Monday, October 30, 2006

Every drop of blood drawn with the lash

I'm continuing my series that will look at the importance of black theology in our American Christian lives. Rebecca, you should know that this series will finally explain why I reference James Cone as though he is someone who ought to be listened to. :)

Today's column is a look at the history of slavery and how white Americans relate to that history.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Julie...

Wanted you to know I'm reading along. I don't have any comments right now, but am looking forward to reading the future columns. I'm trying to be in listening mode instead of reply mode. ;-) Always good practice for little ol' opinionated me!

BTW- Have you seen trailers or info on the movie the Color of the Cross? It looks very interesting. www.colorofthecross.com

Unknown said...

That's what this week's column is actually about, isn't it? Listening first. That's just what I'm trying to do and in fact, this week's column and the ones up-coming are about what I've heard when I've listened to this other way of living faith.

Thanks for responding.

I haven't seen that movie promoted. I'll go look into it.

Julie

Anonymous said...

All I can say is wow. Julie, you have captured this story in a way that I have never thought of. I'm guessing that is why you are writing it - for people like me. Great Job! Look forward to reading more.

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed the writing of this piece, even if the topic is challenging to read about. Thank you for taking this on.

SUSAN said...

Powerful piece, Julie. Almost too painful to think about, read about, ponder but I will. It's necessary to understand the dark side of history along with the bright side.

Susan

NoVA Dad said...

Julie, fantastic column -- it's a part of our national history that has been swept under the rug far too often, but a part that we must continue to remember and reflect upon every day, in dealings with those in our nation as well as our actions in response to the treatment of others around the world. I'm going to link it to my blog for others to read.....

- Matt

Bilbo said...

Hi Julie,

Nice piece of work. I read a book a couple of years ago called Divided by Faith: Evangelcal Religion and the Problem of Race. I really, really, liked the book and if or when you get time you might want to check it out...Bill

Unknown said...

Bilbo, do you have an author?

Matt, thank you.

Thanks to all of you. This is one of those topics that changed my life so I look forward to putting it into some kind of coherence to share.

Julie

Unknown said...

Btw, the title of the column was not mine. My editor drew it from Lincoln's second inaugural address which is linked from the column itself.

Julie

Chuck said...

We heard James Cone speak on Sunday morning in Dayton. His sermon focused on the correlations between the cross and the lynching tree. One of his three texts was the lyrics of Strange Fruit, a song performed by Billie Holliday in the late 1930s.

The sermon was truth-telling at it's best. He referred to bestowing "eschatological meaning" upon the lynching deaths as a part of redemption. Although he only mentioned Bonhoeffer in passing, I'm assuming he expands upon the commonalities between the Afro-American and Jewish holocausts in his other writings.

Bilbo said...

Hi Julie,

Sorry for forgetting the authors. The book is co-authored by Michael O.Emerson and Christian Smith. They are both sociology profs at Rice and the University of North Carolina, repectively...