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“I Can’t Breathe”: The Bible and Bonhoeffer on Race and Suffering in America

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Handbook of Racism, Xenophobia, and Populism

Abstract

After the murder of George Floyd, “I can’t breathe” became the rallying cry for various social, environmental, economic, and political traumas that engulfed American society. The blatant violation by one person to take the breath of life from another sparked outrage nationwide. Rather than focusing on the response of those in power, as is typical throughout history, the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer calls Christians to turn their attention to minorities who feel the impacts of these traumas most acutely. According to Bonhoeffer, Christians must go beyond simply acknowledging the impact on those who suffer and take action to assist them, looking to Jesus as the ultimate example of solidarity.

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Correspondence to Noreen Herzfeld .

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Herzfeld, N. (2022). “I Can’t Breathe”: The Bible and Bonhoeffer on Race and Suffering in America. In: Akande, A. (eds) Handbook of Racism, Xenophobia, and Populism. Springer Handbooks of Political Science and International Relations. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13559-0_8

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