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Sex, Race, and God: Christian Feminism in Black and White
Book by Thistlethwaite, Susan Brooks
184 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1989
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August 27, 2025
AN EXAMINATION OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BLACK AND WHITE WOMEN HISTORICALLY, AND CURRENTLY
Susan Thistlethwaite is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. She joined the faculty of Chicago Theological Seminary (affiliated with UCC) in 1984, and she became the first female president of the seminary in 1998, and she served two 5-year terms before stepping down in 2008. She is also a Washington Post columnist, and a fellow with the Center for American Progress.
She wrote in the Introduction to this 1991 book, “I began reading the novels and essays that black women in the United States have written… I wrote an essay for ‘Christianity and Crisis’ describing my struggles with this literature and the changes it was precipitating in my work in feminist theology… my contention in the article [was] that the experience of white and black women is so different that I as a white woman, given our history in the exploitation of black women, cannot ignore that gap.
“Difference as a theoretical issue in white feminist theology has become central for me, primarily in reading Audre Lorde’s work… Recognizing and responding to the differences between black and white women is the challenge Lorde poses… it has been the genius of patriarchy to deal with difference by obliterating it, by projecting a while male face onto the definition of humanity. If white feminism replicates this... obfuscation/suppression, it will never deal with patriarchy at its most fundamental level.” (Pg. 1-2)
She continues, “The question may be asked, Why deal exclusively with black women in this book? Hispanic women, Asian women, Native American women, and women of other racial minorities have also had experiences that differ profoundly from those of the dominant white culture in the United States. In truth, I began this book with the intention of trying to include the experience of minority women other than black women. I realized… however, that I was continuing to make the same mistake: this time universalizing the experience of all nonwhite women… This book, then, is particular. It is an examination of the differences between black and white women in slavery, in subsequent American history, and on the contemporary scene. It makes a proposal for a feminist theory based on the embrace of these differences and applies this theory in a preliminary fashion to some aspects of feminist theology.” (Pg. 3)
She states, “The absence of an analysis of class and race in white feminist thought is due not to the fact that white women have no experience of class and race along with their sex, but to the fact that they have not allowed their consciousness of the interconnections between these social forces to become central. I have come to believe that class and race solidarity have been a source of the bonding among white women, and that what is often labeled sisterhood is in fact sometimes economic and ethnic solidarity. When a black woman joins an all-white women’s consciousness-raising group the tension, the awkwardness, the sense that as a white woman one has to be careful not to offend… is evidence of the unconscious bonding through class and race that white women experience… I want to know FOR MYSELF what is being hidden and carried along unexamined in the class and race solidarity of white women.” (Pg. 45-46)
She acknowledges, “White feminists, myself included, have assumed that they can know what is ‘natural’ without recourse to social and economic analysis. But different racial locations (as well as class and gender locations) carry with them interpretive preunderstandings of what constitutes the natural. Theological categories such as sin and evil have been unhelpful to women, both black and white, when they have been employed in the service of patriarchy to blame women for finitude. But, divested of such patriarchal biases, theological reflection on sin and evil (as well as grace and salvation) can only aid white women in a discernment of the conflicting moral values of not only sex, but also race and class. Uncritical appeals to the ‘natural’ without such interpretation leads to an ideological blindness to the distorted freight of one’s own social position.” (Pg. 59)
She argues, “In his work, ‘Original Blessing,’ [Matthew] Fox claims to have identified ‘two paradigms’ within Christianity, the first, being ‘fall/redemption,’ the second being ‘creation-centered.’ Starhawk [‘a witch in the Wicca movement and a post-Jewish feminist’], in her new book, ‘Truth or Dare,’ identifies with Fox’s work… In fact, what Fox may have done is to eliminate some of the more creative aspects of Christian theology especially for oppressed peoples. In playing the tune of the creation, one for whom the created order poses no conflicts… (and) In rejecting the Fall, Fox has given the oppressed about whom he frequently expressed concern no tools for the rejection of oppression as evil.” (Pg. 75)
She summarizes, “In the foregoing chapters I have not spent much time articulating the differences between feminist or womanist viewpoints that are explicitly Christian and those that are not. There are good reasons for this: Many black womanists and white feminists do not believe these distinctions are central. It is more often patriarchal theologians who wish to divide women in this way. An extremely important exception to this is Christology; Jesus plays a very different role in the lives of black and white women.” (Pg. 91)
She cites several womanist authors, and asserts, “White feminist theology is racist not merely because it uses only white sources… White feminist theology is racist because it has assumed the prerogative of naming the world for black women on the basis of white women’s definitions of experience… What I believe I as a white woman have done in misnaming this movement ‘feminism’ instead of ‘white feminism’ is to assume the racist posture of the power to define all of reality… The role of Jesus differs profoundly in the womanist tradition from that in the white women’s movement, both historically and on the contemporary scene. For womanists, Jesus is the one who came specifically on behalf of those whose cultural lot was cast as the world’s beasts of burden.” (Pg. 100-101)
She says, “The many characteristics of patriarchy are shown to stem from this basic alienation: the elevation of mind over body; the preoccupation with immortality; the concern with absolutes in ethics; and certainly the subordination of the female. It is only as a result of my encounter with the difference race makes that I have begun to recognize some of the limitations of this particular approach of white feminism to analyzing patriarchy and violence.” (Pg. 130)
She contends, “most white women have already internalized blame to such a degree that they will seek to atone for the violent history of American racism without reservation and hence without insight. It is perfectly true that white women have cooperated in the history of American racism, but it is equally true that racism has helped bind white women to patriarchy by forcing their allegiance to white men over against black women and men. Black women, too, bear a disproportionate share of guilt for perpetuating social institutions that, in fact, hurt and destroy them.” (Pg. 139)
This book will appeal to persons interested in feminist theology, womanist theology, as well as black/white characteristics/differences in religion.
Susan Thistlethwaite is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. She joined the faculty of Chicago Theological Seminary (affiliated with UCC) in 1984, and she became the first female president of the seminary in 1998, and she served two 5-year terms before stepping down in 2008. She is also a Washington Post columnist, and a fellow with the Center for American Progress.
She wrote in the Introduction to this 1991 book, “I began reading the novels and essays that black women in the United States have written… I wrote an essay for ‘Christianity and Crisis’ describing my struggles with this literature and the changes it was precipitating in my work in feminist theology… my contention in the article [was] that the experience of white and black women is so different that I as a white woman, given our history in the exploitation of black women, cannot ignore that gap.
“Difference as a theoretical issue in white feminist theology has become central for me, primarily in reading Audre Lorde’s work… Recognizing and responding to the differences between black and white women is the challenge Lorde poses… it has been the genius of patriarchy to deal with difference by obliterating it, by projecting a while male face onto the definition of humanity. If white feminism replicates this... obfuscation/suppression, it will never deal with patriarchy at its most fundamental level.” (Pg. 1-2)
She continues, “The question may be asked, Why deal exclusively with black women in this book? Hispanic women, Asian women, Native American women, and women of other racial minorities have also had experiences that differ profoundly from those of the dominant white culture in the United States. In truth, I began this book with the intention of trying to include the experience of minority women other than black women. I realized… however, that I was continuing to make the same mistake: this time universalizing the experience of all nonwhite women… This book, then, is particular. It is an examination of the differences between black and white women in slavery, in subsequent American history, and on the contemporary scene. It makes a proposal for a feminist theory based on the embrace of these differences and applies this theory in a preliminary fashion to some aspects of feminist theology.” (Pg. 3)
She states, “The absence of an analysis of class and race in white feminist thought is due not to the fact that white women have no experience of class and race along with their sex, but to the fact that they have not allowed their consciousness of the interconnections between these social forces to become central. I have come to believe that class and race solidarity have been a source of the bonding among white women, and that what is often labeled sisterhood is in fact sometimes economic and ethnic solidarity. When a black woman joins an all-white women’s consciousness-raising group the tension, the awkwardness, the sense that as a white woman one has to be careful not to offend… is evidence of the unconscious bonding through class and race that white women experience… I want to know FOR MYSELF what is being hidden and carried along unexamined in the class and race solidarity of white women.” (Pg. 45-46)
She acknowledges, “White feminists, myself included, have assumed that they can know what is ‘natural’ without recourse to social and economic analysis. But different racial locations (as well as class and gender locations) carry with them interpretive preunderstandings of what constitutes the natural. Theological categories such as sin and evil have been unhelpful to women, both black and white, when they have been employed in the service of patriarchy to blame women for finitude. But, divested of such patriarchal biases, theological reflection on sin and evil (as well as grace and salvation) can only aid white women in a discernment of the conflicting moral values of not only sex, but also race and class. Uncritical appeals to the ‘natural’ without such interpretation leads to an ideological blindness to the distorted freight of one’s own social position.” (Pg. 59)
She argues, “In his work, ‘Original Blessing,’ [Matthew] Fox claims to have identified ‘two paradigms’ within Christianity, the first, being ‘fall/redemption,’ the second being ‘creation-centered.’ Starhawk [‘a witch in the Wicca movement and a post-Jewish feminist’], in her new book, ‘Truth or Dare,’ identifies with Fox’s work… In fact, what Fox may have done is to eliminate some of the more creative aspects of Christian theology especially for oppressed peoples. In playing the tune of the creation, one for whom the created order poses no conflicts… (and) In rejecting the Fall, Fox has given the oppressed about whom he frequently expressed concern no tools for the rejection of oppression as evil.” (Pg. 75)
She summarizes, “In the foregoing chapters I have not spent much time articulating the differences between feminist or womanist viewpoints that are explicitly Christian and those that are not. There are good reasons for this: Many black womanists and white feminists do not believe these distinctions are central. It is more often patriarchal theologians who wish to divide women in this way. An extremely important exception to this is Christology; Jesus plays a very different role in the lives of black and white women.” (Pg. 91)
She cites several womanist authors, and asserts, “White feminist theology is racist not merely because it uses only white sources… White feminist theology is racist because it has assumed the prerogative of naming the world for black women on the basis of white women’s definitions of experience… What I believe I as a white woman have done in misnaming this movement ‘feminism’ instead of ‘white feminism’ is to assume the racist posture of the power to define all of reality… The role of Jesus differs profoundly in the womanist tradition from that in the white women’s movement, both historically and on the contemporary scene. For womanists, Jesus is the one who came specifically on behalf of those whose cultural lot was cast as the world’s beasts of burden.” (Pg. 100-101)
She says, “The many characteristics of patriarchy are shown to stem from this basic alienation: the elevation of mind over body; the preoccupation with immortality; the concern with absolutes in ethics; and certainly the subordination of the female. It is only as a result of my encounter with the difference race makes that I have begun to recognize some of the limitations of this particular approach of white feminism to analyzing patriarchy and violence.” (Pg. 130)
She contends, “most white women have already internalized blame to such a degree that they will seek to atone for the violent history of American racism without reservation and hence without insight. It is perfectly true that white women have cooperated in the history of American racism, but it is equally true that racism has helped bind white women to patriarchy by forcing their allegiance to white men over against black women and men. Black women, too, bear a disproportionate share of guilt for perpetuating social institutions that, in fact, hurt and destroy them.” (Pg. 139)
This book will appeal to persons interested in feminist theology, womanist theology, as well as black/white characteristics/differences in religion.
January 5, 2026
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Feelings about the book:
- I've decided to see what Feminist Theology is about and this was the first book I ever that is somewhat related to it. It was a decent place to start.
Premise/Plot:
- Throughout this book, Thistlethwaite constantly questions the white feminist and white feminist Christian way of perceiving sex, race and God.
- Thistlethwaite’s uses her expertise in this book to explore intersections between race, gender, and Christian theology. Thistlethwaite does this in a few ways. Firstly, by reflecting and analysing Black and white Christian feminists. Thistlethwaite highlights the different ways the two groups see their place in the world. Naturally, she ventures into how Christianity and patriarchy shape things.
Themes:
- Intersection of sexism, racism, and theology, critique of white feminism, black theology, power, exclusion, and religious authority
Pros:
- I liked that Thistlethwaite wasn’t afraid to venture into the tough conversations that surround this topic. These days everyone talks about ‘doing the work’, and I think that she is trying to do that in this book. This is usually shown in the different ways she shows how black women and white women relate to the church. She states clearly and continuously that as a white, Christian feminist, she and people like her have a lot to learn and unlearn.
- The book is pretty engaging, and Thistlethwaite’s writing style is pretty decent too. No complaints on my end. I didn’t find he too preachy neither, all things considered. Additionally, and maybe most importantly… it made me stop and think. This book really sheds light on the complexities of allyship, it is definitely not a straightforward thing. And it definitely requires a lot of work.
Cons:
- Thistlethwaite doesn’t attempt to critique black practices, or black men and women in any way in this book. I know it wasn’t her aim but I still would have liked to see her do it. One weakness with this book and its message is that Thistlethwaite comes off at times like a friend or ally that will never look to critique a certain race, gender, religion etc. You know? It reminds me of that women in the Kamala Harris zoom call who told the white women on the call that they need to be silent when black women are speaking.
Quotes:
‘What happens in white feminism if we begin to give up all the master’s tools and not just some?’
‘Intrapsychic self-examination is not a black woman’s first impulse when confronted with the need for social change.’
‘That all is not well in the social relations between black and white women is the understatement of the year.’
‘Cady Stanton pointed out that (white) women and slaves can be legally beaten by their respective husbands or slave owners. She even went so far as to claim that the rights of black male slaves exceeded those of white women.’
‘Nature per se is not accessible to direct experience. What is called the natural world is always mediated by human consciousness and its social conditions.’
‘For the black woman, nature as she finds it has not escaped the deformations of racism. Therefore no assumptions of human capacity, of women’s capacity, to relate to their “sister,” the earth, can be made without considering the factor of race in a racist culture.’
‘What is a white feminist analysis of tragedy in human life?’
‘Resignation to social evil is one risk, the abuse of power in the name of change is another.’
‘Furthermore, God the Father has not preoccupied black women writers to the extent that it has been a focus for white feminists because black churches put so much emphasis on both the Spirit and the Lord that appeal to God as Father is always already mediated. The black tradition is profoundly trinitarian.’
Feelings about the book:
- I've decided to see what Feminist Theology is about and this was the first book I ever that is somewhat related to it. It was a decent place to start.
Premise/Plot:
- Throughout this book, Thistlethwaite constantly questions the white feminist and white feminist Christian way of perceiving sex, race and God.
- Thistlethwaite’s uses her expertise in this book to explore intersections between race, gender, and Christian theology. Thistlethwaite does this in a few ways. Firstly, by reflecting and analysing Black and white Christian feminists. Thistlethwaite highlights the different ways the two groups see their place in the world. Naturally, she ventures into how Christianity and patriarchy shape things.
Themes:
- Intersection of sexism, racism, and theology, critique of white feminism, black theology, power, exclusion, and religious authority
Pros:
- I liked that Thistlethwaite wasn’t afraid to venture into the tough conversations that surround this topic. These days everyone talks about ‘doing the work’, and I think that she is trying to do that in this book. This is usually shown in the different ways she shows how black women and white women relate to the church. She states clearly and continuously that as a white, Christian feminist, she and people like her have a lot to learn and unlearn.
- The book is pretty engaging, and Thistlethwaite’s writing style is pretty decent too. No complaints on my end. I didn’t find he too preachy neither, all things considered. Additionally, and maybe most importantly… it made me stop and think. This book really sheds light on the complexities of allyship, it is definitely not a straightforward thing. And it definitely requires a lot of work.
Cons:
- Thistlethwaite doesn’t attempt to critique black practices, or black men and women in any way in this book. I know it wasn’t her aim but I still would have liked to see her do it. One weakness with this book and its message is that Thistlethwaite comes off at times like a friend or ally that will never look to critique a certain race, gender, religion etc. You know? It reminds me of that women in the Kamala Harris zoom call who told the white women on the call that they need to be silent when black women are speaking.
Quotes:
‘What happens in white feminism if we begin to give up all the master’s tools and not just some?’
‘Intrapsychic self-examination is not a black woman’s first impulse when confronted with the need for social change.’
‘That all is not well in the social relations between black and white women is the understatement of the year.’
‘Cady Stanton pointed out that (white) women and slaves can be legally beaten by their respective husbands or slave owners. She even went so far as to claim that the rights of black male slaves exceeded those of white women.’
‘Nature per se is not accessible to direct experience. What is called the natural world is always mediated by human consciousness and its social conditions.’
‘For the black woman, nature as she finds it has not escaped the deformations of racism. Therefore no assumptions of human capacity, of women’s capacity, to relate to their “sister,” the earth, can be made without considering the factor of race in a racist culture.’
‘What is a white feminist analysis of tragedy in human life?’
‘Resignation to social evil is one risk, the abuse of power in the name of change is another.’
‘Furthermore, God the Father has not preoccupied black women writers to the extent that it has been a focus for white feminists because black churches put so much emphasis on both the Spirit and the Lord that appeal to God as Father is always already mediated. The black tradition is profoundly trinitarian.’
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews