I Bring the Voices of My People
A Womanist Vision for Racial Reconciliation
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- $30.99
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- $30.99
Publisher Description
Disrupting the racist and sexist biases in conversations on reconciliation
Chanequa Walker-Barnes offers a compelling argument that the Christian racial reconciliation movement is incapable of responding to modern-day racism. She demonstrates how reconciliation’s roots in the evangelical, male-centered Promise Keepers’ movement has resulted in a patriarchal and largely symbolic effort, focused upon improving relationships between men from various racial-ethnic groups.
Walker-Barnes argues that highlighting the voices of women of color is critical to developing any genuine efforts toward reconciliation. Drawing upon intersectionality theory and critical race studies, she demonstrates how living at the intersection of racism and sexism exposes women of color to unique experiences of gendered racism that are not about relationships, but rather are about systems of power and inequity.
Refuting the idea that race and racism are “one-size-fits-all,” I Bring the Voices of My People highlights the particular work that White Americans must do to repent of racism and to work toward racial justice and offers a constructive view of reconciliation that prioritizes eliminating racial injustice and healing the damage that it has done to African Americans and other people of color.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Walker-Barnes (Too Heavy a Yoke), a theologian and clinical psychologist, presents an urgent, penetrating analysis of Christian racial reconciliation theory and practice that centers the voices of black women and other women of color. Beginning by noting the upsurge of white supremacist violence in the U.S., the author argues that racial reconciliation must reject the dominant model of antiracism work that primarily focuses on building interracial relationships and supporting "symmetrical treatment." Such a paradigm, which she terms the "interracial playdate" model, ignores that racism is not about friendship or feelings but is, instead, "an interlocking system of oppression that is designed to promote and maintain White supremacy." Walker-Barnes calls on readers to move toward a commitment to liberation, justice, and transformation through working in solidarity with others who share the goal of dismantling white supremacy. The author contextualizes racism as one component of intersectional oppression for example, as expressed through "gendered racism and racialized sexism." The alternative she suggests is confrontational truth telling about oppression, "prioritizing the narratives of women of color," establishing "networks of mutual support and empowerment," and reviving the Christian obligation to struggle in solidarity with the oppressed. "A distinct process is necessary for oppressors," she writes, "that of repentance and conversion." Walker-Barnes's important evaluation of racial reconciliation will be crucial for any Christian engaged in antiracist activism.
