5 Quotes by Chanequa Walker-Barnes

To put it bluntly, much of what passes for racial reconciliation among Christians is merely an exercise in making sure Black men and other men of color have the same access to male privilege as their White counterparts do.

Where is the space for lamenting the suffering of African-American women in a theological and societal context that teaches them that their contemporary suffering is divinely ordained and is the salvation of the race?

White America’s trust in the system and related belief in its own merit pose a frequent roadblock in racial reconciliation. Many Whites in these settings are fine with discussing White supremacy as an abstract principle, or a historical artifact, or even as an ongoing reality in the lives of people of color. But they are highly resistant to examining their own privilege or to the suggestion that any element of their success may be the product of racial privilege.

White supremacy means that, more often than not, US structures and systems – and the authorities who govern them – were designed to protect White interests and to maintain White dominance in all areas of society. Thus, White Americans are more likely to trust the system because they have been able to count on the fact that it will work in their favor. Moreover, in the cases where the system does not work in their favor, they could assume that it was due to some factor other than their race.

The modern church encourages African-American women to keep others’ vineyards, while neglecting their own, in two ways: by venerating Black women’s performance of strength and depending upon women’s labor and financial support to maintain the church, without providing equal opportunity for Black women to exercise their gifts in ministerial leadership; and by distorting Scripture in a way that encourages suffering and self-sacrifice among Black women.