Reading While Black But Not Under Attack

*For more context, read Romans 13:1-14 *

LAUGHING WHILE BLACK

A comedian’s genius is their ability to make serious issues hilarious. One of the funniest yet profound comedy sketches I remember was “How Not to Get Your *ss Kicked by The Police!” from The Chris Rock Show.  Chris Rock echoed a common understanding among Black people that Black people could do something wrong and provoke the wrath of the police. Unknown to me at the time - as I wasn’t a Christian then - was that the wrath of the authorities is a Godly principle. To be clear, police assaulting Black people for no reason is no laughing matter but arguing against a wrathful response to sin is.

READING WHILE BLACK

In the book Reading While Black: an African American Biblical interpretation as an exercise in Hope by Esau McCaulley,  he argues that Black Christians have had their interpretation of the Bible, leading to an unapologetically black application (applying the text to our lives). McCaulley calls This style of interpretation the Black ecclesial (constituting a Church or denomination) interpretation. It has been and can be willing to listen to how the scriptures respond to and redirect Black issues and willing to listen to and enter into dialogue with Black and White critiques in the hopes of achieving a better reading of the text.

For the record, he is a good exegete (reading meaning out of the Bible) and is aware of the dangers of eisegeting (reading meaning into the Bible), but like all of us, he has his biases. 

 I commend McCaulley for encouraging Black Christians to debate biblical interpretation without suspicion.  I enjoyed most of the book but had an issue with his theology of policing in chapter two. McCaulley does not have a biblical view of policing but a Black one.  

POLICED WHILE BLACK

McCaulley begins with the premise that Black people are not free because we live in fear of the police. He sees Romans 13:1-7 as a difficult passage for Black people to apply because apostle Paul speaks of the authorities in a positive light, calling them God’s servants without addressing the problem of evil rulers. Rather than see  Romans 13:1-7 as a passage to be applied, he sees it as a passage to be solved, calling it a theodicy. McCaulley builds his case by interpreting Romans 13:3-4 to mean the government is at fault for police misconduct. In his view, if we reform the government, then we can reform the police. He finds further proof that God does not want us to submit to evil rulers in Romans 9:17; this is where God uses Moses to free the Israelites from Pharaoh’s oppression. I understand where McCaulley is coming from as a Black man, but I think his bias guides his exegesis.

THINKING WHILE BLACK

Black sociologist and economist W.E.B. Dubois argued in his book “The Souls of Black Folk.” That the Black man is torn between being American and being Black, likewise, I would say  Black Christians struggle with being Black and Christian, It’s not a matter of either-or but learning to balance both-and. The problem arises when the two worldviews conflict because sometimes the Christian thing is not the “Black” thing to do, like believing the authorities are servants of God. In the book Free At Last? The Gospel in The African American Experience by Dr. Carl Ellis Jr. gives profound insight into how Black consciousness helped and hurt Black Christians. At first, the idea of Blackness was liberating, but when some Black people absolutized it, a value dilemma came with it. As Black Christians, Blackness gave us new insights that were subjective that made us feel good about ourselves but lacked the objectivity to tell us about ourselves, namely our biases.

TRAUMATIZED WHILE BLACK

For instance, some Black people live with the hurt and fear of racial trauma, affecting how they see themselves and the world. Some see being Black as being under attack; this worldview is mentally draining. As American playwright, essayist, poet, and activist James Baldwin once said, “To be a Negro in this country (U.S.) and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.” Christian psychologist Sheila Rowe, the author of Healing Racial Trauma - The Road to Resilience, says racial trauma is omnipresent; it is environmental and political. You don’t have to be a direct victim of racial trauma to get it. You can incur it vicariously or by internalizing the trauma of other Black people. I don’t mention racial trauma to weaponize it, as to say if you disagree with me, you need to have your head examined or can’t interpret the Bible correctly. But we must be cautious of the obstacle bias plays in our interpretation when reading while Black. 

READING WHILE GOD

A proper reading of the Bible is to read “while God,” not Black or White (Matt 16:23). I agree with McCaully the Bible can answer Black people’s questions but not without first laying aside our identities and frameworks to let the text inform how we should apply the text. We don’t invent application points; the text gives them to us. Was police reform the reason why Paul wrote Romans 9 and 13? Probably not. To know what a Bible verse means, we must first find what it meant to the original audience before applying it to ourselves today; otherwise, we read our bias into the text. Romans 13:1-14 is not about the government’s influence on police brutality but about how not to get your butt whooped by the authorities.

LIVING WHILE BLACK

  When it comes to Romans 13:1-14, Paul is not speaking in absolute terms when he speaks positively of God’s avengers. He doesn’t mention evil rulers in Romans 13:1-14 because historically, his people, the Jews, lived under oppressive leaders, as did his audience. That is why he acknowledges their fear and explains the sword of the state serves a Godly purpose, to make us fearful of doing wrong so that our consciences will be clear. The police aren’t perfect, and neither are Black people, but God is. So we must make room in our consciences for a Biblical view of lethal force via the authorities. If we try to dull the sword of the State or abolish it altogether, we will lose the ability to deter evil. McCaulley is right; the State is not a moral authority, but a biblical interpretation as an exercise in hope teaches us that it isn’t an immoral one either.