Black Scholars In White Space

Never before in American history have we seen the number of African Americans teaching at Christian Colleges as we see today. Black Scholars in White Space highlights the recent research and scholarly contributions to various academic disciplines by some of America's history-making African American scholars working in Christian Higher Education. Many are the first African Americans or only African Americans teaching at their respective institutions. Moreover, never before have this many African American female scholars in Christian Higher Education had their research presented in a single, cross-disciplinary volume. The scholars in this book, spanning the humanities and social sciences, examine the issues in public policy, church/state relations, health care, women's issues in higher education, theological anthropology, affirmative action, and black history that need to be addressed in America as we move forward in the 21st century. For these reasons and more Black Scholars in White Space offers timely and historic contributions to the discourse about making the black community a place where men and women thrive and make contributions to the common good.

A 2021 C. Wright Mills Award Finalist Shows how government created “ghettos” and affluent white space and entrenched a system of American residential caste that is the linchpin of US inequality—and issues a call for abolition. The iconic Black hood, like slavery and Jim Crow, is a peculiar American institution animated by the ideology of white supremacy. Politicians and people of all colors propagated “ghetto” myths to justify racist policies that concentrated poverty in the hood and created high-opportunity white spaces. In White Space, Black Hood, Sheryll Cashin traces the history of anti-Black residential caste—boundary maintenance, opportunity hoarding, and stereotype-driven surveillance—and unpacks its current legacy so we can begin the work to dismantle the structures and policies that undermine Black lives. Drawing on nearly 2 decades of research in cities including Baltimore, St. Louis, Chicago, New York, and Cleveland, Cashin traces the processes of residential caste as it relates to housing, policing, schools, and transportation. She contends that geography is now central to American caste. Poverty-free havens and poverty-dense hoods would not exist if the state had not designed, constructed, and maintained this physical racial order. Cashin calls for abolition of these state-sanctioned processes. The ultimate goal is to change the lens through which society sees residents of poor Black neighborhoods from presumed thug to presumed citizen, and to transform the relationship of the state with these neighborhoods from punitive to caring. She calls for investment in a new infrastructure of opportunity in poor Black neighborhoods, including richly resourced schools and neighborhood centers, public transit, Peacemaker Fellowships, universal basic incomes, housing choice vouchers for residents, and mandatory inclusive housing elsewhere. Deeply researched and sharply written, White Space, Black Hood is a call to action for repairing what white supremacy still breaks. Includes historical photos, maps, and charts that illuminate the history of residential segregation as an institution and a tactic of racial oppression.

"Perspectives on the ways Black scholarship has been devalued in the academy and how White hegemony undervalues Black scholarship"--

From the vital voice of Elijah Anderson, Black in White Space sheds fresh light on the dire persistence of racial discrimination in our country. A birder strolling in Central Park. A college student lounging on a university quad. Two men sitting in a coffee shop. Perfectly ordinary actions in ordinary settings—and yet, they sparked jarring and inflammatory responses that involved the police and attracted national media coverage. Why? In essence, Elijah Anderson would argue, because these were Black people existing in white spaces. In Black in White Space, Anderson brings his immense knowledge and ethnography to bear in this timely study of the racial barriers that are still firmly entrenched in our society at every class level. He focuses in on symbolic racism, a new form of racism in America caused by the stubbornly powerful stereotype of the ghetto embedded in the white imagination, which subconsciously connects all Black people with crime and poverty regardless of their social or economic position. White people typically avoid Black space, but Black people are required to navigate the “white space” as a condition of their existence. From Philadelphia street-corner conversations to Anderson’s own morning jogs through a Cape Cod vacation town, he probes a wealth of experiences to shed new light on how symbolic racism makes all Black people uniquely vulnerable to implicit bias in police stops and racial discrimination in our country. An unwavering truthteller in our national conversation on race, Anderson has shared intimate and sharp insights into Black life for decades. Vital and eye-opening, Black in White Space will be a must-read for anyone hoping to understand the lived realities of Black people and the structural underpinnings of racism in America.

Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors

Examines the experience of Black scholarship and faculty in predominantly White academic spaces. While research has emphasized the importance of a diverse faculty, higher education has done little to bring this goal to fruition. The hidden politics at play during the traditional tenure and promotion process represent a significant obstacle to the advancement of Black faculty. While research productivity is the cornerstone of a successful tenure and promotion case at most universities and colleges, Black faculty are more likely to be tasked with extra service activities, which constrains time for research. Many Black faculty are also community-conscious scholars dedicated to conducting research to help uplift their communities, which may not be seen as credible or as valuable in the tenure and promotion process. Edited by Robert T. Palmer, Alonzo M. Flowers III, and Sosanya Jones, Black Scholarship in a White Academy offers important perspectives on how Black faculty and their scholarship have been historically devalued within the academy, particularly in predominantly White academic spaces. Using anti-Blackness theory as a framework, contributors discuss how White hegemony operates to undervalue and obstruct Black scholarship and faculty. Covering such diverse topics as navigating the tenure process, building Black spaces for inclusion, and exploring the intersection of Blackness and disability in higher education, this book presents ways Black faculty can navigate and challenge systemic racism and racist toxicity within their institutions. Contributors: Fred A. Bonner II, NiCole T. Buchanan, Sheron Fraser-Burgess, Beverly-Jean M. Daniel, Kristie Dotson, Antonio L. Ellis, Edward C. Fletcher Jr., Alonzo M. Flowers III, Donna Y. Ford, H. Bernard Hall, Erik M. Hines, Martinque K. Jones, Sosanya Jones, Nicole Johnson, Chad E. Kee, aretha f. marbley, James L. Moore III, Robert T. Palmer, Stella L. Smith, Isis H. Settles, Terrell L. Strayhorn, Katrina Struloeff, Blanca Elizabeth Vega, Larry J. Walker, Brian L. Wright

Distinctive, Powerful, Transformational This book collects the presentations of twelve leading Africana scholars who participated in the groundbreaking #Black Scholars Matter virtual symposium held in August 2020 that was organized by the Society of Biblical Literature's Black Scholars Matter Task Force in coordination with the SBL’s Committee on Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession. These scholars share their perspectives on biblical studies and their experiences in the discipline on a range of topics, including blatant and subtle forms of bias and racism; mentoring; lessons of struggle, sacrifice, and lack of support; reflections on the obstacles of national tragedies, geographical locations, and academic disciplines; and the challenges of creating a more welcoming environment for the next generation of Black biblical scholars. Eight additional contributors and stakeholders that have administrative and decision-making responsibilities within theological and other settings address the need for institutional and personal accountability. Contributors include Efraín Agosto, Cheryl B. Anderson, Randall C. Bailey, Gay L. Byron, Ronald Charles, Stephanie Buckhanon Crowder, Steed Vernyl Davidson, Sharon Watson Fluker, John F. Kutsko, Vanessa Lovelace, Madipoane Masenya (Ngwan'a Mphahlele), Raj Nadella, Hugh R. Page Jr., Adele Reinhartz, Kimberly D. Russaw, Abraham Smith, Shively T. J. Smith, Mai-Anh Le Tran, Renita J. Weems, and Vincent L. Wimbush.

Beginning with a conversation prompted by African American scholars like Dr. Alvin Poussaint of Harvard Medical School in 2007, to the current Black Lives Matter movement, there has been much debate about what led to the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, among others, as well as other systemic challenges that undermine black thriving. Anthony Bradley has assembled a team of scholars and religious leaders to provide a distinctly Christian perspective on what is needed for black communities to thrive from within. In addition to the social and structural issues that must be addressed, within black communities there are opportunities for social change based on God’s vision for human flourishing. Covering topics like the black family, hip-hop, mental health, mentoring women, masculinity, and the church, this book will open your eyes to fresh ways to participate in solutions that will truly set black America free. Although the Black Lives Matter movement keeps the church on the margins, the authors in this volume believe that enduring change cannot happen unless God speaks directly to these issues in light of the gospel. With contributions from: Vincent Bacote Bruce Fields Rev. Howard Brown Ralph C. Watkins Rev. Eric M. Mason Rev. Lance Lewis Rev. Anthony Carter Ken Jones Natalie Haslem Rev. Ken Jones Rihana Mason Yvonne RB-Banks