This article first appeared here on the Religion News Service site on April 30th, 2018. You can click here for the full article.
On April 26 America received its first-ever memorial dedicated to the more than 4,000 victims of lynching in this country. Two days later, James Cone, the acclaimed author of “The Cross and the Lynching Tree,” died.
The opening of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Ala., and the passing of a theological legend coincide in ways that provoke thoughts about the spiritual implications of American racism. How do the cross and the lynching tree represent both injustice and redemption? How do we confront the dark truths of our past to create a future that is brighter for all people?
At the lynching memorial, rusted iron columns hang suspended from the ceiling. Each column, numbering about 800 in total, represents a county where a lynching occurred. Many feature multiple names as the number of human beings killed for their color stacks up to create the crushing weight of an undeniable, yet underrepresented, history.
Visitors to the lynching memorial learn that racial terrorists designed lynching as a public spectacle to intimidate black people.
“Racial terror was characterized by extreme violence: victims were tortured for hours before their brutalized bodies were left out on display to traumatize other black people,” one placard reads. It goes on to explain that members of the mob often posed for photographs next to the mutilated corpses of their victims. These horrific displays served as “the primary tool to enforce racial hierarchy” in America.
The memorial reminds visitors that lynching victims are real people, not simply anonymous figures from history. They have heart-wrenching stories such as Luther Holbert who was forced to watch as a white mob burned his wife, Mary, alive before they killed him. Others lynched Elizabeth Lawrence for telling white children not to throw rocks at black children. Lynchers killed Mary Turner, eight months pregnant, for protesting the lynching of her own husband, Hazel Turner. The voyeuristic and violent deaths of these individuals plus thousands more represent the heinous apotheosis of American racism.
The systematic terrorization of black people created indescribable grief in the past and has contributed to the generational trauma of racism today. Against this backdrop of unremitting suffering, black people looked to religion for answers.
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so where is CHRIST in all this? no one is answering that question for me. i’m not talking about the slavery from the distant past, i’m talking about now. the issues in the black community are not white peoples fault. over 75 per cent of black children are born out of wedlock. and it’s ‘encouraged’ by blacks to carry on this trend. who’s fault is that? and the kids are raised horribly, and they then end up having babies. who’s fault is that? and so many of them are related. don’t blame white people. and these churches blame white people too. how many of them preach ‘premarital sex, fornication, the breakdown of the family, marriage, etc.? all these churches teach and preach ‘self esteem’. and what is ‘good hair’? the focus of the black community (at large) is desiring for the ACCEPTANCE of white people. the HOLY TRIUNE GOD SAID YOU WILL HAVE NO OTHER GOD’S BEFORE ME. so the desire for blacks to focus on being accepted by whites is (IDOLATRY). all the out of wedlock babies, i.e. sex outside of marriage, etc., read romans 1. the GOD OF THE BIBLE is not honoring our behavior. like i said, WHERE IS JESUS IN ALL THIS?
i will say (i) am soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo very thankful to my GOD&SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST for opening my eyes to HIM via THE HOLY SPIRIT. before i learned (of) HIM, i used to think that ‘white’ people were ‘special’ . well they ain’t and neither are blacks. i love and live for my SAVIOR.
Here is a plausible answer to your question. Dr Cone saw the parallels between the unjust crucifixion of Jesus Christ by Roman authorities using the cross as a means of punishment, designed to frighten its citizens into submission to Roman control. This public spectacle displays many characteristics of innocent black boys and girls that were lynched in public with the endorsement of many institutions of authority using this to keep the blacks under their control. Dr. Cone preached and wrote about a liberation and freedom from this type of control offered by Jesus Christ in the here and now. Sadly, I read the comments and pray for the Holy Spirit to remove the scales from the eyes of those that misunderstand Dr. Cone’s writings. indeed, Jesus return for those first Apostles was anticipated before they entered into there eternal rest; however every other disciple of Jesus Christ that came later would have to give an account for the world they have a part in shaping. Dr. Cone shaped a generation to desire to see the oppressed liberated, the structures that were designed for oppression torn down and a hand of forgiveness for the oppressor who repents after seeing the error of his ways. I thank GOD for what he represented even if we don’t agree on every issue.
Daniel,
You say ” Dr. Cone preached and wrote about a liberation and freedom from this type of control offered by Jesus Christ in the here and now”. A couple of questions….
1. Is this Biblically true? Matt 16:24-26 certainly does not seem to promise any type of freedom and liberation on this earth? If Jesus died on the cross for “liberation and freedom from control …. in the here and now”, he certainly seems to have failed in this capacity given that many (most?) Christians throughout history have faced persecution. I wonder if modern day Christians in China, North Korea, and Syria would agree with this.
2. What is it exactly that you/Dr. Cone believe that Christ death on the cross accomplished?
Thanks….
JC
God made all people.. I am glad that you now know that white people are no better than other people. God created us all with talents and gifts… God gave all people brains and good and bad traits……………
If you really want the biblical perspective, ALWAYS cross reference everything on The Witness with the truth found on the Just Thinking (Darrell Harrison) podcast and website (justthinking.me) and the B.A.R. podcast.
to mr daniel thomas,
i am just reading your response to my comment . first (one) should NEVER compare what they have suffered to what JESUS CHRIST suffered. there is NO comparison. JESUS was (without sin). JESUS IS GOD. we are sinners. the elect are saved by the grace OF GOD through JESUS CHRIST. so when i said ‘where is JESUS in all this’, i meant where is our behavior of in this unjust world. you comparing blacks to JESUS is just as bad as whites comparing themselves to JESUS. our focus should be on JESUS and HIS WORD. which doesn’t call blacks to be welcome mats to be trampled on. and yes, there will be many injustices in this wicked world. but to make on’e aim to try and change the hearts of others is not what GOD calls us to do, because we can’t. there are laws and avenues that we can go through when such things happen, but when our focus is on white people and social justice, that’s simply ‘idolatry’. and as you talked about what dr cone meant, you made no comments on what is going on in our communities that we blacks need to address. and these issues are not because of racism, they are because of being disobedient to the GOD&SAVIOR of the bible. and that’s a FACT.