Black Lives and Sacred Humanity: Toward an African American Religious Naturalism

176 Pages·2016·1.05 MB·English

by  Carol Wayne White

B l a c k L i v e s a n d S a c r e d H u m a n i t y

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Black Lives and
Sacred Humanity
Toward an African American
Religious Naturalism
Carol Wayne White
f o r d h a m u n i v e r s i t y p r e s s
N ew Yo r k 2 0 1 6

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Fordham University Press grtaefully acknowledges
fi nancial assistance provided forh et publication of
this book rfom the Offi ces of hte Provost and hte
Dean of Arts & Siecnces, Bucknell Universiyt.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: White, Carol Wayne, (date)– author.
Title: Black lives and sacred humanity : toward an African
American religious naturalism / Carol Wayne White.
Description: New York : Fordham University Press,
[2016] | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Description based on print version record and CIP data
provided by publisher; resource not viewed.
Identifi ers: lccn 2016005571 (print) | lccn 2015042062
(ebook) | isbn 9780823269839 (ePub) |
isbn 9780823269815 (cloth : alk. paper) |
isbn 9780823269822 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: lcsh: African Americans—Religion.
Classifi cation: lcc bl2525 (print) | lcc bl2525
.w473 2016 (ebook) | ddc 200.89/96073—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016005571
Printed in the United States of America
18 17 16 5 4 3 2 1
First edition

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contents
Prefa ce v i i
Introdutcion: In Search of a Neelwig Rious Idea l 1
1 . African Ameicran Rel ig ious Sens ibiei lsi tandh te Quesiton
of the Human 9
2. Sacred Humayn iats Stubbno,r Ireducible Mtaeria l iyt 27
3. Anna Ju l ia Coopeerl:a tRional Humanyi at nd hte Interplay
of One and Al l 47
4. W. E. B. Du Bois : Humans as Centaelruse o afn Vd Crteivai ty 75
5. James Baldwin: Raceel,i gRion, anhde t Love of Humayn i t 93
Conclus ion:o Tward an Arifcan Ameicran Rel ig ious
Natura l i sm 117
Acknowledgment s 131
Notes 133
Index 159
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preface
This s tudy iaser s out of my ongoing interehest cirne taitve inter face of
re l ig ion andi esncce , or , more sipfi ceacl l ,y in current s tra ins of re l ig ious
natura l i sm. At Bucknel l Unyi,v ecros iltleagues and students a l ike have
expeirenced my ehnuts iasm for re l ig ioutus rnaal i sms ’emergence whint
the larger efild of re l ig ious s tudies . iIonu sv aarcademic tisnegt s beyond
Bucknel l , I have a l so shared myti oconns vaibcouht et p ivota l ro le re l ig ious
natura l i sm can p laye ilnp ihng humaniics tscholars cha l lenge toeudt dcaon-
ceptions of a dinstctive human tnuare inh te West .
As an av id proponent of re l igtiuoruasl insam, I have been s truchek by t
potenita l of i t s key ideas to address i tni vien nwoavyas some majhoerm tes
or concenrs of Arifcan Ameicran re l ig iouhso tught , such ahse tefects of
raci s t d i scourse on u iennfltia l conceipotns of our humya.n iStadl,y many
infl uentia l re l ig ioust unraa l i sm witirngs have nott iavce ly pursuehdi st l ine
of thought .I n( a s imi lar ve in , as a phielro soofp hre l ig ion, I have found
that majorh temes and conibtrutions rfom black re l ig ious scholarship are
se ldom representedh ein s ut b field of phi losophy of re l ig ioni. )o nAadldl,y i t
a survey of Arifcan Ameicran re l ig ious scholarship revea l s a predominance
of his toicra l , hteologica l , sioa lc-poliicta l , and cul tura l analhyaste so ftten
ignore many ohfe tepis temologica l and phi losopiheincattali oonrs ht at I
fi nd appeal ing hwiint re l ig ioust unraa l i sm andi tcicra l hteory or phi loso-
phy of re l ig ioBnla. ck Live s and Sacred Huym thaunsi trepresents my des ire
to birng htese fields of knowledge thoegre at s I focus ohne tconceptual ,
epis temologica l , and ax io logica l import roefn ta htreemcuer wihtin b lack
re l ig iosyi:t the necessyi tof es tabl i sh ing and va lu ing blacks ’y .h Iunm ani t
doing so , I a im to dibeesc htre emergence of anri cAafn Ameicran re l ig ious
natura l i sm.
In a much widehre otreitca l contexth,e tbook addresses unexamined
phi losophica l and humiacn aisstumpiotns embedded in contemyp oArfa-r
rican Ameicran re l ig ioys. i tAs an a l tenrative to hte i s tic models ofr iAcfan

American re l ig ioys iatnd spiitrua l iyt, th i s s tudy i s an unaebda schelebra-
tion of re l ig ious humanism. I am hhoatp iintsg pterspteivces and main
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viii Preface
a rgument will inspire a generation of scientifi cally oriented African Ameri-
cans in search of newer, conceptually compelling views of religiosity that
address a classic, perennial religious question: What does it mean to be
fully human and fully alive? The notion of sacred humanity I explore also
provides a powerful new discursive context in which all contemporary
readers, not just those of African descent, may grasp the ethical, axiologi-
cal, and symbolic effi cacy of African American religiosity in the contem-
porary scientifi c age.
In various disciplines, scholars of African American thought and culture
are looking back to infl uential fi gures and retrieving their ideas to help us
all think about and address the diffi cult legacy of racism that all of us have
inherited, regardless of how we mark our identities. The book contrib-
utes to this trend in tracing the nuanced and fuller meanings of the sacred
humanity concept in three iconic fi gures, Ann Julia Cooper, W. E. B. Du
Bois, and James Baldwin, whose ideas are very infl uential today and re-
ceiving a renaissance of interest. Linking and reading Cooper, Du Bois,
and Baldwin in this manner offers another level of appreciation for their
genius; it also offers another way of thinking about and reading them in the
larger context of Amer ican letters.
Finally, it is my hope that Black Lives and Sacred Humanity can con-
tribute in some small way to ongoing, diffi cult conversations that seek to
address the poignant and widening cultural divides surrounding race in
North America today. Among other things, this book seeks to redirect our
attention to a perceived (and for me, fundamental) truth that the construc-
tion of race obfuscates and distorts: the affi rmation of our common, en-
tangled humanity. As Cooper, Du Bois, and Baldwin all recognized before
our generation, claiming this truth is essential to our national well-being.
I believe, as they did, that what is at stake is the type of future we can cre-
ate, or the type of transformed America we can become. At this critical
juncture in our history, I believe one crucial task—and, for me, a quintes-
sentially religious one—toward this goal is appreciating and embracing
our sacred humanity and acting in accordance wiht this conviction.

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