Several Black pastors are considering parting ways with the Southern Baptist Convention, citing a November statement by the predominately white denomination disavowing critical race theory, which analyzes the role of systemic racism in the U.S.
“The optics of six Anglo brothers meeting to discuss racism and other related issues without having ethnic representation in the room in 2020 — at worst it looks like paternalism, at best insensitivity,” Virginia pastor Marshal Ausberry, president of the organization that represents the SBC’s Black pastors, told Baptist Press, the SBC’s official news agency, The Associated Press reported.
After Ausberry wrote a letter to the SBC presidents explaining that critical race theory is necessary to “help us to see and discover otherwise undetected, systemic racism in institutions and in ourselves,” the presidents eventually apologized for issuing a proclamation about race without actually talking to the people it affects, AP reported.
Though the presidents apologized and met with some of the Black pastors earlier this month, they haven’t backed off their views, AP reported.
Texas-based pastor Dwight McKissic, who has been with the SBC for over 45 years, was among the Black pastors in the meeting and said that while it was cordial, “the outcome was not respectful to who Black people are in our history.”