“How do we really know that God cares when Black people are
still getting killed? How long do we have to wait for the justice of
God? I get it, that Christ is Black, but that doesn’t seem to be
helping us right now.”
These questions
from her son prompted theologian Kelly Brown Douglas to undertake
this soul-searching reflection. The killing of George Floyd and the
ongoing litany of Black victims raised questions about the
persistence of white supremacy in this nation, leading her to reflect
on how a “white way of knowing” has come to dominate American
identity and even to shape the consciousness of Christians.
In exploring the
message of Confederate monuments and the “Make America Great Again”
slogan, she examines the failures of even “good white Christians”
and struggles with the hope that “Black Lives Matter,” before
reaching deep into her own experience and the faith of Black folks to
find her way back to Resurrection Hope.