“I think the time has come for black theologians and church people to move beyond a mere reaction to white racism in America and begin to extend our vision of a new socially constructed humanity in the whole inhabited world . . . For humanity is whole, and cannot be isolated into racial and national groups.”

Cone has learned that theology has universal implications, that “liberation knows no color bar.” (This was in 1977)

http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1228

If you have a link or a url to an article showing where Frank Cone has retracted his theme that black problems are the fault of white persons: I would love to follow that link or url and read that article.

The problem with BLT is not racism of the heart, but rather racist intellectual concepts. The problem exactly is the idea that white folks must be institutionally neutralized if black folks are to succeed. That’s intellectual horse manure. It is not 39 year old intellectual horse manure. It is refreshed every Sunday at TUCC, courtesy of their new pastor (who can remain their pastor if he can win the power struggle to fully oust Jeremiah Wright). It’s not that I or anyone are upset with Barack Obama. It is that we suspect – due to Barack’s own words about policy, due to his 20 year history in TUCC, due to Barack’s own words in his two books – … we suspect his thinking has been influenced by intellectually racist horse manure about the need for government to neutralize white folks.

Barack himself delivers this message in soft form. It’s not that white folks are bad, he will say(in so many words), it is that white folks are unfamiliar with the other, and fear the other, and feel they are priviledged and righteous in economically victimizing the other. He doesn’t say it in those exact words, of course. But, if you listen, that’s what he is saying. It’s not your fault, white folks, he will say, in soft nonthreatening terminology, You just didn’t know any better. Barack’s promise is to help white folks understand better than we previously have understood.

I doubt very many people believe Barack has a racist heart. I don’t. The quibble is about intellectual manure which very possibly flows from underlying belief that white folks greed runs a world in need. It’s about possible Presidential policy which gestated in manure.

Re: Shelby Steele

I don’t believe his ideas deserve light dismissal. However, let’s dismiss Steele from your and my conversation(which, I guess, is close to ending anyway). I included Steele in partial rebuttal to your assertion that I had not much considered the issue of Barack and BLT and TUCC. I don’t think I need Steele to further rebut that assertion. Also, I thought maybe Steele’s writings could better help you understand the relevance of “white folks” to the concern about intellectual racism. It looks like that was a failed initiative.

Thanks for genuinely engaging in this discussion. It’s been a fun diversion. It’s been fun to try and sort out and explain things. I need to do it more concisely. This conversation with you has been a start, anyway. Now, to be more concise!