White Lament: Reckoning with Racism Through Concrete Repentance

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper will argue that Whiteness must be addressed within White contexts as a challenge to the prevalent colour-blindness, which distorts our imaginative horizons and presents a warped gospel aesthetic. In other words, Whites like myself need to use our agency to reckon with and repent of Whiteness at the behest of our Black sisters and brothers. Otherwise, attempts to appropriate lament into corporate worship will be reduced to voyeurism, individualism and consumerism. I will mainly interact with James Cone and Anthony Reddie, both of whom critique the way Black suffering can become overlooked or usurped. Within the paper, some tentative suggestions will be made on how to proceed with appropriating lament into corporate worship, lest our theology and practices unwittingly (or intentionally) bury those who suffer beneath the veneer of false peace and colour-blindness.