Walking Together

Can Racism Be Overcome by a Postsecular Spirituality

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3971606
AutoresDouglas J Cremer (0000-0003-0330-0060, Woodbury University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2024
Volumen29
Número3-4
Páginas334-349
Fecha de publicación2024-05-18
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe European Legacy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1084-8770 • E-ISSN: 1470-1316
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10848770.2024.2301870
OpenAlexW4390819260
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas12

The continuing power of racist ideology threatens liberal democracy, for racism is more than a personal bias or a social construction. It is an ideological framework that reduces human beings to an existence along a color-coded spectrum, with people designated as “white” at the top of the hierarchy and people designated as “black” at the bottom. One has to see this ideology clearly in order to choose a proper response and then act accordingly. First, the reality of “race” has been exposed as unscientific and illusory, and as based not on biology or genetics, but on a legacy of empowerment for some and enslavement for others. Second, this racist ideology, part of our disenchanted, secular age, is exposed as a continuing form of enchantment in its manner of seeing the world, opening the possibility for a spiritual response. Third, dismantling this racist ideology requires a reimagining of “blackness” as a source of life and spirituality, as a way of countering and rewriting the dominant racist narrative. Fourth, a postsecular spiritualty, based on the work of Pope Francis—that emphasizes the importance of protecting our common human dignity, of caring for each other, and of “walking together”—can be engaged as a path for action in the battle against racism

Aesthetics · Dignity · Environmental ethics · Ideology · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Racism · Sociology · Spirituality · White supremacy · Gender Studies · Law · Pentecostalism and Christianity Studies · Philosophy