Preaching That Confronts Confederate Monuments: Religion and Anti-Racism in Us Politics

Confederate monuments preach-at times subtly, at other times overtly-about who we are, who God is, and how we should live together. David M. Stark looks at the way many Confederate monuments provided ongoing opportunities for commemorative speeches and ceremonies that would entrench racist and white supremacist ideologies in the American South.

Stark examines key speeches and proclamations given around monuments to the Lost Cause, such as Julian Carr’s Silent Sam speech (1913), and Archer Anderson’s speech at the dedication of a monument to Robert E. Lee (1890), reading these as theological and homiletic moments. Stark then moves on to construct a homiletic that can confront such monuments and the racist preaching ideologies around them.

In developing this counter-homiletic, Stark analyzes the preaching strategies written into Confederate monuments and highlights best practices from recent counter-proclamations that deconstruct the troubling rhetoric and theology of Confederate monument dedication speeches. Finally, Stark presents insights from naming commission reports and clergy interviews about the values, mission, and leadership needed to work for ongoing change.

David M. Stark is Assistant Professor of Homiletics and Co-director of the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Center at the University of the South, USA.