Book Review: Preaching about Racism by Carolyn B. Helsel
Carolyn B. Helsel. Preaching about Racism: A Guide for Faith Leaders. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2018. 132pp. $33.95.
In 2020 many of us sense a nagging call to address racism from the pulpit. Unfortunately, we do not have many resources that directly address preaching about racism. Helsel strives to fill this lack. While Preaching is not quite a “how to” guide, it offers many sound ideas about how to take on racism, particularly for Helsel’s target audience, Whites who preach to predominantly White audiences. (I suspect that preachers of color might also benefit, but perhaps the value of this book to non-Whites might be better determined by someone with a darker skin hue than mine.)
The prologue is required reading. Helsel provides thoughtful, realistic answers to “potential objections” we might have regarding preaching about racism, including, “Aren’t you perpetuating racism by talking about race?” “How can I avoid sounding political?” “I could lose my job!” and others. While many of us already sense God’s calling to preach and teach about racism, our parishioners may be uncomfortable. So, it’s good to think through some considered answers to these questions.
Helsel begins in chapter 1 by urging us to preach from a place of gratitude. We must reflect thankfulness that God has revealed truth to us about racism in society. Enlightenment is not our signal that we have overcome racism in our own lives; we are like those who have gone through addiction recovery programs, “not recovered, but in recovery” (12). Opportunities and tools to address racism from the pulpit are gifts from God that merit our appreciation.
Chapter 2 explains the thought processes necessary to recognize racism in ourselves, our congregations, and our society. We naturally consider many aspects of our own experiences and history to be “normal,” so hard thinking is needed to recognize where “white privilege” might rear its head. Racism and its effects are all around us; we begin to recognize it when we correctly interpret the world around us. Very helpful is the time-tested principle, “put yourself in the other person’s shoes.” A word of caution: while we often feel an urge to react to racism when we see it, we need to be sure that our responses effectively address racism, and do not merely make us feel better about ourselves.
Chapter 3 observes that the meaning of racism has changed over time and continues to change. To understand contemporary racism, we must remain in continual conversation with those who may be suffering its effects. To help us avoid missing racism in our society, Helsel lists and debunks ten myths about racism.
Chapter 4 introduces “Racial Identity Development,” designed by psychologists to assist Whites to recognize our past and present participation in racism, and gain “a positive white racial identity, not based on illusions of supremacy” (45). The steps focus on breaking down our racial identities, then rebuilding them in ways that reflect our true relationship to society. This is the most provocative chapter in the book, prescribing an intense “breaking down, building up” process that requires individual commitment and close care. Racial Identity Development may be useful for highly committed small groups, but it seems too radical for most of our preaching audiences.
Chapter 5 summarizes Helsel’s philosophy of preaching in general, going beyond preaching about racism. Helsel begins by listing seven key ideas about the task of preaching as described by Haddon W. Robinson. While Robinson asserts that “the entire Bible is the Word of God,” and that it is “self-authenticating” and “cannot mean what it has not meant” (56), Helsel argues for more nuanced understandings. Biblical preaching is hard because it is done within a context different from the contexts from whence it came. The fact that the Bible emerged from different interpretative communities demonstrates that it we must seek interpretations that speak to modern contexts, including contexts that confront racism in society. As an example of preaching in a modern context, Helsel ends this chapter with a summary of a sermon she preached the day after George Zimmerman was acquitted for the killing of Treyvon Martin.
Interacting with modern theologians, chapter 6 probes ways of identifying racism as sin. Racism is a form of idolatry, as it identifies the self (i.e., White Christianity) as the source of truth and virtue, instead of declaring the source to be Christ. Racism fosters estrangement, not only between individuals and groups, but between communities and cultures. Racism puts people in bondage by embodying habits cultivated from living in a racist society. These metaphors afford preachers rhetorical means to help hearers name racist acts and beliefs in their lives.
Chapter seven offers hints about the task of sermon preparation. Helsel returns to her earlier ideas about gratitude, urging us to understand that many of our hearers may be slower to understand and accept the finer points about how racism affects us and our society. We need to be sure that our resources – illustrations, commentaries, sermon outlines, lectionary materials, and so on – do not (unintentionally) foster stereotypes. If we regularly talk about ways in which White Christians help less fortunate non-Whites, then we may be doing more harm than good. One key is to be sure that non-White voices are influencing your sermon.
Helsel concludes with four of her sermons. Many congregations can benefit from adaptations of these messages.
Despite its brevity, Preaching covers a lot of ground, going beyond its titled subject to say something about racism apart from preaching, and about preaching apart from racism. This tends to thin out the principal subject. I had hoped to encounter more about how and where racism can and should be raised when preaching from various Scripture passages, and from the lectionary. This volume, however, is a great introduction, if not an end-all. The American church needs to do some hard work in figuring the role of the pulpit in the fight against racism.
Nevertheless, many of us can use a mature, thoughtful, practical introduction. If you sense God nudging you to take on racism from the pulpit, you need to read this book.
