Transforming Feminist Racist Structures

Abstract

Transforming Feminist Racist Structures Mary E. Hunt (bio) Judith Plaskow’s characteristically candid, courageous, self-critical, and honest assessment of the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion (JFSR) continues an important conversation that will endure long beyond current participants. As a white, Christian, cis, lesbian US citizen, I embody many of the problematic dynamics at hand. I am increasingly aware of the hegemonic forms of oppression from which I benefit and which I perpetuate. I was on the fiduciary board of Feminist Studies in Religion, Inc. (FSR, Inc.) for decades and have been on the editorial board of JFSR since its inception. I have been involved in conferences and roundtables, planning and hiring over the years. Good intentions proved insufficient to surmount systemic racism, Christocentrism, xenophobia, transphobia, and more. I cofounded and codirect the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics, and Ritual (WATER), an organization of the same vintage and similar in some respects though quite different in others to JFSR. Thus, I stand doubly involved, hence doubly responsible for the multiple failings of these groups to be structured and to operate as equitable fora for feminists in religion. I regret that and apologize for my mistakes. Regrets are for dinner parties, a wise friend once counseled. The issues at hand are not finally personal, though relationships are key. But even those can get in the way if we rely too heavily on a small circle of friends. Rather, efforts need to focus on structural and systemic matters in addition to personal failings. The task moving forward is to avoid repeating mistakes as projects and organizations are restructured or newly created in ways that are adequate to the needs of the day and reflective of what we have learned. That we missed the mark is no excuse to persist in error. But figuring out how to proceed from the morasses we have developed is not simple. One obvious way forward, taking up Judith’s challenge to “move beyond multiple voices in a room to finding ways to give them the same weight and power,” [End Page 39] would be to dissolve current projects and begin anew (13). While attractive, it would be wasteful to destroy what we have created. It would dishonor the best intentions of those involved to simply close doors, dismantle databases, and let new colleagues start from scratch. Rather, it makes strategic and ecological sense to transform groups like FSR through the painful process of accountability and change and at the same time to support and follow the lead of those who have previously been marginalized. The field of feminist studies in religion today has strong groups led by women of color that did not exist when FSR was created. The Katie Geneva Cannon Center for Womanist Leadership in Richmond, VA, is a vibrant locus of scholarship, pastoral practice, the arts, and more where Black women shape the agenda. Their 2021 conference eclipsed anything I have seen in the field with its technologically sophisticated, multivalent approach to womanist work. Their program offerings are cutting edge and attractive to a broad audience. There is much to learn from them about the nexus of scholarship and practice. The Pacific, Asian, and North American Asian Women in Theology and Ministry (PANAAWTM) recently incorporated as a nonprofit, signaling its seriousness about the future. They offer substantive online courses and workshops. They prioritize mentoring the next generation and building intentionally on the knowledge production of the community. They model ways to do feminist studies in religion that can transfer to other groups. One way to transform historically predominantly white women’s groups is by changing the composition of the leadership and activists. A concomitant way is for such groups to support concretely the work of colleagues of color. The Resource Center for Women and Ministry in the South, another group similar to WATER in age, focus, and composition, recently made that explicit in their fundraising. They urged their donors to give as well to groups run by women of color, a strategy other groups can adopt. FSR needs to attend to international and trans inclusion as well as racial and religious issues. What began as US-based work is increasingly global. Yet...