{"id":29822,"date":"2022-12-08T19:25:19","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T03:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=29822"},"modified":"2022-12-08T19:25:19","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T03:25:19","slug":"religiosity-dressed-in-justice-clothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/religiosity-dressed-in-justice-clothing\/","title":{"rendered":"Religiosity Dressed in Justice Clothing"},"content":{"rendered":"

John McWhorter teaches, writes, and more recently gives many interviews. He teaches at Columbia University on subjects ranging from linguistics to music history to American studies. In \u201cWoke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America,\u201d[1]<\/a> McWhorter writes a book classified as American history development and status since the Emancipation, but it is anything but a dispassionate accounting of American history and the dynamics of racism. While his broad context is American history, the book comes across more as social commentary illumined by Enlightenment rationalism as he traces the development and impact of what he calls \u201cWoke Racism.\u201d He also offers an alternative path for addressing the impacts of historic and present-day racism through concrete policy and implementation recommendations.<\/p>\n

In this book, McWhorter postulates that one manifestation of anti-racism from what he terms the \u201chard left\u201d[2]<\/a> has all the markings of a religion.[3]<\/a> He writes, \u201cWith the rise of Third Wave Antiracism we are witnessing the birth of a new religion, just as Romans witnessed the birth of Christianity.\u201d[4]<\/a> This new religion believes being anti-racist through addressing power differentials\/issues of privilege must at the center of everything; it is the only thing that matters; it is the only thing that will bring justice. But, McWhorter argues, actual transformative acts of justice that would improve the lives of black people get lost in the religious-like fervor of pursuing the purity of anti-racist ideology and performance.<\/p>\n

In Chapters 1-2 McWhorter lays out his argument, noting the collection of tenets making up this school of anti-racism thought and practice alongside of also describing the components that transform this movement into a religion. Those components include the suspension of disbelief,[5]<\/a> people who act as preachers of this movement\u2019s core beliefs,[6]<\/a> this movement\u2019s notion of original sin,[7]<\/a> the movement\u2019s evangelical and apocalyptic zeal,[8]<\/a> the adherents\u2019 commitment to banning (canceling) those they deem to be heretics,[9]<\/a> and this movement\u2019s determination to \u201csupplant older religions.\u201d[10]<\/a> The way he describes these components called to my mind some of the dynamics of a cult, and I have certainly experienced the ethos of those adhering to this extreme manifestation of anti-racism as cultish.[11]<\/a> I found it curious that he didn\u2019t make this connection, but rather compared this movement to Christianity in a way that seemed more typical of someone not familiar with a healthy church that encourages freedom of conscience or someone who skeptically stands outside the community of Christian faith.<\/p>\n

In Chapter 3 McWhorter discusses what attracts people to this movement, unpacking the history and impact of critical race theory.[12]<\/a> He follows this in Chapter 4 by discussing how this movement, its ideology, and its practitioners (whom he calls the Elect) harms Black people.[13]<\/a> In this chapter he especially tackles the issue of identity, writing that the Elect call \u201c\u2026for everyone who isn\u2019t white to found their primary sense of self on not being white and knowing whites don\u2019t quite \u2018get\u2019 me<\/em>.\u201d[14]<\/a> Finally, in this last two chapters, McWhorter offers his own practical plan for addressing the impacts of racism in three key ways he believes will help Black people (end the war on drugs, teach children to read using phonics, and encourage vocational training as equally valid for preparing adolescents for adulthood)[15]<\/a> and offers steps for \u201cgetting real work done with the Elect around us.\u201d[16]<\/a><\/p>\n

In many ways this is the world I have been living in and trying to navigate, especially since 2017 when we experienced significant leadership changes in our national offices. Several new colleagues at that time embodied the characteristics of woke racism as described by McWhorter. It\u2019s been painful. At the same time, other new colleagues have truly helped guide our national staff into better practices of being a diverse team who sees and honors each other AND gets some practical transformation work done. What I found most discouraging is McWhorter\u2019s closing counsel that there is no discussion to be had with those who hold this Elect viewpoint.[17]<\/a> I certainly experience the challenge of engaging anyone who is ideologically driven to the point irrationality. I encounter this on both extreme ends of US life. At the same time, from my time living in the Middle East\/Western Asia, I have had the opportunity to listen in on conversations my local Christian colleagues are having with their Muslim counterparts on how best to engage radicalism in their context. And it is not just talk that they share, but they have also developed and implemented transformative actions. Radicalism stems from a different historical context than what we face in a US or European context, but it also shares many of the same features. My colleagues in the Middle East practice self-differentiation (Friedman) and have developed their antifragility capacities (Taleb). This gives them the courage they need to forge a new path (Bolsinger). Their example has encouraged me to stay engaged with my colleagues in the States at our national offices, to ask questions and share feedback, and to continue to contribute to our shared practical work. It has felt like some of the more extreme expressions of this woke ideology has receded and something more helpful and holistic is emerging.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> McWhorter, John H. 2021. Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America<\/em>. New York: Portfolio\/Penguin.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Literaturhaus Berlin, dir. 2022. John McWhorter\u202f\u00bbWoke Racism\u00ab\u202f-\u202f\u00bbHow a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America\u00ab<\/em>. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=itWUJmgneWE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> McWhorter., ix.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid., 23-24.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid., 25ff.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Ibid., 28ff.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Ibid., 30ff.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Ibid., 34ff.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Ibid., 43ff.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Ibid., 50ff.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> \u201cWhat Is a Cult? | Characteristics of a Cult & Behavior – Video & Lesson Transcript.\u201d n.d. Study.Com. Accessed December 9, 2022. https:\/\/study.com\/learn\/lesson\/cult-characteristics-types-behavior.html<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> McWhorter., 61ff.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> Ibid., 97ff.<\/p>\n

[14]<\/a> Ibid., 112.<\/p>\n

[15]<\/a> Ibid., 139ff.<\/p>\n

[16]<\/a> Ibid., 151ff.<\/p>\n

[17]<\/a> Ibid., 157ff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John McWhorter teaches, writes, and more recently gives many interviews. He teaches at Columbia University on subjects ranging from linguistics to music history to American studies. In \u201cWoke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America,\u201d[1] McWhorter writes a book classified as American history development and status since the Emancipation, but it is anything […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2482,2479,2032,2483],"class_list":["post-29822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-anti-racism","tag-john-mcwhorter","tag-self-differentiation","tag-woke-religion","cohort-lgp11"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29822"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29822\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29823,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29822\/revisions\/29823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}