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Niebuhr and the Race Question: Can the State Successfully Eliminate Racism?

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Religion and the Liberal State in Niebuhr's Christian Realism

Part of the book series: Staat – Souveränität – Nation ((SSN))

Abstract

In this contribution, the author will discuss Reinhold Niebuhr's contested stance towards the race problem inside the United States. By drawing on the concept of universal sin in the understanding of Christian Realism, it will be demonstrated, how Niebuhr interpreted the sin of racism and discrimination in the context of the inevitable sinfulness of social groups. Although the theologian admitted that the sin of white people against black minorities was a particularly grave historical perpetration, he argued that every group that would be in a powerful position would behave in abusive ways. Therefore, he pleaded for a careful path toward reconciliation in the race conflicts, what brought him a lot of criticism in the posthumous reception.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Niebuhr, R., How Philanthropic Is Henry Ford?, in: D. B. Robertson (Hrsg.), Love and Justice. Selections from the Shorter Writings of Reinhold Niebuhr, Gloucester, Massachusetts 1976, 98–103.

  2. 2.

    For a sociobiological foundation of Niebuhr's Christian Realism see Thayer 2004.

  3. 3.

    The same accusation came back as a boomerang on Niebuhr himself as will be shown later.

  4. 4.

    Niebuhr, however, disagreed with Ghandis understanding of absolute pacifism. For Niebuhr's Ghandi interpretation see.

  5. 5.

    https://forwardthroughferguson.org/report/executive-summary/the-commission/

  6. 6.

    https://blacklivesmatter.com/about/

  7. 7.

    The letter is to be found here: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/niebuhr-reinhold.

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  1. München, Germany

    Christoph Rohde

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    Christoph Rohde

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Rohde, C. (2021). Niebuhr and the Race Question: Can the State Successfully Eliminate Racism?. In: Rohde, C. (eds) Religion and the Liberal State in Niebuhr's Christian Realism. Staat – Souveränität – Nation. Springer VS, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-34464-1_9

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