S9 Ep956: Neither Liberal nor Conservative–Systemic Racism, White Privilege, and the Church: Dr. Carl Ellis

Carl is a brother from another mother and I want him to adopt me as his kid. I love the way he thinks through tough issues and refuses to be stuffed into some ideological box. In this conversation, we talk about all the hard stuff in the race conversation: critical theory, systemic racism, pros and cons in multiethnic churches, the “Cold Civil War” between achievers and non-achievers in the African American community, the 400 years of collective trauma that black people experience, white privilege, whiteness, and many other things. No matter where you land on these controversial issues, I think you’ll consider Carl to be a humble, thoughtful, and seasoned voice. Dr. Carl Ellis, Jr. is Provost’s Professor of Theology and Culture, Assistant to the Chancellor, and Senior Fellow of the African American Leadership Initiative at Reformed Theological Seminary. From 1979 to 1989, Carl served as the Assistant Pastor of Forest Park Community Church in Baltimore, MD, served on faculty at Chesapeake Theological Seminary, and served as a seminar instructor for Prison Fellowship where he developed and taught “in-prison” and “in-community” seminars for inmates and community volunteers. Between 19…