Join the conversation. I’ll be engaging James K. A. Smith’s recent book, “Who’s Afraid of Postmodernism? Taking Derrida, Lyotard, and Focault to Church.” Specifically, I’ll be contributing a mini-essay titled “The Panopticon of Ecclesial Whiteness: Taking Foucault to a Church Divided.”
Here’s a snippet:
Ignoring white-ness as norm and its disciplinary power within the church frustrates Christians seeking racial-ethnic reconciliation or harmony. Granted, much work has been done in the area, and much of it is to be commended, but it is clear that white-ness remains in the church even as race-ism and the assertion of white privilege operates more subtly. However, Foucault illumines for us that ignoring race as a disciplinary power blinds us to the realities that continue to hinder the church from moving beyond our racial impasse. We can look at our discursive practices in our respective churches and see how we, consciously and unconsciously, give credence to the universal code of beauty that is presumed to be white.
I hope to see some of my blogfriends there engaging the text. Pax.
My name is Anthony Smith, and I live in Charlotte, N.C. I'm part of the 
