Black Liberation Theology, Womanist Theology, and Social Justice

Introduction

Almost all liberation theologies and movements have arisen out of a non-religious context. The liberation movements of Latin Americans, Black Americans, American women, Black South Africans, and Asians have had ideologies that represent a break from conventional Christian theology.

As a shared assessment, liberation theologies promote thoughtful questions about the normative usage of religious Scripture, convention, and understanding in Christian theology. Liberation theologians stress that the leading theologies of the West have been utilized to support the conventional mandate of the time (Grant, "Black Theology" 320). The church and its representatives have been too content with whatever the ruling classes deemed feasible. The interpretation of God's word has remained flexible and open to whatever adjustments the reigning regime found convenient. This is one of the major reasons why the religious doctrine of the time never appealed to liberation theologians, whose views were consistently opposed by the political establishments of the day.

Paradoxically, the very criticism that liberation theology directs at classical theology has come to be directed back at liberation theories themselves. Just as many European and American theologians accepted the Western oppression woven into the theologies of the past, some liberation theologians have accepted the oppressive aspects of their own liberation struggles. The problem arises when one evil is replaced by another: when racism is abandoned, sexism is accepted. Where classism is questioned, racism and sexism flourish unchecked. And where sexism is rejected, racism and classism are often overlooked (Grant, "Black Theology" 320).

What is asserted in this essay is the position of the Black woman and the weight of assumptions surrounding her in liberation theory generally, and in Black Theology in particular. Black Liberation Theology offers a critique of classical theology and the way it harbors white supremacy and racial radicalism toward marginalized communities. While Black Liberation Theology has resisted white supremacy, it has largely ignored the issue of patriarchy, which is tightly bound to the problem of marginalization. This leaves women of color oppressed — and it is, ultimately, also a problem of intersectionality. The problem of racial tyranny is an imperative issue; however, it should not be elevated to a point where the freedom and rights of Black women are pushed aside.

The Black Liberation Movement and the theology it revolves around are deeply rooted in religious salvation. Its approach to Jesus is more literal — a poor, oppressed human being who rose from his trials as a free man, no longer a slave to the bounds of earthly existence. It is not difficult to see how this premise connects strongly with the Black Liberation Movement. The "Holy Spirit" is not merely holy, but also free. The image of God in the Black churches of the era was that of a grand entity who sets His believers free, much as He saved the Jewish slaves through Moses. James Hal Cone, a Black theologian and strong advocate of the Black Liberation ideology, spoke of God as the champion of the victimized, specifically the African-American community (Cone, "A Black Theology of Liberation" 56–57).

However, like most other theologies, Black Liberation Theology focuses on the Black man, not the Black woman. For Black women, oppression was a double-edged sword: racism and sexism. Their experiences and desire for freedom were overlooked, leading Black feminists to argue that Black Liberation Theology can only gain legitimacy once it discards all forms of bias — which necessarily means addressing both race and gender (Hopkins, 30). During the movement's earlier days, it catered almost exclusively to men; women of color were discriminated against in both white and Black churches.

Black Theology and Its Historical Context

The historical progress of the Black Church — its sessions and congregations within principally white churches — was driven by Black people's desire to preserve their human dignity and their need for basic fairness in an environment where the dominant social and ecclesial structures denied them these rights. Catholic and Protestant churches alike had conceded Christianity to the white supremacist agenda, adjusting the mandate of the powerful to conform to the then-prevalent social norms of segregation, servitude, and slavery.

Ecclesial institutions donned the white supremacist's cloak and legitimized a theology that allowed members to own slaves and restrict Black participation with a guilt-free conscience. Under the shelter of the Civil Rights Movement, a theological foundation for a specifically Black liberation theology was established. Black people's quest for liberation recognized and evaluated the structures and patterns of relationship that continued to devalue, abuse, and perpetuate the dehumanization of their race.

In the United States, the religious ideology of Christianity was distorted and concentrated into a vehicle for racism. This racist ideology legitimized Black oppression and was primarily focused on segregation and a white supremacist agenda. This gross misrepresentation of the faith led to a reevaluation of the Christian context and a re-centering of Jesus as the liberator and Messiah of the oppressed. A number of Catholic social-justice activists, including theologians, participated in a parallel struggle against poverty and subjugation in Latin America that also produced a Latin American liberation theology. While the premises were similar, these struggles spoke different languages and largely ignored one another. Black Liberation Theology was disregarded by many Latin American activists who, in their own biases, were blind to the racial struggle. Meanwhile, racial oppression emerged as the central cause of poverty and subjugation within the United States (Phelps, 673).

Black Liberation Theology focuses on the church's relationship with its followers and questions the ideologies it seeks to establish when it accommodates the powerful. Black Theology demands support for the oppressed in their fight against the culture of slavery and servitude. It challenged the church to renounce the dehumanization and oppression of suffering communities. The goal set for the church and the movement itself was the achievement of liberation and communion. Intra-ecclesial communion, ecumenical communion, and confronting public injustice were central themes at the 1985 synod. The church was expected to uphold the fundamentals of communion — a commitment to reconciliation, righteousness, and freedom for the Black population toward a new era of love. Commitment to liberation was directly linked to commitment to communion. Human freedom is a basic right, a prerequisite for an ethical existence. A community cannot be built upon the terms of slavery and servitude (Phelps, 673–74).

Black Theology and the Exclusion of Women of Color

Two assumptions emerge immediately when examining Black Theology: (1) there is no place for women of color in this theology, and (2) Black men are assumed to speak on behalf of Black women as well. Both assumptions must be challenged, as they are false. These assumptions restrict women of color to certain societal parameters and roles arising out of a male-dominated culture.

In a culture structured this way, men hold the authority to speak for women in all matters, and it is no coincidence that nearly all the recognized faces of Black Liberation Theology are men. This was an expected outcome of the disparity of power and status between the genders. Professional theology required a high level of intellect and formal training (Grant, "Black Theology and the Black Women" 322).

This "mastery" was naturally not expected of women from the outset. The parameters of intelligence and skill accommodated only men. Since time immemorial, men have been associated with reason and decision-making, while women were categorized as governed by instinct and emotion. Women were restricted to matters of the home, while men performed what was deemed the more vital work, including control over material resources. This classification of roles was not as clearly developed among enslaved people. However, since the liberation of Black Americans, the development of the genders has not been uniform, owing to the continued shadow of sexism.

This means that the Black male has gradually expanded his participation in male-centric society, while Black women have continued to bear the stereotypes and mistreatments of an earlier era. Just as the white woman had no genuine place in white theology other than as a vehicle for the white man's religious interpretations, Black women have had no real place in the development of Black Theology either. By assumption or by the logic of a patriarchal society, Black men have regarded it as natural to represent the entire Black community — men and women alike (Grant, "Black Theology and the Black Women" 322; Phelps, 677).

It could be argued that Black men's acceptance of the prevailing patriarchy is understandable given their history. Black male slaves were not able to benefit from patriarchy before liberation. They were not acquainted with the same social roles as the white male. When given the opportunity to act as protector and provider for Black women and children — as white men had done — they reproduced the same patriarchal dynamics of white male society, as far as the liberation of Black women was concerned. The Liberation Theory did not interrogate the concept of "masculinity," allowing the Black male to assume the rights of patriarchy in a manner indistinguishable from that of the white male. These definitions were accepted without inquiry. As a result, despite liberation, Black women simply experienced a change of masters within patriarchy-fueled ideologies of male control (Long, 37).

Black men must ask themselves: by what means can a white society defined by racial subjugation, expansionism, and domination provide the normative conception of womanhood for the Black community? Can the role of women, as defined by the white man, be considered free of the evils and abuses prevalent in the white community? The disparate status of the genders in the white community was never a model of freedom, nor was it meant to be replicated by Black people. By what method can a Black clergyman preach St. Paul's proclamation concerning women while ignoring or denying his decree concerning slaves? (Hopkins, 35). Many Black women are rightly angered to hear "liberated" Black men speak about the "place of women" in the same words and tones as the white masters they so publicly denounce.

The invisibility of Black women in theology exists because the theological enterprise was never extended to the women's sphere. The absence of Black women from the circles producing Black Theology means that the resulting theology cannot be said to serve the best interests of women of color. Feminist scholars have demonstrated how male theologians tend to produce ideas oriented toward male dominance. Women are either ignored or constrained by vague religious parameters. Given the persecution that Black people have endured, Black men should be especially sensitive to the abuse and injustice perpetuated against Black women in their own communities.

James Cone has stated that the task of Black Theology is to examine the very essence of the Bible and to understand the teachings of Christ from the perspective of the enslaved. Black people need to witness the gospel as inseparable from their suffering; only then can they find the will to break the bonds of servitude ("Black Theology and Black Power" 23). Is it accurate to say that the forces of liberation within the Black community are to be solely defined by the battle against racial prejudice? The answer is no. Sexism is an ugly reality within the Black community — related to, but distinct from, the reality of racism. Black men seek to free themselves from racial stereotypes without giving due regard to the stereotypes and abuses suffered by women; this inconsistency undermines the entire liberatory project. Just as Blacks fought against the characterization of their people as evil and inferior, Black women bore the double burden of racial and gendered ugliness. The Christian narrative positioning woman as the source of humanity's fall has had a deeply unfavorable impact on the overall reality of women of color (Long, 74).

Like all oppressed groups, Black people's self-image has suffered harm, and they have not been masters of their own fate. The Black Liberation struggle aims to transform the economic and political conditions of Black individuals by cultivating self-esteem, self-determination, and political empowerment. These ideals are profoundly relevant to Black women — who were told that by virtue of their gender they must be wholly subject to men — even as the frailty of Black men under oppression often made it necessary for Black women to seek those very qualities for themselves.

Just as all forms of tyranny are linked, racism and sexism are interrelated. However, sexism has its own distinct reality and significance. It represents a specific kind of oppression suffered by Black women at the hands of Black men. To examine the reality of sexism, it is vital to understand how it infiltrated their community and churches. Both the church and the social matrix must be examined to determine the degree to which Black Theology has lived up to its ideals of freedom for Black women.

Conclusion

The dogma of Christology has been problematic since its inception, at least for women. The teachings of the Church state that God's personification is exclusively symbolized by Jesus, a historical male figure. While his principles have provided the basis for orthodox theology, they have been misconstrued throughout the ages, resulting in a unilateral Christological approach to history and theology that serves male interests.

The near-universal dismissal of Christological concerns arising from women's questions is a result of the social context in which Christology developed. In order for women to be rescued from this framework, they must begin re-evaluating and studying Christology starting from questions that arise out of their own experiences. A growing number of women have already begun to rethink the process of faith and how it shapes their lives. True liberation — for Black women especially — requires a theology that refuses to subordinate any dimension of human experience to another, and that insists on the full humanity of all people regardless of race, gender, or class.

Works Cited

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