The third episode of the Church and Racism looks at the historical period immediately after the civil war and into the early 20th century. We look at the biblical story of Noah and his son Ham and the interpretation that undergirded a belief in divine blessing and curses on race and the divine sanction of slavery. We look at the theology of the Ku Klux Klan in its first and second iterations. And we see the fine line that ideologically distinguishes Christians white supremacists and Christian anti-racists.
As we continue to build up on our learning of the Church and racism, we will unpack some of the internalized and unconscious (or even subconscious) traits of racism as I share my experience.
For an immigrant woman like me, the Book of Ruth is an invaluable scriptural resource for me to reflect on the internalized racism that shapes identity as well as behavioral patterns of both the oppressed and the privileged in this binary relationship. Added to that are the complexities of our identity formation in terms of gender, race, class, culture and religious backgrounds.
The relationship between Ruth and Naomi doesn’t quite fit into a clear-cut binary. However, their different mixture of oppression and privileges nonetheless creates traits of internalized racism in their personal relationship. When Naomi and Ruth lost their husband, they also lost their financial security and safety. They were left to make a critical decision for their survival. We’ll see how Ruth’s socio-economic status as well as her cultural customs and traditions influence her decisions and how subversively she managed to live her life and became a part of God’s redemptive story.
