Evangelicalism and Race with Anthea Butler and Mark Laberton
"Black people are the magical faces at the bottom of society's well. Even the poorest Whites, those who must live their lives only a few levels above, gain their self-esteem by gazing down on us. Surely, they must know that their deliverance depends on letting down their ropes. Only by working together is escape possible." Over time, many reach out, but most simply watch, mesmerized into maintaining their unspoken commitment to keeping us where we are, at whatever cost to them or to us." (Faces at the Bottom of the Well, Derrick Bell)
When we look at academic disciplines in the UK, there is a particular reticence to expand the understanding of knowledge production to include non-White voices within the Religious Academy. What we mean by "Religious Academy" is all aspects of religious academic study within doctoral and postdoctoral study including (but not limited to): Religious Studies, Theology, Biblical Studies, Christian History, Religious History, Black Religions.
https://fullerstudio.fuller.edu/podcast/evangelicalism-and-race-with-anthea-butler/
While people of African descent are earning their doctorates within these various disciplines, the UK appears particularly unwilling to hire those persons as Lecturers or Professors - even when the degrees are earned at highly prestigious universities.
Author of White Evangelical Racism: the Politics of Morality in America, Butler's conversation with Mark Laberton should provide additional insights to this discourse. In particular, we are highlighting the scholarship of Prof. Anthea Butler, the Geraldine R. Segal Professor in American Social thought and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research engages US evangelicalism, its history and its complicity with racial structures in the US. Prof. Butler's website and details are listed at the end of this page.
The Misogynoir to Mishpat Research Network © 2023
Please see her website: https://antheabutler.com/.