One Country/One Flag." Segregated Christian schools thrived under the guise of religious freedom.)

In his volume Dearest Church: A Love Letter From a Black Preacher to the Whitest Denomination in the The states, Duncan writes: "Jesus is Trayvon Martin, armed only with a pocketbook of Skittles and an iced tea against an entire world that would rather hang him from a tree than dear him. Until we see this, we are lost."

I talked to Duncan almost his volume, the "demonic" force of white supremacy and the church building's role in society during a time of social distancing, social unrest and religious decline.

Our chat has been edited and condensed for clarity.

There'southward a growing motility among white evangelical faith leaders to agree in-person services again, and the president has supported these calls to reopen. What are your thoughts on this, considering how COVID-19 has ravaged communities of color?

Nosotros shouldn't be surprised that white Christianity is willing to sacrifice black and brownish bodies for the cause of their own personal salvation and relationship with Jesus Christ. That has been part of the history of the American church experience. Of course, they are willing to sacrifice black and brown bodies to hear a total-throated hymn. Of class, they are willing to sacrifice our communities for tithes and offerings. Of grade, they are willing to sacrifice the people I grew up with and call that patriotism. And some of them are fifty-fifty going a stride further and calling it biblical.

These pastors have completely aligned themselves with empire, the antithesis of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And information technology's by and large fueled past white supremacy. As soon as they heard that their communities were not going to behave the brunt of this pandemic, then they didn't care anymore. Before this pandemic, many of usa have already been incredibly aware of the way that our health intendance system is a disaster for black communities. Nosotros've already been calling out how white evangelical Christians take not loved their neighbor or cared about the cause of racial justice in this country.

Your volume Dear Church building was published almost a year ago today. What has the response been like?

The book had a discernible impact upon the denomination as a whole. In that location have been shifts. One of the things I talk most in the book is [the symbolism of Appearance] — painting blackness as ever in darkness, always every bit evil and bad, further abroad from the light of God and all that kind of language we use in our worship. There's been a big motility around pastors not wearing white robes, which is a silly thing that actually resonated with people — like, oh, I'm a white person wearing a white robe with a hood.

I believe that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America wants to be improve. They just don't know how. One of the things that we often underestimate with the power of white supremacy is that the people who are the sickest from it, oft exercise not know that they are infected with information technology. They tin can't recognize the cage around me every bit a black, queer person in this land, and they tin can't see the gilt one around themselves. That'south why in the book, I diagnosed information technology equally something that is demonic and otherworldly because of the way it seems to accept malevolence and intelligence above and across some of the convenient fools. Our president is a convenient fool for white supremacy.

Y'all said the people who are the sickest from white supremacy frequently don't know that they are infected with information technology. Fifty-fifty if white pastors are disregarding the impact of COVID-nineteen on people of color, white Americans incorporate most one-half of COVID-nineteen deaths .

That'due south the cunning thing about white supremacy is that non only does it e'er find a scapegoat, simply it always finds someone who'southward doing worse off than you. And information technology creates a narrative of white American invulnerability to what'south happening globally. We've always been able to atmospheric condition this tempest because America is so exceptional and it'south the city on the hill, it's blest and ordained by God. All of that is bulls***. The truth is that we have refused to engage in the global community as a state and our churches take refused to engage the local communities on the bug that Jesus actually cares near. If the Christian church in the 21st century does not dismantle white supremacy, there will be no Christian witness in fifty years in this land. Every church building will shut.

"Nosotros're all in this together" has get a clichéd phrase during the pandemic, and among Christians, there'southward a like desire for unity. A recent commodity called " Church building, Don't Let Coronavirus Divide You lot " encourages Christians who disagree about masks and social distancing to not guess 1 another. But in your book, yous write that Jesus was divisive.

In that location's a lot of bulls*** in the name of Christian unity, where people volition prepare aside the agenda of God in the name of Christian niceness. Christian niceness is a product of whiteness, and it's just as deadly every bit any of the other manifestations of white supremacy.

The well-nigh empathetic action right at present is intentional social distancing. That's what Jesus would exist telling us to exercise if we were gathering. Jesus was a man of color who was murdered by police enforcement and state-sanctioned violence for coup against the Roman Empire. That'southward not the boilerplate pastor in America. The average pastor in America placates the comforted and does zilch for the afflicted when we're actually called to afflict the comforted and comfort the afflicted.

What should the role of the church be — specifically very white denominations like the ELCA — in addressing killings of black Americans by police?

The last couple days have been incredibly traumatizing for blackness Americans. I spent most of the last 72 hours in my garden, planting flowers, listening to hymns and bursting into tears. Considering I'yard tired of Jesus literally saying, "I can't breathe," on the streets of America while everyone turns their back on him.

White denominations need to bear witness up, share their wealth and let people of color and street activists lead. They need to get connected to leaders on the basis and pour all their resources into bail funds and providing food and h2o. The church has lost our place in society and given up our opportunity to be leaders. Just we can exist chaplains to the revolution. We tin can offering spiritual care and comfort to those who are going to alter this land and who I truly believe are sent by God. We can show up as white churches to serve those people and get the hell out of their way.

Given Christianity'southward role in enabling white supremacy in this land, what steps can the church building take going forward to better those sins?

American Christianity needs a revival. I mean, it's by and large a whitewashed tomb with the ghost of Christianity haunting our churches. It's a group of people who assemble and like to recall virtually how they used to have downwardly empires with the power of God and make sure the marginalized are centered and offered salvation, mercy and grace. We tell stories of people who did those things, but we hardly ever do them ourselves anymore.

We need to acknowledge that a large portion of the American Christian earth will never commit to the task of dismantling white supremacy. The rest of us have to kickoff this piece of work with or without them, because the entire commonwealth is on the line. And beyond the republic — possibly the globe and ourselves. The church is a spiritual body beyond fourth dimension and infinite that has lasted ii,000 years and has watched the rise and fall of empires. We will survive this empire. And we volition take to be accountable for the deportment we took as it vicious.

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Source: https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2020/06/12/699611293/jesus-was-divisive-a-black-pastor-s-message-to-white-christians

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