{"id":33123,"date":"2023-10-18T17:34:29","date_gmt":"2023-10-19T00:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=33123"},"modified":"2023-10-01T17:43:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-02T00:43:07","slug":"domination-and-dignity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/domination-and-dignity\/","title":{"rendered":"Domination and Dignity"},"content":{"rendered":"

The creation story of Genesis 1-2 depicts the Creator of all known reality ordering the nonfunctional, nonordered (\u201cformless and void\u201d) world. The Creator then creates in his image the human representatives, Adam and Eve, to co-rule with him as his vice-regents. The divine order involved humans exercising dominion (Genesis 1:28) under the supreme reign of God. This is where the humans failed. They decided to disobey, thus breaking the divine order.[1]<\/a> As the story progresses, we see the horrific reality of a new force in the world: domination.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Black Dignity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Black Dignity[3]<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, written by the Villanova religious studies and theology professor Vincent Lloyd, engages with this concept of domination through the lens of black movements, authors, philosophy, and practices. The critical idea Lloyd posits is that dignity is a struggle against domination.[4]<\/a> Lloyd\u2019s definition of domination is \u201cthe capacity of one to arbitrarily exercise her will on another.\u201d[5]<\/a> This is most clearly expressed in the domination of white slave owners over black slaves. In a world that has often understood dignity to be \u201cnobility,\u201d Lloyd calls for resistance against the systems that dominate the human soul as the truest form of dignity.[6]<\/a> Lloyd contends that as with domination being most clearly seen in white slave owners forcing their will on black slaves, so dignity is most clearly seen in the resistance to domination systems of whiteness by black individuals.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

Area of Agreement<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lloyd writes, \u201cStruggle against domination means struggle against amorphous but deeply entrenched systems that include racial domination.\u201d[8]<\/a> Lloyd writes extensively about racist systems of domination. I agree with Lloyd on this, and would argue that race is a social construct utilized to justify the domination of people groups.[9]<\/a> This social construct of racialized differences that does not in actuality exist has created racialized systems of race-based social stratification.[10]<\/a> In other words, race-based difference is a non-existent reality that has become existent due to human systems of domination and privileging groups based on race.<\/p>\n

Because of this reality, we now face \u201cdeeply entrenched systems\u201d of white supremacy that need to be recognized, dismantled, and replaced with equitable systems for human flourishing. According to William Stringfellow,<\/p>\n

White supremacy has been so pervasive and so seldom challenged–as the fundamental ethic of society that it has left to contemporary-Americans. both white and black, an inheritance of racism often not readily recognized as such. It has become so deeply embedded in the basic institutions of society in education, the law, politics, the economy, in religion-that it is taken for granted.[11]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Followers of Jesus must be vigilant to this pervasive and insidious form of domination and do what we can to recognize, dismantle, and replace these systems with more just systems.<\/p>\n

Concerns and Questions Left Unanswered<\/strong><\/p>\n

The issue I had with Vincent Lloyd may be due to the fact that he is an academic and not, to my knowledge, a practitioner. Therefore, his argument for the dismantling of all systems of domination (with a particular focus on prisons) leads to his call to action: abolition.[12]<\/a> The practicality of this was concerning for me. It seems the logical conclusion of his call to action is disorder and anarchy. Yes, Lloyd\u2019s hope is that there are local, grassroots movements that replace the systems of domination. But, if human nature has taught us anything, often when there is power removal with a subsequent power vacuum, the cycle of oppression and domination usually continues but with different people in power. Coleman Hughes pressed Lloyd about his stance on prison abolition on his podcast, to which Lloyd did not provide clear answers other than deferring to grassroots movements to come up with solutions.[13]<\/a> Again, I recognize that Lloyd is an academic, not a practitioner. This is not his area of expertise. But calling for abolition without providing solutions is problematic.<\/p>\n

A Return to Eden<\/strong><\/p>\n

The reality of domination is here due to the curse of Genesis 3. This curse was brought on by humanity\u2019s desire for ultimate dominion rather than caring for their limited dominion under the rule of God. The return to God\u2019s Edenic vision will involve choosing to dismantle domination in our hearts, in our world, and instead live lives of loving stewardship of the sub-dominions God has entrusted us with.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> For a fuller understanding of the creation story and humanity\u2019s dominion (and failure to exercise dominion under the dominion of God) see chapter four of Sandra L. Richter, The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament<\/em> (InterVarsity Press, 2010).<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> This is seen in patriarchy\u2019s introduction in Genesis 3:16 and the murder of Abel by his brother in Genesis 4.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Vincent W. Lloyd, Black Dignity: The Struggle against Domination<\/em> (Yale University Press, 2022).<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid. 8.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid. 10.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Ibid. 133.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Ibid. 14, 18.<\/p>\n

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

[9]<\/a> This idea is the thesis of Willie James Jennings, The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race<\/em> (Yale University Press, 2010).<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> This would be view three of Eduardo Bonilla-Silva\u2019s three views of racism, as seen in J.R. Woodward, The Scandal of Leadership: Unmasking the Powers of Domination in the Church<\/em> (Cody, WY: 100 Movements Publishing Academic, n.d., 2023), 196.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Ibid. 195.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Lloyd, Black Dignity<\/em>, 135.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> Debating Race and Incarceration with Vincent Lloyd<\/em>, 2023, https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=c8iuEprjv6I, 1:40:00-1:54:20.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The creation story of Genesis 1-2 depicts the Creator of all known reality ordering the nonfunctional, nonordered (\u201cformless and void\u201d) world. The Creator then creates in his image the human representatives, Adam and Eve, to co-rule with him as his vice-regents. The divine order involved humans exercising dominion (Genesis 1:28) under the supreme reign of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"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":[2836,2007,2841,2843,1678,2842],"class_list":["post-33123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-lloyd","tag-dlgp","tag-domination","tag-hughes","tag-racism","tag-stringfellow","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33123","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\/152"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33123"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33124,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33123\/revisions\/33124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}