Part Five Flashcards
Discuss ideas and strategies that empower people to continue working for racial justice, even though definitively achieving it may be impossible in our lifetime. (6 cards)
According to Massingale in chapter 4 of Racial Justice and the Catholic Church, what is the fundamental principle that characterizes African Americans’ collective vision for a racially equitable future? What two guiding images or metaphors seem to undergird this principle? Explain.
Massingale identifies the fundamental principle of African American visions of justice as the belief in universal human dignity — that all people deserve full participation and belonging.
He uses two guiding images to express this principle:
The Welcome Table — an image of a future where everyone is included in the community and able to partake equally.
The Beloved Community — inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., this represents a just society where mutual care and racial divisions no longer govern relationships.
What is Massingale’s Definition of Hope
Massingale defines hope as more than optimism. Hope is “a yearning, a desire, a passion” that presupposes difficulty and the possibility of change through human effort.
Unlike passive optimism (“things will just get better”), authentic hope acknowledges injustice while still believing in transformation.
For Massingale, passion is essential. Justice is not a cold idea but a burning conviction: “Justice is a pathos, a desire, a longing, a yearning… indeed a passion…” (p. 131). Without passion, justice work becomes performative or complacent.
What is Massingale’s Vocation as a Black Catholic Theologian
Massingale views his work not just as activism but as vocation: “living in response to something that is beyond and deeper than myself” (p. 153).
His identity and social location as a Black Catholic theologian shape his perspective and deepen his call to pursue racial justice.
He acknowledges the daunting nature of this work — it is emotionally exhausting and met with resistance — but naming it as a vocation helps him persevere.
He writes of hope as “the inner orientation of the human spirit” that sustains the fight for a non-guaranteed future (p. 147).
Bishop Mark Seitz identifies as white. How has he come to identify so strongly with the Mexican American community in El Paso and to know their history so well? How can this be a strategy of empowerment? What other strategies of empowerment can you glean from his pastoral letter, Night Will Be No More?
Although white, Seitz identifies strongly with the Mexican American community of El Paso through pastoral experience, deep relationship-building, and a willingness to listen to their pain.
He studies their history and speaks up publicly against the racism they endure, showing that solidarity and allyship require proximity, humility, and education.
Empowerment strategies from his letter include: Centering the voices of the oppressed; Public lament and moral clarity; Drawing from Christian hope to resist despair
Consider the following statement: “Working toward racial reconciliation (as Massingale defines it) is worthwhile, even though definitively achieving it may be impossible in our lifetime.” Do you agree? Why or why not?
Agree.
- Massingale teaches that the impossibility of full reconciliation in our time doesn’t negate the importance of striving toward it.
- Justice is a moral imperative, not a guaranteed outcome.
- Hope (not naïve optimism) gives meaning to the struggle.
Seitz and Massingale both embody this: they do the work not because they expect instant results, but because it is right — and because the work itself is a form of healing and resistance.
How does Massingale distinguish between desegregation and integration in the Epilogue to Racial Justice and the Catholic Church?
Massingale says desegregation is just about getting people of color into spaces they were once kept out of — it’s about being present.
But integration is deeper. It means changing the culture, values, and power in those spaces so that everyone truly belongs and has a voice.
Desegregation is letting people in; integration is sharing power and being transformed by their presence.
