BLACK THEOLOGY

AN IMPULSE FOR ANTI-RACIST FIGHT IN THE CHURCH AND IN SOCIETY

Abstract

This article will discuss the naturalization of racism in Brazilian society and the issues related to the myth of racial democracy together with structural racism. To this end, it will use a bibliographic review to present the reasons that lead the Brazilian population to believe that there is harmonious coexistence between ethnic groups and, at times, declare that there is no racism in Brazil. In addition, it will take a path with the objective of finding the connection between racism and the church and, thus, verify the biblical-theological contributions that underpinned both slavery and the European colonizing project. Therefore, it will present the need for the Church to decolonize its theological work, placing itself on the side of discriminated and marginalized people. In this way, it will build some strategies to confront racism. Then, it will present some assumptions of Black Theology developed by James Cone, which advocates that the Church needs to confront racism and denounce it as a sin. In this sense, the anti-racist struggle requires churches to adopt a theological approach that reveals racism to society as a crime and sin. Therefore, Black Theology presents Black people with the theological foundations so that they can be protagonists of the anti-racist struggle in the church and society.