Rhetoric Race and Religion
R3 Editor
The week of January 11-16, 2015, I taught an immersion class in Ferguson, Missouri. These are some of my reflections of that week.
Last semester, I taught African American Religious Thought. The course focused on the religious thinking and interpretation of African Americans—both within and outside of the Black Church or Christian tradition. The particular offering this semester focused on published works of particular African American “theologians,” both of the systematic and public variety. In short, the class offers as a component, the religious thinking of both academic and lay theologians as they struggle to discern the sacred in and around their lives. I put particular interest on how theologies are constructed—thus creating what I have called rhetorical theology.
However, after the death of Mike Brown and the massive resistance of mainly young protesters in the city of Ferguson and across America, I decided to change the focus of the class to what I called the Ferguson Fiasco. In linking the issues and problems of Ferguson with those of the 1960’s I wrote
The issues and problems in Ferguson are reminiscent of the issues and problems in the late 1960’s….Back then, for many African Americans, the prevailing theology of the day did not speak for or to them. Today, many are asking for a theological response to the unrest and tensions in Ferguson. With this class, I hope to move it from a merely academic pursuit of theological inquiry and place student reflection within a context that begs for a theological response.
By all accounts, the class went over well. Students really engaged the readings, did deep theological reflection, and pushed their own theological boundaries. However, this is not to say that students—many of them church leaders—came to the class with some of the same questions others have when talking about Ferguson. Many of them asked about the looting, destruction of property and the “violence” of protesters. Some wanted us to address “black on black crime” while others wondered aloud what would marching and protest do anyway. While we did address those and other concerns, I kept asking the class, “What should be the theological response to the killing on an unarmed Michael Brown and how the church can help facilitate that discussion?” “Does the church have a role?” These and others questions kept us focused on their role of the church and how the Black religious thought tradition has spoken to injustices in the past. After much reflection and discussion, on the last day of class, we put together our response to Ferguson.
For our J-term semester and building upon the African American Religious Thought class, I decided to offer our Urban Theology class. Typically, classes in urban theology explore and focus on the current dynamics found in urban society that call and challenge the church to re-examine ways of ministry. In addition, it allows students to examine their own theological positions as they specifically relate to urban situations of poverty, addiction, racism, sexism, violence, unemployment, environmental toxicity, prison, and inadequate education.
I decided however, as with the African American Religious Thought class, to focus this course offering on Ferguson as well. Drawing from their particular ministry location and realizing that any authentic theology must be contextual, I expected students to examine their own theological positions through the contextual lens of the Ferguson Fiasco. In this class, among other things, we examined how an urban theology would speak to the events and happenings in Ferguson. Additionally, we also examined how people constructed the “sacred” in all that occurred in the aftermath of Michael Brown’s death.
While I thought I had the making of a good class, there was something missing. I had collected many of the writings here and here on the events of Ferguson. I had selected three good textbooks that I thought would help students reflect on the happenings in Ferguson. I also thought I did a good job with assignments. In short, I thought that the lectures, readings, videos and student reflections would make a great J-term class—but something was still missing from the class. Then it hit me—we needed to be in Ferguson. In other words, this class needed to be an immersion experience. We needed to get out of the classroom and experience—as much as possible, the sights, sounds, and situations that make up Ferguson.
We needed to listen to protesters and activists. We needed conversations with pastors and church leaders who have been ministering in this situation. We needed to see the place where Darren Wilson shot and killed Mike Brown. We needed to see the burned and boarded up buildings. We needed to talk with people tear gassed and shot with “rubber bullets” by law enforcement officials. We needed to listen to guest speakers who would come to and give us testimony. We needed to stand with those who stand in the street and experience life through their eyes. We needed to see how people are coming together and standing with each other against all odds. We needed to see how those who protest still find time to relax, have fun, and enjoy each other’s company. We needed to see this and much more if this class was to be meaningful for any of us.
However, we also needed someone else—we needed a host. We needed someone to help us navigate our time in Ferguson—someone close to the situation. Someone touched and shaped by the happenings in Ferguson. Enter Deb Krause, academic Dean at Eden Theological Seminary. On the recommendation of my colleague Peter Gathje at Memphis Theological Seminary, I contacted Deb to ask about the possibility of our class meeting at Eden. I also gently asked if she or someone could just point us in the right direction to meet and listen to some of the people of Ferguson while we were there. Not only did she agree to do this, but she also arranged housing for us on campus.
With classroom space, a host, and now a place to stay, I headed to Ferguson. Little did I know just how much impact this class would have on my ministry. Little did I know just how much this class would (re)shaped my theology. Little did I know just how much this class would reorient my teaching. Little did I know just how much transformation wa
s about to happen.
To be Continued…….
Read Part 2 here
Follow Andre on Twitter @aejohnsonphd
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