“I Am Black and Beautiful, O Ye Daughters of Jerusalem …”: African American Virtue Ethics and a Womanist Hermeneutics of Redemption
Abstract
Commentators on American life and culture—from W. E. B. DuBois, in his work The Souls of Black Folk, to contemporary writings on critical race theory, from Derrick Bell to bell hooks—have borne witness to the premise that to be black is to be looked upon with contempt and pity by the Western world. This gaze of contempt has been not only the “veil” through which black people are viewed by others, but tragically also the mirror in which many black people have seen themselves. As with many unpleasant social realities, the most poignant yet best place to look for the operation of this mirror is in the play of the children—the children on an urban city sidewalk or in the red dust bowls of the rural south—can’t you see them even now? Somehow, as it always does in the life of children, the moment of dispute arises and one child always tries to out hurt the other, if only for a moment. They hurl ugly insults that escalate from being called stupid to playing the dozens in full. Soon the tension and rivalry intensifies—like the summer sun on a hot sidewalk—and even as children their intentions long to hurt (maybe badly), to maim (if only for a moment), because it is hot outside and everyone wants to quit and go home. But not without winning. And so, they stop. Think. Think of the worst insult they can muster. So they look at themselves. And someone hollers, “BLACK, darkie, nigger, nappy-headed, big-lipped, Black!” The words of ultimate truth are spoken, the penetrating gaze of the divine eye searches and reveals, and the carefully crafted facade of these children being the beloved of God crumbles.
Keywords
Moral Agency Virtue Ethic Black People Traditional Communalism Critical Race TheoryPreview
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Notes
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