“Killing in the Name”: Three Books and the Exigencies of Antiracism

With frequency, the US Catholic Church has been slow to address racial inequality. Today, it is inadequately prepared to address the contemporary resurgence of ethnonationalism and xenophobia. This essay suggests that US Christian theologies, impoverished by their faith in an American teleology toward multiethnic liberal democracy, have often ignored or misdiagnosed the problem. Drawing from and evaluating three recent books that contribute to antiracist spirituality and Christian practice, this essay argues that a key to antiracist spirituality is the refusal to cooperate with brutality and exploitation.