Noel Leo Erskine: To Affirm Race and to Transcend It

It is rather poignant that during Holy Week, as Christians ponder the journey of Christ to the cross of reconciliation and hope, Senator Barack Obama, a lay person from within the church, calls on the United States to embrace the ethic of reconciliation. In a profound sense the hope of the church is in its laity, and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his pastor, whom Senator Obama instructs to go beyond the anger evidenced in his preaching and teaching, should be proud to have nurtured a member of his flock committed to reconciliation between black and white communities.

Not since Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech 45 years ago have we heard anyone speak with such power and pathos to a nation in search of its soul. What was especially illuminating for me was Senator Obama calling on his church and nation to do two things at once: to affirm race and to transcend race. This is the challenge the senator placed before nation and church (synagogue, temple, mosque), as people reach beyond borders of race, religion, and class in an attempt to learn to be human together. On the one hand, we are called to affirm who we are and acknowledge the contradictions inherent in our language, style of worship, and ethos. On the other hand, we are instructed to reach beyond race, religion, and ethnicity and join in a common embrace.

Pastor Wright seems to suggest that the black community is not ready for this embrace. He seems to suggest that what we have is an emergency situation in which the black community is called to affirm race and thereby acquire power as a first step toward dialogue and community.

Both church and nation would benefit from a dialogue between the Rev. Wright and Senator Obama.

Noel Leo Erskine is associate professor of theology and ethics at Emory University and the author of KING AMONG THE THEOLOGIANS (Pilgrim Press).