The cross and the lynching tree

"When we see the crucifixion as a first-century lynching, we are confronted by the re-enactment of Christ's suffering in the blood-soaked history of African Americans," writes Cone (systematic theology, Union Theological Seminary; Black Theology & Black Power). With accessible allusions to Jesus, the sufferings of Old Testament figures, the lynchings of at least 5000 African Americans, and reflections of notable 20th-century Christian thinkers, including W.E.B. Du Boise, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Martin Luther King Jr., Cone points out that while many ordinary Christians, black and white, saw the cross "as the defining heart of the Christian faith," they were oblivious to its parallels in America's lynching tree. Cone forcefully shows that Jesus's cry to God after his crucifixion/lynching, "Why hast thou forsaken me!" speaks to the condition of blacks in America especially during the Jim Crow era and civil rights struggles. He notes that most white theologians have been blind to any analogy between the cross and the lynching tree and that lynch mobs were made up mainly of God-fearing Christians. VERDICT Cone calls for us to remember the lynching tree now to foster a Christianity that goes beyond empty pieties and fully embraces Jesus's teachings on suffering, the poor, and faith. While some readers may wish that Cone would recognize more nuance in white understanding of black suffering, this is essential reading.-Margaret -Heilbrun, Library Journal (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.