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Christianity and Racism

Conspiracy or Coincidence?

Robert Beckford

9780281085682
160 pages
SPCK Group
Overview

What are the social, cultural and theological forces that have made Christian racism possible, and how might those forces be effectively resisted and eradicated today?

In Christianity and Racism, Robert Beckford explores the history of the racial divide within the Church – from how Africans and Black people first appeared in the Christian imagination, to the 17th Century debates over the missionisation of enslaved Africans, the impact of British imperialism and colonialism and the emergence of institutionalised racism in the 20th Century.

This is a book for all who want to expand their knowledge and understanding of Black history in the British Church and the ways in which Christianity has enabled and perpetuated racial discrimination. With discussion of anti-racist theology and practical examples of Christian anti-racism in action today, Christianity and Racism also opens up a conversation about how the Church can work to resist and eradicate racism – a crucial subject in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement and the cultural transformation happening across the world.

A powerful examination of history from a leading Black theologian, Christianity and Racism is essential reading for everyone working to create a just and equal Church.

Author Bio
Robert Beckford is Research Professor at the Centre for Black Theology, The Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham. A BAFTA award winning filmmaker, he has written and presented over twenty documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4 and Discovery USA. His most recent publications include Documentary as Exorcism: Resisting the Bewitchment of Colonial Christianity (Bloomsbury, 2014), Jesus Dub: Theology, Music and Social Change (Routledge, 2006) and Dread and Pentecostal: A Political Theology for the Black Church in Britain (SPCK, 2000).