SST Statement in the Wake of George Floyd’s Murder
Words are not enough.
When some of us are struggling for breath, being suffocated, and having our words choked off, those of us with breath to spare need to do much more than speak. We need to change, and we need to act.
The Society for the Study of Theology has, for most of its history, been an overwhelmingly White space. We have not managed to be as open, as welcoming, and as inclusive as we should have been – not by a wide margin. That failure has had multiple dimensions, but it has included a failure to welcome, to learn from, and to flourish together with our Black colleagues. We have been one of the contexts in which the White domination of theological scholarship in the UK has been perpetuated, much more than we have been a context in which it has been challenged and undone.
At our 2014 conference, the Society was challenged sharply on this front by Professor Robert Beckford, and then again in 2016 by participants in a panel on theology and race, including Professor Anthony Reddie. Following an extended process of consultation, leading to a report on Theology and Race in 2017, we began, with the support of our membership, to pursue a series of actions aimed at change. In 2018, we established a Theology and Race Advisory Group, and in the same year co-opted Dr Dulcie McKenzie and Dr Carlton Turner onto our Executive Committee. Earlier this year, we amended our constitution to create permanent positions for two BAME representatives on the Committee, and Dr McKenzie and Professor Reddie were elected to these positions. With the help of their prophetic voices and their practical wisdom, and those of other Black colleagues, we have begun the long journey of repentance and transformation.
We have been working to ensure that, in all our conferences, BAME people are fully and visibly involved in designing, organising, participating, and presenting. We have established a bursary scheme to enable more BAME scholars to attend our conferences, and are seeking to expand it. We have introduced a seminar stream on Black Theology. We are planning discussions on the decolonising of theological curricula. We have begun to examine more broadly the language we use, the kinds of conversation we host, and the assumptions we make about where theology is done and how the quality of that work is measured.
There is still a very long way to go, and we know that we the Society will (and should) be judged by the fruit this work bears over time, rather than by any words we say about it now. In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, however, and hearing the widespread cries of Black grief and suffering that have become still more audible in its wake, the Society’s Executive Committee renews its commitment to this work. Black lives matter; Black experience matters; Black voices matter – and the study of theology is impoverished without them.
Why stay silent until now?
In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, the Society’s Executive Committee and the Theology and Race Advisory Group discussed together whether to release an immediate statement. We spoke about the urgent need to respond to the suffering and grief of our Black members; we discussed the dangers of staying silent and appearing not to care, or of seeming to opt for an apparent neutrality which would in fact, by leaving racism unchallenged, lend support to injustice. On the other hand, we also discussed the way in which such a statement could primarily function to allow a still predominantly White group to feel better about itself, to reduce its own discomfort, and to position itself on the side of justice in a way belied by its actual achievements. At that time, the latter challenge was expressed more clearly and forcefully in our discussions, and we refrained from speaking.
On July 2nd, the Society’s Executive Committee and Theology and Race Advisory Group met to review the actions we had taken over the past year, and to make our plans for the coming year. We also reviewed our decision not to make a statement earlier, and decided to speak now – highlighting the journey that we have been on, acknowledging the very great distance that we still have to travel, and renewing our commitment to move forward with all our energy.
The SST Executive Committee
The SST Theology and Race Advisory Group
Further information
