The Anti-Greed Gospel
Why the Love of Money Is the Root of Racism and How the Church Can Create a New Way Forward
About
Racism is not about hate and ignorance. It's about greed. And it always has been.
Black Christian historian Malcolm Foley explores this idea in The Anti-Greed Gospel, showing how the desire for power and money--what some call "racial capitalism"--causes violence and exploitation.
Foley reviews the history of racial violence in the United States and connects the killings of modern-day Black Americans to the history of lynching in America. He helps the contemporary church wrestle with the questions racial violence brings up: How can we become communities that show generosity and resist greed? What is the next step in the journey for racial justice?
Readers will walk away with a better understanding of how they can resist greed that exploits others, love their neighbor more completely, and build communities of deep solidarity, anti-violence, and truth telling.
Contents
Introduction: Breaking the Cycle
Part 1: Our History of Greed, Race, and Racial Capitalism
1. How Greed Gave Birth to Race
2. The Talons and Tendrils of Racial Capitalism
3. Lessons of Despair from Francis Grimké and Atticus Haygood
4. Lessons of Resistance from Ida B. Wells
Part 2: Where Do We Go from Here?
5. Solidarity or Greed?
6. Love or Violence?
7. Truth or Lies?
8. The Creative Kingdom
Epilogue
Endorsements
"In this bracing cri de coeur, Malcolm Foley cuts through lies and obfuscations to locate greed at the root of race and racism. Marshaling compelling historical and theological evidence, The Anti-Greed Gospel presents a searing critique of the status quo and points Christians to a redemptive path forward. A must-read book for the American church."
Kristin Kobes Du Mez, New York Times bestselling author of Jesus and John Wayne
"Many people say that the original sin of the United States was racism; in reality, racism was a symptom of the original sin of greed. The Anti-Greed Gospel dismantles deficient definitions of racism and reminds us that greed is what generates, animates, and sustains racial prejudice--both past and present. This book, properly understood and applied, has the potential to topple our monuments to Mammon and make room for real racial justice in both church and society."
Jemar Tisby, New York Times bestselling author of The Color of Compromise and The Spirit of Justice; professor of history, Simmons College of Kentucky
"The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, including racism. Malcolm Foley is a thinker who makes you think. In his debut work, Foley unpacks the theological and sociological layers of racism. He rightly identifies the center of American racism, which is greed--greed that costs human lives. Foley's book builds a strong case for what's really fueling the lie of race and the horrors of racism, but he doesn't leave us hopeless. This book offers us a necessary antidote to racism if we put down the delusions and temptations of greed."
Christina Edmondson, coauthor of Faithful Antiracism: Moving Past Talk to Systemic Change and Truth's Table: Black Women's Musings on Life, Love, and Liberation
"The Anti-Greed Gospel is both seriously convicting and saturated with hope--real hope that is both disruptive and full of wonder. I learned. I lamented. I leapt. Malcolm Foley points us to the alternative society that the church has always been, calling us to economic solidarity, creative anti-violence, and prophetic truth-telling. In this, we are a people that isn't striving to redeem the world but rather revealing that the world has already been changed by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. May churches read this book together and practice living in the reality of the kingdom and the love for our Lord and for our neighbor."
Aimee Byrd, author of Saving Face and The Hope in Our Scars
"Malcolm Foley continues the radical tradition by showing us how greed produces racism. He calls us away from anti-racist virtue signaling and brings us to the feet of Jesus, where we can either beg God's mercy for our racist greed or justify ourselves into condemnation. He reminds us that the church's fight against anti-Black lynching and its struggle for economic justice and solidarity are the same fight."
Jonathan Tran, associate professor of theology in great texts, Baylor University; author of Asian Americans and the Spirit of Racial Capitalism
The Author
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Robbie Rogers Malcolm Foley
Malcolm Foley (PhD, Baylor University) is a pastor, historian, and speaker who serves as special adviser to the president for equity and campus engagement at Baylor University. He has written for Christianity Today, The Anxious Bench, and Mere...
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