BC Professor Comments on American Race Relations

In celebration of Black History Month, The Rampage conducted an interview on race relations with Dr. Lewis Brogdon, a well-respected and highly-acclaimed author and speaker who is also an associate professor of Christian studies and dean of institutional effectiveness and research at Bluefield College.

What suggestions can you make to our campus community to promote a sense of inclusion and belonging at Bluefield College?

Let me begin with an important statement before I offer a suggestion. Every predominantly white institution should promote diversity and inclusion because we have done such a poor job integrating society. For the most part, our communities, institutions, churches, and relationships are highly racialized. One of the things I love about Bluefield College is that it views diversity and inclusion as institutional values. It does not mean the college is perfect in this area. We know it is not, but falling short does not stop us from valuing diversity and inclusion and striving to live into a bigger and better vision of the college each day. That is worth noting.

I have one big suggestion that will assist us in our quest and the suggestion is for my white sisters and brothers. What can members of the majority culture do to help move forward? I want to encourage you to mine the depths of the biblical tradition in different ways. What I mean here is that members of the white community need to learn to apply biblical principles to how they relate to minority groups. One of the real tragedies of American Christianity is how we have individualized a faith that was intended to be communal. Disciples of Jesus are commanded to love God and neighbor, and Jesus remarked that the world would know we are his disciples by our love for one another. That bar, according to the teachings of Jesus, is very high. Yet, we have turned Christianity into a transactional religion between God and a single person (who may have little regard for neighbors, especially those who are different) and thus cheapened the depth of God’s salvific work in Christ – forgiving, redeeming, making right, reconciling all peoples and things to Godself.

Imagine for a moment if we take a different path. Imagine if members of the majority group, who have more power, resources, and place in society than minorities, used Romans 12:2 “do not be conformed to the world” as a call to unlearning and resisting the world’s way of organizing power, resources, and people’s place in society. In a fallen system, there are people with privilege and people who are underprivileged. In the kingdom of God, “the last shall be first” because the strong have a responsibility to the weak (Romans 15:1 – Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves). Imagine then Philippians 2:1-5 as another model to relate to minorities. Paul instructs “do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Imagine applying these insights to how one votes to policies that specifically address systemic discrimination. Imagine understanding verses like this as a check on any attempt to exempt your responsibility to black and brown neighbors because you didn’t harm them. Just because you didn’t create the problem does not mean you don’t benefit from those who did. You do benefit as a white person and have a responsibility to your neighbors. Such an understanding will also have significant implications for how history is taught at this college, for books we assign students, and how the college takes up student formation – how we teach, reinforce, support, and nurture students throughout this journey. What this re-appropriation of texts in the New Testament can do is help us create an environment where authentic inclusion can happen organically.

How can college students prepare to make a difference in societal issues like racial injustice, poverty, and policing justice?

You are in college. We are going to teach you about the world in which you live – its history, religious traditions, major ideas, bodies of knowledge, social and political movements, human behavior, as well as the plethora of ways science helps us to understand ourselves and the world around us. Mastering all of this is some feat in and of itself, and honestly, consumes most students. Each one of you has a major decision to make and an opportunity. Are you going to learn about the world and accept it as it is or learn about the world so you can work for a world as it can be? I hope students at Bluefield College choose the latter. I say that because I know some people don’t want the world to change. They like it the way it is. They’re the ones fighting against the changes needed to address racism, poverty, and criminal justice reform. I understand how the world works and how we got here, but I refuse to accept that this is the best society we can create. We can be better than this. If you choose the latter – to work for a world as it can be – then it means you need to start now thinking about a better world. You need to apply yourself to your studies and prepare to leave here as a graduate who is ready to build that world.

What can each of us who are not black do to become more sensitized to the effects of oppression, privilege, and other matters that concern black students?

African Americans and other minorities need allies in the fight against injustice. We don’t need people trying to be neutral. We need people who are willing to take sides and stand against racism, period, end of story. We call it being anti-racist. Let me add, an ally is different than a friend. Black people don’t necessarily need more white friends. We need allies. Some white people think if they have a few black friends that they are allies in the fight against racism. That is not always true. A person can like you individually, but that doesn’t mean they understand the plight of black Americans and want to do everything in their power to make things better. I have a lot of white friends. I have only a few white allies who I can count on to do the hard work required to dismantle systems of racism.

If you want to be an ally, then use your years at Bluefield College moving beyond ethnocentrism (using one’s culture as frame of reference to others) and learning about the history, experiences, and ideas emanating from non-white contexts. It will open your eyes in amazing ways and go a long way in sensitizing you to issues black and other minority people confront every day. This is essential because there is nothing worse than having white allies using their frame of reference and history to understand the intricacies of our problems. That is beyond frustrating because it is a reflection of cultural arrogance and ignorance often manifesting itself in paternalism. Don’t do that.

A few years ago I was interviewed by two white theologians who wrote a book educating white people of goodwill on how to be an ally. Here is what I said: “It is hard to get allies to even acknowledge that they have a lot of homework to do. They have lived and worked in a world that’s told them they are the center. A part of justice work is decentering privileged people and inviting them to live in a world they share with others.” In other words, if you want to be an ally, then you have to humble yourself and study. That’s why I love teaching courses on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is very educational for white Americans and gives them an opportunity to study history and ideas from the black intellectual tradition. Every BC student should take a class on Dr. King.

Is there a risk of desensitizing the public to concerns about racism with the increasing amount of news coverage about racial inequality? How do those reports make you feel, and how do you deal with any anger or frustration brought on by the news coverage?

There is definitely a risk in desensitizing the public to issues of racism. The problem is that the 24-hour news cycle lends itself to a sensationalist and shallow approach to an issue that requires nuance and a broader understanding of history than is commonplace today. I have been interviewed by the news plenty of times and done some guest commentary work; there is rarely adequate time to educate the public about the underlying issues beneath current problems and how to explore ways to address. Everyone wants a quick, easy answer in a few seconds before we go to break. That’s exactly why people are all over the place when it comes to issues of racism. Another problem I’ll add here is that often we aren’t even talking about the same things. Do news commentators understand the difference between prejudice and racism? I doubt it because most Americans don’t. Most are grossly uneducated about racism. I talked about this in an article I wrote last year in Virginia Capitol Connections Quarterly called “Why We Keep Talking Past One Another When It Comes to Racism.” In the article, I said:

“The problem begins with our educational system. Racism is not a part of an education in the United States of America. Given the history of Native, African, Asian, and Hispanic Americans in this country, that is striking. Racism at both the individual and structural levels are a big part of their history and experience in America, yet we educate masses of citizens ignorant of the violence and exploitation of European colonialism and how it created racism to justify slavery and the genocidal slaughter of millions of indigenous peoples for centuries. Most Americans educated in our schools do not know about the black codes, convict leasing, sharecropping, and thousands of lynchings attended by tens of thousands of white Americans during the Jim Crow era followed by redlining and mass incarceration.”

I will add one final thing. I am not 100 percent sure that any major news station cares to accurately represent black issues to the broader public. There are serious trust issues between the press and the black community. I did an audit one time of how African Americans are portrayed in the coverage for a few weeks and it was alarming. Most stories about black people are negative and focus almost always on crime, not the myriad of positive things black people are doing in their communities. No, let’s focus on a small, small percent of bad actors and make such an image normative. So social media has served to fill the gap and broken trust but has produced other unanticipated consequences like the barrage of black violence and death. I am tired of seeing black bodies being killed on social media. I am tired of seeing videos of cops beating up black people. It is traumatic. It is heartbreaking. It is overwhelming and is a daily reminder that I am not safe. But it has become one way to get the story of racism in 2020 and 2021 out to the world to expose the myth of a colorblind society. That’s why I loved the Will Smith quote from 2016. He said, “racism is not getting worse. It’s getting filmed.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed of equality and emphasized the content of one’s character. What does equality look like to you?

Dr. King is often described as a dreamer. We have taken the end of his 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech and created a myth that does not in any way accurately represent how radical and prophetic he was in the 1950s and ‘60s. King exposed the ugly underbelly of America and its gross hypocrisy – claiming to be a land of freedom and democracy while depriving those things from its black citizenry for centuries. Dr. King was constantly harassed and abused by police officers, jailed repeatedly for civil disobedience, daily lived under the threat of death, faced widespread opposition in the white community and major sectors of the black community, and was assassinated at the age of 39. So when I teach classes on the New Testament, I ask my students, “If Jesus is so loved today by so many people, why was he killed with the consent of a lot of people?” I ask the same question about Dr. King. If he stood for equality and love, why was he hated and perceived as a threat? My answer is, because people like Jesus and King expose the unjust nature of human systems and the suffering they unleash on people. Leaders like this are a threat to the political and religious establishment and so often find themselves victims of the worst kind of violence. America has a lot to learn about Dr. King.

This point is important because we cannot build a society where there is true equality until we first do the important work of justice. Justice work means confronting and correcting what injustice has unleashed upon the world. We are not supposed to condone or ignore injustice as if its pain is something the Holy One has little regard for. Injustice must be confronted head on and corrected at the same level injustice was enacted. If laws were passed that disenfranchised black Americans, then laws must be passed to correct what those laws caused. If government policies and initiatives were unjust, then new government policies and initiatives must be implemented to fix the problems created. Once this is done and only when this done can we begin to build a society where there is real equality. Dr. King understood this. He did the work of justice and the need for America to fix the problems it created because of slavery, racism, and later militarism, which was why he was so unpopular but on the right side of history. How many of you are on the right side of history in 2021?

Can you describe some personal and professional experiences with racial injustice and systemic racism, as well as how you handled those situations?

I want to share one of my definitions of racism. Racism is a system that disadvantages and socializes black people in problematic ways. It is important to point out both racism as a system of disadvantage because it connects to important studies on racism, such as Jim Wellman’s Portraits of White Racism and Beverly Tatum’s Why Do All the Black Kids Sit Together in the Cafeteria that view racism as a system of advantage for whites and disadvantage for blacks. Both Wellman and Tatum see white privilege as one of the deeper inherent problems with systemic racism. Racism not only disadvantages; it also socializes. The term socialization conveys the way society conditions African Americans to accept their place in society, a place of deprivation and disenfranchisement. Racism conditions them to accept less than, to accept things they do not want, and to accept negative messages about their worth and intelligence. Social conditioning is arguably one reason African Americans are always encouraged to focus on doing and not thinking. During the centuries of slavery, they were assigned “doing” kinds of tasks – pick cotton, carry heavy items, clean, and most importantly, follow orders. They were incredibly intelligent but assigned a life that did not provide many social functions for the use of intelligence. Today, African Americans are still told to do things and not to think. They are told they can run faster, jump higher, dance and sing better than people in other racial or ethnic groups. This is nothing more than social conditioning and is why little black kids grow up wanting to be a professional athlete and not a scientist. It is also why when black athletes and entertainers begin to use their minds and think for themselves, they are told to shut and play or shut up and sing. Society is reinforcing roles more suitable for them and roles that will reward them if they comply – athletes and entertainers are well paid. However, the downside is that there are not a lot of opportunities for professional athletes and entertainers. It is a narrow and very competitive field. The data shows us that only a very small number of African Americans reach this pinnacle. Most fall short and have almost nothing to fall back on.

Let me illustrate how this system worked in my own life. I grew up in a working poor family in southern West Virginia and southwest Virginia. I was conditioned to internalize the belief that I was not as intelligent as the white students in my classes. I spent the formative years of my life in a project housing complex called Crescent View Apartments – yeah “the projects.” I recall being put in “special” math, reading, and writing skills classes along with other black friends of mine. We were conditioned to think of ourselves as less intelligent and some succumbed to this social conditioning. We were literally removed from class and put in small rooms so we could receive “special” instruction. At the time I did not know why I and other blacks were being treated this way. Today, I understand why.

The truth is, sometimes African Americans are aware they are being socialized to view themselves in an inferior manner while other times they may be completely oblivious to the fact they are being conditioned this way. I didn’t understand what was happening to me and why in elementary school. That is why this system is so pernicious. It operates with deeply flawed and outright racist beliefs that black students are oblivious to. They go to school thinking they are getting an education when in all actuality they are being conditioned to view themselves in a particular way. For example, does a black kid in the third grade know that members of the scientific community believe and are not ashamed to admit that they believe black people are less intelligent than other people? (About ten years ago, Dr. James Watson, a Nobel Prize winning genetic scientist made statements about the cognitive potential of black people). Probably not. But the effects of a scientist saying that black people are less intelligent than others is no small matter. It is one of the many examples of the systemic side of racism. The academy and educational system are not exempt from participating in it and reinforcing racist beliefs and myths. In fact, they have been an active participant for centuries. Influential “educated” individuals in positions of power who hold prejudice and pejorative beliefs about blacks use their influence/power to shape the public’s view of black intelligence. This guy used his stature as a scientist to shape others’ views. He was bold enough to come out and say it. Others believe it but don’t verbalize it, including public school teachers and professors in universities and colleges. Black kids, and sadly adults, too, sit in classrooms with teachers who think just like this guy, and you wonder why they “underperform” and sometimes check out in class mentally. Their intelligence is under assault from kindergarten on in ways you cannot imagine. If black kids and even adult students do not have systems of support and buffers to ward off this nonsense and nurture the intelligence that God gives to all members of the human family, then they may internalize this belief as if it were true and think less of themselves – what black scholars call internalized racism or internalized oppression.

So, let us go back to my story of being socialized to think of myself as less intelligent. Why am I a religious scholar today and an author of seven books and over 25 articles in journals and magazines? Why do all six of my siblings have a bachelor’s degree, four have a master’s and two have earned doctorates? I would answer these questions in a twofold manner. First, I had parents who instilled a different message in me. My dad was adamant that we were as intelligent as anyone. He would yell at us for bringing home C’s, D’s and F’s, and yes, even spanked us for it a few times (not endorsing spanking). He pushed us because he believed there was greatness in us. My mom was a practical problem solver and taught me a myriad of ways to approach and solve problems that overwhelmed me at an early age. I also came to know God at an early age and realized that he put a brilliant mind in me to use for him and the world. That is why I am a scholar today. The second and deeper reason for my (and my siblings’) success is because we had systems of support – parents, family, people in church, teachers and coaches, and a special program called Upward Bound that not only allowed underprivileged high school students to spend summers on the campus of a university, but also helped with the practical steps (e.g. application waivers) needed to attend college. This support made a huge difference in my life. But everyone does not have that kind of support and, therefore, is unable to navigate the challenges of life in a racially stratified society. My story of challenge and success reminds us that racism is really more than prejudice in individual whites. It is a system that disadvantages and socializes people of color in problematic ways and it is done on purpose. Yes, some of us succeed because we had support, but we dare not forget those that did not.

If Bluefield College does not believe in cancel culture, what specifically should we support?

I think we need to build a community that values cultural diversity and commit ourselves to the hard work required to get to the place where everyone feels included. We begin by seeing difference as a gift. Cultural difference helps us to better appreciate both the vastness of God (I like the term the “bigness of God”) and the image of God in every person. So, we don’t have to be colorblind and make statements like “I don’t see color,” which is a well-meaning statement that denies divine intention. God created me with color and others a different color. It’s okay to see that as long as we see it is a gift and expression of God. This enables us then to see cultural diversity as an invitation for growth, personally and communally. Events in the past few weeks have shown we have a lot of room for growth. We’re going to need to do a lot of listening, learning, forgiving, expanding our understanding of the world today, and hopefully some healing. That is certainly my prayer for the college.

Editor’s Note: The Rampage would like to thank Dr. Cynthia Bascom, Dr. Marshall Flowers, and Dr. Rob Merritt for their assistance in developing these questions.

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