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A Theo-Ethical Analysis of Black Identity in Black Theological Discourse

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A Theo-Ethical Analysis of Black Identity in Black Theological Discourse University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 1-1-2018 "Traditioning" Blackness: A Theo-Ethical Analysis of Black Identity in Black Theological Discourse Ben Sanders III University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Ethics in Religion Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Sanders, Ben III, ""Traditioning" Blackness: A Theo-Ethical Analysis of Black Identity in Black Theological Discourse" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1442. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/1442 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. “Traditioning” Blackness: A Theo-Ethical Analysis of Black Identity in Black Theological Discourse __________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the University of Denver and the Iliff School of Theology Joint PhD Program University of Denver __________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy __________ by Ben Sanders III June 2018 Advisor: Dr. Theodore M. Vial ©Copyright by Ben Sanders III 2018 All Rights Reserved Author: Ben Sanders III Title: “Traditioning” Blackness: A Theo-Ethical Analysis of Black Identity in Black Theological Discourse Advisor: Dr. Theodore M. Vial Degree Date: June 2018 ABSTRACT The emergence of James Cone’s black liberation theology in the late-1960s and early 1970s marked both a radical challenge to and a historical transformation of the fields of religious and theological studies. Building on Cone’s work, black theological discourse has developed a rich tradition of religious and academic inquiry characterized by its commitment to interpreting Christianity in particular, and religious experience more broadly, from the vantage point of oppressed black people. This dissertation shows that James Cone developed a particular understanding of black identity in his early works and, furthermore, that various scholars have critically engaged this conception of black identity in both explicit and implicit ways. I argue that retaining and developing black theology’s commitment to the lived experiences of oppressed black people requires clarifying the meaning of black identity in light of the complex socio-economic realities that characterize black life in the 21st-century. Borrowing from the work of Latin American theologian Orlando Espìn, this dissertation identifies and interprets outstanding examples of critical engagement with Cone’s coneption of blackness as moments of “traditioning.” Traditioning marks the ongoing and inevitable process of contesting and reshaping theological realities. This dissertation, then, analyzes the ongoing contestation and reshaping—traditioning—of black identity in black theological discourse. Through this analysis, this dissertation seeks to maintain and develop black theology’s ii revolutionary commitment to the oppressed by refracting this commitment through the lens of the historic socio-economic stratification that characterizes black life in the 21st century. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The labor of this dissertation was supported by so many wonderful people; I will only be able to name some of them here. I am grateful to my advisor Dr. Ted Vial for his insightful and timely feedback on earlier drafts of this work, and for his faithful support of me as a scholar and human being. To the rest of my committee, Dr. Edward Antonio, Dr. Nancy Wadsworth, and Dr. Gary Dorrien, thank you for all the ways you have inspired and shaped this project, and for sticking with me over the years. As I worked to finish this dissertation, I was called to the wonderful faculty at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. I am grateful to my (current and former) faculty colleagues at Eden for a level of support and patience that is too rare in the theological academy. You all cheered me on as I labored to finish this work while simultaneously growing into a faculty member. What a wonderful gift! I could never name all the mentors, colleagues, and friends who have helped me reach this point, but you know who you are. I cherish you all. I am profoundly grateful to my family for endowing me with the love and courage necessary to begin and finish this work. To my (late) grandmother, Phyllis Ann Jackson; my parents, Tonia R. Jackson and Bennett T. Sanders; my siblings, Towan, Denzel, and Simone; all my aunties, uncles, cousins, and ancestors. I love you all. Finally, to my partner, Lyz: thank you for being my teammate, believing in me, and standing with me in valleys and on mountaintops. Thank you for helping me format this work and for reminding me to step away from it, when necessary. I love you and could not have finished this project without you. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 “Traditioning” as Method ........................................................................................... 4 Chapter Outline .......................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 1: Blackness in the Theology of James H. Cone ............................................... 10 The Emergence of James Cone’s Black Liberation Theology ..................................... 11 “Blackness” in Cone’s Theology ............................................................................... 19 The Religious and Theological Politics of Blackness: early critiques of Cone ............ 28 Traditioning Blackness in Cone’s Theology ............................................................... 35 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 38 Chapter 2: The Expansion of Blackness in Womanist Theology .................................... 40 “Blackness” in Womanist Theo-Ethics ...................................................................... 47 Traditioning Blackness in Womanist Thought and Action .......................................... 54 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 58 Chapter 3: Black Identity and Postmodernity ................................................................ 61 From Modernity to Postmodernity ............................................................................. 62 Victor Anderson’s Postmodern Critique of “Ontological Blackness” ........................ 65 (Post)modernity and Black Identity ........................................................................... 71 Traditioning Black Identity vis-à-vis Postmodernity .................................................. 75 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 80 Chapter 4: Black Identity and the Problem of Racial Theology ...................................... 82 J. Kameron Carter’s Race: A Theological Account ................................................... 84 Black Theology as Racial Theology ........................................................................... 87 Traditioning Black Identity vis-à-vis Racial Theological Discourse ........................... 96 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 101 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 106 Why Tradition Blackness? ....................................................................................... 106 Toward Robust Blackness for 21st Century Black Theological Discourse ................. 111 Limitations and Opportunities Future Research ...................................................... 121 Bibliography ............................................................................................................... 124 v INTRODUCTION This dissertation was born on November 24, 2014—not four months after the body of Michael Brown, Jr. laid in the street for four hours after being killed by Officer Darren Wilson of the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department on August 9th. I was in San Diego for the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) when Barack Obama, the first black President of the United States of America, addressed the grand jury’s decision not to indict Officer Wilson in Brown’s killing. President Obama was solemn and measured, conducting himself with the respectable poise that characterized so much of his presidency. Reflecting a strong understanding of how ideologically divided the nation is, President Obama noted that the grand jury’s decision would have been controversial either way. And then, with the eyes of the country and the world fixed on him, the first black President spoke words that I will likely never forget: “First and foremost, we are a nation built on the rule of law.”1 I was crushed. I do not know what I was expecting the President to say on that day. I do not think I held any clear expectations; my mental and emotional capacities were still finding the way through the deep, dull but all too familiar pain of having been 1 “President
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