Wright's Mentor (Strange Fruit: The Cross and the Lynching Tree)

TheCorner ^ | 3/22/2008 | Stanley Kurtz

[JRochelle]

Jeremiah Wright’s theological mentor, James Cone, Charles A. Briggs Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological Seminary, is perhaps the most important figure in black liberation theology. Here Cone delivers the 2006 Ingersoll lecture at Harvard Divinity School. Dating from 1893, the Ingersoll Lecture is one of the oldest endowed lectures at Harvard. Cone’s Ingersoll lecture is entitled, "Strange Fruit: The Cross and the Lynching Tree."

Cone is clearly an intelligent and charismatic speaker. There are a number of "zingers" in here which I think many listeners will object to. But this lecture is also significantly more toned down than what we find in the infamous Jeremiah Wright videos. This is the smooth and sophisticated version of black liberation theology, and my sense is that even Cone himself can be significantly more radical than what we see here. Nonetheless, the talk is pretty striking.

The lecture and question period take an hour and-a-half. Here I’ll provide a guide to some of the more theologically and politically interesting moments, but many will want to listen to the entire lecture, and to the question period that follows. I’ll reference key sections of the lecture by noting the beginning and ending minutes on the time clock.

16 minutes–23:30: Here Cone begins to distinguish his own theological approach from orthodox and evangelical Christianity (his terms). The basic theme of the lecture–the symbolic identity of the cross and the lynching tree–is laid out.

36:30–38 minutes: Here Cone criticizes the relationship with God claimed by many white evangelical ministers, President Bush, and also those black preachers who oppose abortion and same-sex marriage.

40-43 minutes: Here Cone accepts many of the criticisms leveled at traditional Christianity by feminist and womanist theologians. (As opposed to "feminist" theology, "womanist" theology specifically focuses on the concerns of African-American women.)

52:30-57 minutes: Here Cone says that the cross understood as a lynching tree can redeem not only American blacks, but also white lynchers and their descendants. But Cone emphasizes that this is only true if whites pay the heavy cost of repentance and reparations. Paying reparations is the precondition of divine mercy and forgiveness for white sins.

1:02–1:08: In a key section, Cone explains that, although the days of literal lynching are over, lynching continues to be the central truth of both race relations and foreign policy in America. Cone argues that the large number of black men in the criminal justice system are effectively victims of white lynching. Cone goes on to claim that, through private prisons, white Americans have discovered a way to turn a brutal and racist legal system into a profit-making venture for dying towns and cities all over America. He then explains that the victims of Katrina and all blacks denied jobs, health care, and housing are also being lynched, even if without a rope or a tree.

Finally, Cone explains that the victims of Abu Ghraib and the prisoners of Guantanamo are also modern lynching victims, and he compares the Roman empire and its crucifiction of Jesus with the American empire in Afghanistan and Iraq. Blacks, Cone explains, are Christ-figures, not because they want to be, but because white persecution has forced them to be. And this Christ-like racial victimization means that the power of lynching as the central metaphor for race in America endures.

I’m not marking out anything specific from the question period, but there are some "zingers" there, and it makes for interesting listening. Note also that, while I’ve tried to be accurate in this summary, I’m working from a recorded lecture rather than a text. Obviously, you’ll need to listen yourself to confirm any point, and to get specific language.

Readers can make up their own minds about Cone’s symbolic and theological links between the cross and the lynching tree. What strikes me as politically relevant is Cone’s conviction that lynching is not just a symbol for some particular modern injustice, but the central and controlling metaphor of race relations and foreign policy in America today. Like so much academic leftism, the strategy here is to elevate the most morally repugnant symbol of the past into the hidden or "subtle" truth of the present–especially the political present. This gives the accuser permanent moral superiority and the accused permanent guilt–unless the accused begs forgiveness and pays endless material and spiritual reparations. If you want theological context for Jeremiah Wright, here’s a start.

Looking for more? Here’s a YouTube video called "A Conversation with James Cone." It lasts about 20 minutes. There are explanations here of Cone’s broad view of the meaning of white supremacy and some further discussion of themes around the cross and the lynching tree. One notable moment (around 6:30 minutes into the video) is when Cone denies that Clarence Thomas is black. (The synchronization of sound and picture is a bit off in this video.)

[JRochelle]

Basic summation is if you don't see the Cross and the lynching tree as one, you ain't no Christian.

Here is the speech. http://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/events_online/ingersoll_2006.html

Here is the youtube video. It sure was news to me that Clarence Thomas isn't black.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1X5sZ6Q4Fw

[JRochelle]

Here, trying again.

http://www.hds.harvard.edu/news/events_online/ingersoll_2006.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1X5sZ6Q4Fw

[the invisib1e hand]

I think they booed Solzhenitsyn at Harvard.

[Eurale]

I recently stocked up on Remington 12GA. 2 3/4” O Buck for my Winchester 1300. I really think we’re on the brink of very real civil unrest (aka: riots). I intend to protect my home and family if I have to.

[eeevil conservative]

when Cone denies that Clarence Thomas is black

whew! for a minute there I thought Cone might actually be an educated man only interested in the truth and healing.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

These people have lost their way.

[fhayek]

Paying reparations is the precondition of divine mercy and forgiveness for white sins.

Was slavery in America the only example of man's injustice to man in history? It seems to me that if we start doing this, we would need a supercomputer to calculate just who owes what to whom. I suppose that there are no "black" sins committed throughout history that need to be cleaned.

[Enchante]

"Here Cone says that the cross understood as a lynching tree can redeem not only American blacks, but also white lynchers and their descendants. But Cone emphasizes that this is only true if whites pay the heavy cost of repentance and reparations. Paying reparations is the precondition of divine mercy and forgiveness for white sins."

What BULLSPIT!! My forbears on both sides came to this country in the past century and had no connection whatsoever to any slavery or lynchings. Michelle Obama's ancestry (Obama said she is descended from both slave-holders and slaves??) had more to do with it than I did, but anyway no one is responsible for deeds of their ancestors!!!! This COne guy is a racist through and through -- oh, white skin? YOU OWE ME!!! I don't owe you jack Mr. Cone.

Obama needs to be grilled on this stuff, especially since he has been wishy-washy on reparations - he says he does not support "writing checks" to blacks but leaves open that he would support other versions of a reparations bill.

[mewzilla]

The Toons had James Cone overnight at the White House.

[milwguy]

The 250,000 white folks who died during the civil war to free blacks from slavery is reparations enough in my book. I think the model for a person who can transcend race in this country is not Barack Obama, but Tiger Woods. He has overcome a lot more than Barack in a sport that was lily white when he was growing up. Rather than dwell on the snubs he received while a kid in a white man;s sport, he just ignored it and went out and used his God given talents to beat everyone he competed with. It wasn’t and isn’t about race wtih Tiger, it is about winning. I think there is a lesson there for Cone, Wright, and their protege, Barack.

[Tahoe3002]

Likewise, but I prefer ‘long distance’, 7.62x51 (.308). I am seriously NOT in the mood for uncivil unrest. There can be civil unrest, but the unrestees better get the message to limit themselves to nonviolence.

[denydenydeny]

Cone argues that the large number of black men in the criminal justice system are effectively victims of white lynching.

That this lunatic belief is accepted by so many is a precise explanation for why there are so many in the criminal justice system.

[rawcatslyentist]

>"Paying reparations is the precondition of divine mercy and forgiveness for white sins."

Gee Rev Wright, I don't recall Jesus ever saying that!

Rev Wright, if you're not following Jesus, where are you headed?

[wideminded]

The thing that surprises me about Cone is that he is a professor at Union Theological Seminary. That causes me to wonder about:

1. What other sorts of "theologians" they might have there;
2. Who isn't there because they have been displaced by these radicals;
3. Whether anyone who makes up a new theology and writes books about it could get a job there.

BTW I have heard that Union fell on such hard times in recent years that they had to transfer their extensive library to Columbia.

[montag813]

Paying reparations is the precondition of divine mercy and forgiveness for white sins.

Reparations are being doled out on a daily basis, everywhere in America. From Government set-asides to corporate quotas. Just ask any CDO - Chief Diversity Officer --almost every Fortune 500 corporation has one. Their job is to reduce the percentage of white vendors and service professionals the company pays.

[montag813]

I recently stocked up on Remington 12GA. 2 3/4” O Buck for my Winchester 1300. I really think we’re on the brink of very real civil unrest (aka: riots). I intend to protect my home and family if I have to.

When McCain "lynches" Obama in 40 states on November 4th, either go to a rural area, or stock up on ammo and dig in.

[GVnana]

BLOAT.

[GVnana]

One word: Abomination.

Make that "Obamanation".

[Eurale]

“When McCain “lynches” Obama in 40 states on November 4th, either go to a rural area, or stock up on ammo and dig in.”

I would love to think otherwise, but I’ve lived long enough to understand the potential, and have witnessed these events in the past. The difference now is that the PC media will support radical urban rioting and law enforcement will be handcuffed and demonized.

[MtnClimber]

I predict Hillary will try to lynch Obama first, adding fuel to the fire when McCain is successful. I thought that the leftists were against burning things because of global warming.