On this Martin Luther King Day, our colleagues at the Black Catholic Theological Symposium have issued a statement condemning the remarks that President Trump allegedly made about “s-hole countries.” Please read their full statement.
An excerpt:
We subscribe to the words of James Baldwin, “Ignorance allied with power is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.” Mr. Trump’s comments are woefully racist, ignorant, xenophobic, and inflammatory. Racism is undeniably evil. The evil of racism is always incapable of critiquing itself; therefore, it must be condemned whenever and wherever it arises. Racism is a question of power and not merely attitude. The President harbors these racist views and has the power to implement policy that subjugates poor people and people of color to oppressive systems and structures.
While acknowledging that many of our Catholic leaders have spoken out against these remarks, including the UCSSB. I join my voice to the BCTS in urging Catholics and all people of good will to speak out against racism in all its forms.
I’d be grateful to read an elaboration on the proposition that “racism is unable to critique itself.” Is this because racism is a disordered fixation upon a particular evil, and as a fixation, needs something external to jar it back to reality? Or perhaps racism is akin to a fundamentalist worldview where no alternatives are permissible? Restated, my first question puts racism akin to a psychological disorder, while the second is akin to a cult-like ideological purity.
Grateful for further discussion on that powerful yet intriguing proposition.